seemed to go on forever, an ev-
er-changing landscape of the old and
the new formations, as the prevailing
winds from the Tanami desert shape
the sandstone domes. The bands
created by differing layers of stone;
the dark layers hold more moisture
allowing an algae (cyanobacteria) to
grow, the orange bands are those that
contain more iron and manganese.
The moisture that seeps into the
stones often freezes at night, this is a
tropical region on the edge of a desert
yet at night the temperatures drop,
the frozen water expands and creates
cracks opening the stone to the forces
of erosion; water and wind.
It’s a spectacular sight made more
impressive by the various gorges,
channels and cracks in the earth.
Impact craters are visible, one so
large it is seven kilometres across,
the impression in the earth looking
like a giant cow pat, perhaps ironic
given this land was once cattle coun-
try before its ‘discovery’. Another like
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