Today weve booked for the Time Travel tour, which is being led again by the very entertaining Mick, our indigenous guide from last evenings Stokes Hill sunset tour. Were not quite sure why its called the Time Travel tour, and are now thinking that we probably should have thought to ask when we booked. Perhaps unsurprisingly, our transport isnt something out of Back to the Future, it just looks like the bus we were on last night.
Mick explains that well be heading north from Wilpena Pound and then turning west onto the Brachina Gorge Geological Trail. The Time Travel tour title is apparently a reference to the journey well be taking through 130 million years of geological time in little more than about ten kilometres of road distance.
First stop is an inspection of some piles of rocks that look like theyve got out of them. Mick asks us all if we know what they are, and Im sensing that rocks probably isnt the answer hes looking for. A few enthusiastic souls in the group seem to be a bit more on top of their geology than either of us, and identify them, apparently correctly,
as stromatolites. Hmmm. Thats not a name thats ringing too many bells. Mick tells us theyve been formed by emissions from large conglomerations of ancient bacteria, thought to be somewhere around 700 million years old. This apparently makes them the worlds oldest known life forms. They havent been found in too many other places, so it seems its quite possible that life on earth started right here where were standing. Im suddenly feeling very small and insignificant.
We see a kangaroo run across the road. Hallelujah. Thats the first live one weve seen since we left Melbourne nearly two weeks ago, and its good to finally get some firm evidence that they havent all suddenly extinct. We stop to take a closer look at some Yellow Footed Rock Wallabies that Micks spied grazing on ledges in the side of the gorge. Theyre classified as very vulnerable, and the estimated 2,000 that live here are apparently the countrys (and therefore presumably the worlds) largest remaining population. The cats, foxes and goats that were introduced by the early European settlers the wallabies for food, and this led to their decline. Mick says that the foxes have now all been
culled off; but then quickly adds that he always holds his breath when he says this and waits for one to run across the road in front of the bus. Cat numbers have also been significantly culled, but the goats remain a problem. We thought they sounded quite cute when we heard some in the distance at Arkaroo Rock yesterday, but it seems that we might now need to recalibrate that thinking.
I get chatting to the young Canadian couple, Max and Oksana, sitting next to me. They tell me that theyre professional travel bloggers who spend their lives roaming the globe (COVID permitting); they document their activities on their Drink Tea Travel website. The wallabies are a long way away, and Im struggling to see them at all through my humble zoom lens. No problem for Max however; his lens is the size of a baseball bat. Im now jealous. I wonder if all professional travel bloggers have lenses the size of baseball bats, in which case maybe I should one too. I think we might need to boost our follower numbers first; thirteen just doesnt feel like quite enough.
I reckon the lady sitting next to her on the bus looks a bit like Camilla Parker Bowles. My beloved appears to have formed a different opinion. Shes convinced that she actually is Camilla Parker Bowles, albeit with a very genuine sounding Aussie accent. Were now beginning to wonder how she managed to sneak into the country and avoid going into COVID quarantine. I guess being a member of the Royal Family would have its privileges..
It seems that grazing land here is being progressively converted to national park almost a paddock at a time, rather than all at once, which Mick says is ridiculous.
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