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Published: August 8th 2013
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When approaching Exmouth a few days ago, we noticed an unusual break in the cape Range on its eastern side, about 20ks before coming into town. Today the four of us decided to go exploring up the gorge and take some pictures. We dreamed of birds of prey, rock wallabies, lizards and snakes.
Not all dreams come true, but the half day exploration was worth the time.
The name Shot Hole Gorge is relatively recent, probably late 1950s when there was significant seismic exploration in the area, and the road we travelled was built for that purpose, and the road and gorge name have stuck ever since. I haven't found an earlier name, so Shot Hole will do, and is not inappropriate in this hole ridden rocky gorge.
Unlike the Yardie Creek Gorge which has water all year round, this gorge is dry other than after significant rain. The peninsular did have a couple of significant rain events in late summer and autumn this year, and this showed in washed out (dry) creek crossings and debris strewn along the road.
Its just as well we didn't take the motorhome up - I think we would have struggled
in a couple of places because the washouts had steep entry and exit which is not our strong point.
What fascinates in this arid country is the number of flowering shrubs and plants that survive in what is a very hot valley. Exmouth region can have 40c days, but expect this enclosed valley to heat up much more - it did today by at least 5C, maybe more. There were ground shrubs just starting their spring show, varieties of wattle in flower, and a desert rose as well. Still a little early to get the maximum variety of wild flowers here.
Clearly there has been a significant event here which has opened up the valley, possibly a tectonic plate movement followed by erosion, both wind and rain. The most significant rain fall in this area was about 30 years ago when 250mm rain fell in a few hours. That would certainly erode the sandstone walls of the gorge.
There are noticeable colour variations - greys, creams, reds and some black rock. Looking into eroded areas and by the caves, it looks like the sandstone has lots of rocky inclusions. The photographs also show some huge rock falls
quite close to the road. While these are old, they are a stark reminder of what nature can surprise you with.
The gorge is rugged, many craggy rock formations with significant erosion under outcrops indicating that at some time, some more big bits will fall. There are many small caves through the gorge where we hoped to spot the shy black footed rock wallaby. They were shy or on vacation today.
The road in is a metal road and initial indications were that it would be an easy drive. First impressions?? Misleading in this case. It took about 45 minutes to drive 13k when coming out. It took much longer driving in as we stopped often to photograph the rock walls and unusual shapes. As the morning wore on, our eyes increasingly deceived us into seeing human faces, birds beaks, turtles and monkey faces painted by nature.
Enjoy the photos, and hopefully they will give you some insight into the size of this gorge and its natural beauty.
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Dancing Dave
David Hooper
MY KINDA ROAD
Yep...my kinda road