After leaving the rim of King’s Canyon, the walking track led the way through a maze of weathered sandstone domes. These domes look like ancient dwellings, but are actually mounds of eroded sandstone. From an aerial viewpoint, cracks in these domes would be seen to run in two directions: east/west and north/south in a grid like form.  In the last 20 million years, both wind and rain have gradually worn away the sides and the top corners creating domes out of the blocks which are now separated by flat rock. The Luritja, Aboriginal people of the Watarrka area, believe these domes are young Kuninga men who traveled here during the dreamtime period known as Tjukurpa. Kuninga is the Luritja name for the marsupial cat known as the quoll. The spirit of these dreamtime quoll lives within this legend and these eroded mound-shaped domes. Both magical and mystical, this Lost City is a  part of the Aboriginal dreamtime. which left us awestruck.

PHOTOS: Upper Left: A Centralian Netted Dragon perfectly camouflaged. Lower Left: Spinifex grass Center: The Lost City. Upper Right: A pair of Spinifex Pigeons. Lower Right: Cycad Palm, approximately 400 years old. Its leave drop to create its trunk, leaving a gauge for its age. At Bottom of the Page: Rosemary Woodford Ganf’s painting of the marsupial quoll, or native cat. From her book:  A Fragile Balance, The Extraordinary Story of Australian Marsupials

JOURDAN ARPELLE-ZIEGLER                                            BACK TO MAP PAGE