Text and photosIan Smith

Road to Sawpit Gorge

Halls Creek wasn’t on my list of stops. In fact, I even delayed getting there due to the chronic diesel situation that had eventuated.

36 | Bushwalk February 2023

Halls Creek wasn’t on my list of stops. In fact, I even delayed getting there due to the chronic diesel situation that had eventuated.

The Shell pumps had broken, the other independent servo had run out because of that, and the only fuel available was at the Toyota dealer who was restricting people to just 60 litres. Needless to say, there was an endless queue of people awaiting their supply when I arrived. I found it necessary to join them, not really having any urgent itinerary. Later, I went to the local tourist office seeking information about things further up the highway.

The efficient lady at the tourism office provided me with a map and a few local spots to go and see. From beneath the counter she produced two photos of Palm Springs and Sawtooth Gorge, which I’d never heard of. They were enough to send me packing.

On the way east on Duncan Road, there’s another attraction called the China Wall. I’d heard of this and stopped to have a look as it’s only a kilometre or so off the road.

It turns out it’s part of an extraordinary geological feature whose length is not known, but it is visible from the air at several locations on the route to the Bungle Bungle. Bob and I had seen a much smaller version on the way to Karijini, but this one is much more dramatic. It’s a sub-vertical quartz vein that is more resistant than the rock on either side. So it appears as a ruin of some ancient civilisation (or aliens, depending on what you believe in).

China Wall

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At the right time of day, the white is dazzling under the sun’s rays in comparison to the drab browns of the iron oxide and the dull green of the lawn of the Apocalypse (spinifex) beside it.

It’s surreal to consider even how it came to pass that such a narrow strip could inject itself into the ore all those millennia ago.

I moved on towards Sawpit Gorge and, about 10 kilometres further in saw more evidence of the quartz fault. Naturally enough, I stopped

to take even more pictures. Sawpit is just past Palm Springs, but as night was nigh, I bypassed them, made for the gorge, spent the dark hours beside an eerie massive rock face, and listened to the gurgle of a nearby brook. The night hours were simply magic.

Dawn allowed me to take in the scene. A large, heavily tinted rock wall had been cut neatly in two by the incessant water, and the placing of the carpark meant that your vehicle was in the shade most of the day.

I walked for around two hours, through the stream, along the other side, then recrossed and followed the wall for a while. It’s a very scenic place with chittering bird life around the water, flitting from tree to tree in their never-ending search for insects while the vibrant colours of the rock were showing up under the sun’s rays.

Sawpit Gorge

Palm Springs

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Chances are you’ll have the place to yourself, as I did until the first visitors arrived around 10 am. And there were only two of them.

Satisfied I had seen what was to be seen, I ventured towards Palm Springs, stopping to scale a tall ridge beside the track to gain an overall view. I pondered as to just how many would have been up here.

Palm Springs is the scene of a failed attempt by settlers but still has the attraction of a first-class swimming hole about 40 metres long, fed by a permanent spring with palms scattered roundabout.

I waited for someone else to arrive, just in case I had an emergency. And so it was that I met Thornstein, my new German friend from

Essen who happened to be a lifeguard and who kindly took some pictures of me as he was a keen photographer as well. He was the only German in the world who (a) doesn’t drink beer, and (b) doesn’t follow football.

It was somewhat confronting to think that not far away was another spot with lots of freshwater crocodiles.

After the refreshing dip was over, we parted company, and I made for the historic Old Halls Creek. This had a sad set of ruins, historic plaques and a horde of motorised equipment in varying stages of decay set around some basic accommodation and a caravan park.

It had been more than I expected, but it was time to move on.

Old Halls Creek

40 | Bushwalk February 2023