Tunnel Creek National Park

Tunnel Creek National Park
	Cave entrance
Location:	Western Australia , Australia
Specialty:	Natural rock tunnel
Next city:	Fitzroy Crossing
Surface:	91 ha
Founding:	1992
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The Tunnel Creek National Park (English Tunnel Creek National Park ) is located in the Kimberley region and is a popular national park for tourists in Western Australia . It is located approximately 1,850 km northeast of Perth and 470 km east of Broome and 115 km north of Fitzroy Crossing . It extends over 0.91 km² and was declared a national park in 1992.

geology

The Tunnel Creek belongs to the Napier Range , relic of an approx. 350 million year old Devonian reef, from which the Windjana Gorge and the Geikie Gorge arose.

The history of development comprises two stages: The first stage is the elevation of the Devonian sea floor about 250 million years ago with subsequent limestone formation . The reef was then covered by younger sedimentary rocks . About 20 million years ago there was a second elevation with subsequent erosion of the younger rock, so that the underlying older limestone, which had formed calcareous algae , stromatopores and corals, came to light again.

The specialty of Tunnel Creek - a tributary of the Lennard River that gave birth to the Windjana Gorge - is its underground course over a distance of approx. 750 m. This tunnel is the erosion of the small stream, which over the millennia created a 9-15 m wide cave by loosening the lime. The water penetrated the rock through fine cracks and formed the cavities. The Mimbi Caves , a larger, less accessible cave system about 80 km south of Fitzroy Crossing, are geologically related and formed in a similar way.

Dripstone formations - stalagmites and stalactites - shape the structure of the tunnel.

history

The tunnel made history at the end of the 19th century. Jandamarra , a Bunuba - Aboriginal , made violent resistance to European settlement of Australia. He managed to hide in the tunnel for 2.5 years from the armed white settlers and the police.

Jandamarra was shot and seriously injured at Pigeon's Rock in the Windjana Gorge on November 16, 1894 ; his persecutors thought he was dead. However, since he could escape into the open again and again through a rock fall in the tunnel, be seen outside and then miraculously disappear again, his spirit was believed to be immortal. His reputation was legendary and it was believed that only another mythical Aboriginal warrior could defeat him.

The police recruited an Aboriginal tracker named Micki from the Pilbara , who was credited with magical powers. Micki put Jandamarra near the tunnel entrance and shot him on April 1, 1897. About 100 m from the west end of the limestone tunnel is a memorial to Jandamarra.

fauna

In the tunnel, in which large colonies of bats , etc. a. Flying foxes and the Australian ghost bat live, freshwater crocodiles have been seen when the water level is sufficient .

Tourist infrastructure

Access from the north runs from Derby on the unpaved Gibb River Road and the also unpaved Fairfield Leopold Downs Road ; a dead end road leads into the national park after approx. 55 km. From the south (Fitzroy Crossing) the Fairfield Leopold Downs Road branches off after approx. 30 km from the Great Northern Highway .

A beaten path accompanied by documentation boards leads to the tunnel entrance, where some boulders have to be climbed over. In the dry season between April and November , the tunnel can be used with a torch except for its exit on the east side; In the pools left by the stream, the water still reaches up to the waist in places. The collapse of the ceiling brings some natural light about halfway through the route. Aboriginal rock paintings are difficult to recognize.

The national park is only open during the day and has no camping facilities.

There are hardly any accessible paths or paths outside of the tunnel crossing.

During the rainy season the national park is usually closed and it is impossible to cross the tunnel when the water level is high.

literature

Ian Tyler: Geology & Landforms of the Kimberley. Department of Conservation and Land Management, Como WA 1996, ISBN 0-7309-6852-9 .

Web links

Commons : Tunnel Creek National Park - Collection of images, videos, and audio files

Official Site Park (English)
Tunnel Creek National Park - private photos