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| In the
Kimberley
of northwestern Australia, there are areas
accessible only by boat or helicopter, examples
of Bradshaw figures and Wandjina rock art,
an immense Devonian barrier reef, ecologic
diversity, unusual flora and fauna, and
spectacular scenery of gorges, cliffs, waterfalls,
major rivers, and more. A reliable 4WD is
needed for travel because there are only
two major roads from Broome in the west
to Kununurra near the Northern Territory
border, the sealed Great North Road and
the unsealed Gibb River Road. Ecological
zones in the Kimberley range from coastal
and estuarine to riverine to semi-arid savannah
woodland with patches of monsoonal rainforest
(vine thickets) to arid desert. Kimberley
flora is best described as borrowed for
there are remnants of the plants that covered
the southern supercontinent Gondwana during the Age of Dinosaurs like the cycad
Cycas
armstrongii; post-Gondwana plants with
links to Africa and Magagascar like the
Australian Baobab or Boab (Adansonia gregorii);
plants from Asia like Taro (Amorphophallus
glabra) and Cardwell Lily (Proiphys
amboinensis) exchanged in the last 5
my; and species from southwest Australia
like the yam (Dioscorea sp.) and resurrection
plants (Borya sp.). Eucalypts and acacias
dominate the Kimberley flora. In Drysdale
River National Park in the northern
Kimberley, 594 plant species have been recorded
including carnivorous bladderworts, trigger plants (Stylidium sp.), which release
their trigger or column on the back of an
insect to deposit or collect pollen, and
25 fern species. Kimberley Fan Palms (Livistona
eastonii) are common in the Mitchell Plateau.
The main attractions in Mitchell
River National Park are Aunauyu (Surveyors
Pool) and Punamii-unpuu (Mitchell
Falls, which has a 5-fall drop ending
in a deep gorge. In the western Kimberley,
the Lennard and Fitzroy Rivers cut through
a Devonian limestone reef forming the Windjana
and Geikie
Gorges. Most of the year, the Lennard River
forms isolated pools at Windjana Gorge.
There is a 7 km walk down and back along
the full length of Windjana Gorge, where
fruit bats or flying foxes (Pteropus sp.),
Little Corellas (Cacatua sanguinea), and
the harmless (to people) Johnston or Freshwater
Crocodiles (Crocodylus johnstoni) can often
be spotted. Windjana and Geikie Gorges are
inaccessible during the wet season (Nov.-Apr.)
when the Lennard and Fitzroy Rivers flood.
Another popular destination is Purnululu
National Park (Bungle Bungle), where sandstone
forms beehive mounds encased in a skin of
alternating orange and black bands. The
best area for viewing the beehive domes
and gullies lined with fan palms (Livistona
sp.) is Piccaninny Creek at the park's southern
end. |
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| There
are a lot of cultural and natural history
activities on Rottnest
Island, located about 18 km from Perth.
This semi-arid island with a Mediterrranean
climate was named after the endemic marsupial,
the Quokka
(Setonix brachyurus), in 1696 by the Dutch
explorer Willem De Vlamingh. He described
the Quokka as a "kind of rat as big as a
common cat" and named the island "Rotte
nest" meaning "rat's nest". The Quokka is
a small wallaby that resembles the Ewok
in "Return of the Jedi". It is recommended
that they not be fed with human food, but
I have seen them forage in backpacks and
they may bite or lick your fingers if you
get too close. There is a lot more to see on Rottnest. The island was used as an aboriginal penal
settlement from 1838 to 1903, World War
I POW camp, and a World War II military
installation. Particularly touching is the
cemetery. On the grave marker of a 10-week-old
baby that died May 10, 1898 is engraved
"A Bud to Bloom in Heaven". Around 6,500 years ago, the island became separated from
the mainland. Aboriginal occupation predates this separation. Between 5,500 and 2,500 years
ago, Rottnest was partly submerged which
eliminated hundreds of species of plants
leaving about 140 indigenous species. Much
of the forest cover has been removed by
fire, wood collecting by man, and Quokka
grazing. |
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