Geike Gorge

Fri 4^th July  



This tunnel leads to a cave that the rangers are exploring.



Figs like these are completely covered in the wet season and seem to hang on until the dry again.

 We went through Fitzroy Crossing and onto Geike Gorge where we took a cruise. The ranger who took us was extremely knowledgeable and obviously enjoyed the trip as much as we did. He was in no hurry to complete the cruise on time and spent extra time at places where there were crocodiles and other interesting things to see. The scenery was phenomenal, with the gorge walls towering above us. The area was once under the sea and there is a huge barrier reef with a complex of caves behind and under it. The rangers take advantage of the dry season to get in and explore them. One time two rangers went in without torches and sat down on a log to let their eyes adjust to the dark. Suddenly the log began to move and they realised they were sitting on a huge python that is still in there somewhere. Now they never go in without torches. We saw lots of Johnson Freshwater crocodiles ranging from quite small (about 4 years old) to fairly big.  A crocodile and a turtle were sharing a log, which is unusual, given that crocodiles eat turtles. As we approached they both leapt in opposite directions into the water. 



These stalactites are on the outside of the rocks. This is extremely rare.

The Richard Nixon rock, so named because of its appearance. You know about Watergate, well this is water level - the water comes to the bottom of his chin in the wet season

 

 

Some martins’ nests were still there at the high water mark from last year, but puzzlingly, they haven’t started to build this year. The rangers believe that they know something that we don’t about future weather patterns. We spent some time looking for Merton Freshwater Monitor before we found a young one in some grass at the side of the river. The ranger said they are becoming quite rare and will probably become extinct from the area within a year. They live on a diet of frogs, and the cane toad, which poisons them when they eat them, has arrived in the west. There are posters around explaining the differences in the appearance of frogs and cane toads because many people, in their enthusiasm to kill cane toads, are killing our native frogs and also depriving our animals of a food source. Unfortunately the monitors can’t tell the difference either. In the tiniest crevices were wild freshwater fig trees. Because of their root system they are able to hang on during the wet season when they become completely submerged. In fact all of the plants that are below the white line in the photos get submerged in the floods of up to 16 metres.  The sand bars get completely washed away, but more sand is washed down to the same place by the end of the wet season. You would think that with all the cracks and crevices rock falls would be common, but we were told that there has never been a rock fall in the last 176 years.



The threatened Merton Freshwater monitor.

The river abounded in crocodiles that were out catching some warmth from the sun.