Paul about to descend into the Garden of Eden.

He had to walk backwards down parts of the staircases.

There is a thin layer of shale between the two layers of sandstone which acts as a barrier stopping water from going into the Carmichael sandstone, thus the whole has not eroded away.  There are a couple of places where permanent waterholes which aboriginals used to use.  This waterhole in the Garden Of Eden, you can just about make out several cycads.

The steps out of the Garden of Eden – a killer on the knees.

View of the Mereenie sandstone in the northern canyon wall.

About 45 million years ago Australia broke away from Antarctica and started drifting north.  The temperature at the south pole was higher than it is today and the climate wetter.  Forests of pines, cycads and ferns covered much of the land.  In the last 20 million years Australia has moved further north and become drier but some of those ancient cycads have been able to survive is the moist valleys and cracks.  This is the MacDonnell Ranges cycad (Macrozamia macdonnellii) unique to central Australia.  Watarrka is the southern limit of its range.  Cycads grow really slowly but you can age them by counting the old leaf bases, one for each year. 

Seed head

Seeds about the size of small eggs.

This is one of the many types of cockroach, the native cockroach (Onicosoma gramicolli).  Great for decomposing vegetation and pooh.  Its eaten by just about everything: other invertebrates, frogs, reptiles, mammals.

Just before we descended.. Paul debating whether to carry on…