South of Camooweal lies one of North West Queensland’s great wonders.
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The Camooweal Caves and nearby Nowranie Waterhole are beautiful places with a history dating back millions of years.
Situated 15km south of town, the caves can be viewed from a platform but not entered directly – and for good reason.
Camooweal Caves National Park is 13,800 ha of semi-arid Barkly Tablelands carved out of Rocklands Station in 1998 though the caves were carved quite a lot earlier.
Half a billion years ago during Cambrian times shallow seas deposited the flat beds of dolomite (calcium-magnesium carbonate) that make up the tableland.
Water percolated through layers of soluble dolomite creating caverns linked by vertical shafts 75m deep.
Over time, water in the fractures and bedding planes in the dolomite dissolved the rock and created the caves. Portions of the caves’ roofs collapsed, forming over 80 sinkholes on the surface.
These sinkholes are only surface signs of the elaborate cave systems underneath.
As the dry season settles in, nearby Nowranie Creek slows to a trickle and the waterholes retreat to muddy puddles. The landscape seems harsh, arid and lifeless. Most animals rest during the day or migrate to other, less harsh, regions.
Floods during the wet season are a rejuvenating event, with water spilling along and outside the creeks.
The force of the water flushes stagnant pools and debris, and triggers an explosion of life in the thirsty landscape.
The gnarled roots of trees—like the river red gums Eucalyptus camaldulensis— stabilise the banks and trap nutrients along the creek. Nowranie Creek comes alive as animals feed and breed.
Archaeological evidence confirms Aboriginal people have occupied this area for tens of thousands of years.
The traditional owners, the Indjalandji-Dhidhanu people especially valued the region for its high quality chert—a beautiful, finegrained sedimentary rock locally known as ribbonstone.
They used chert to make traditional stone tools such as tulas, blades and spear points.
Prior to European settlement in the 1860s, the Georgina River and its tributaries and waterholes were favoured locations for camping, and bases for hunting and gathering activities by groups from throughout the surrounding desert and semi-desert areas.
The Georgina River was part of a major north-south Aboriginal trade route and materials and resources were exchanged, including the valued chert.
The Indjalandji-Dhidhanu people today continue to observe and uphold their traditional laws and customs. According to their traditional law, the Camooweal Caves National Park is associated with and crossed by a number of Dreamings.
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