Alone in Isla Gorge

'Dululu', 'Banana', and 'Toowoomba' - the names of some places we visited in the last two days don't sound very Australian, do they? However, most of these exotic names come from the Indigenous Australians, the Aboriginal people. Out of the 25 million residents of Australia today, there are only half a million 'Aboriginal Australians', as they are officially called. Their traces can still be found in many places, for example, they create very artistic paintings and textiles.

On Wednesday, we visited the Capricorn Caves. These limestone caves were discovered by two boys playing, bought by private individuals, and later made accessible to the public. We joined a tour and were amazed by the clever lighting of the different halls. In the so-called 'Cathedral', the largest room, events and weddings are also held. Our guide let us take a moment on the specially designed benches there and played Cohen's 'Hallelujah' for us, which was quite impressive and sounded fantastic, of course. I doubt if the bats living there also liked it.

The overnight stay yesterday was the most special so far: about an hour before sunset, we arrived at 'Isla Gorge' - a gorge similar to 'Creux du Van' in Switzerland - at a very small campsite. We were only allowed to stay overnight because we had purchased an overnight permit for 13 dollars online beforehand. There was no one there, and for the rest of the evening and through the night, we were completely alone in nature. Not only the sunset on the edge of the cliffs, but also the starry sky and the tranquility at night were absolutely fantastic. Although in the middle of the eucalyptus forest, being all alone can be a bit uneasy.

We spent the last two days in the Australian Outback, or at least on its outskirts. While the coastal region naturally relies heavily on tourism, it's a bit quieter here. Cattle farming is done here (the city of Rockhampton is also known as the beef capital of Queensland), there's agriculture (although the fields currently look pathetic due to the drought), and people get excited when a Swiss person comes by. At least that's how it felt to us when we stopped at the tourist information center in Toowoomba today. Angela explained in detail the advantages of this small town where we are staying tonight.