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Warrumbungle means Crooked Mountains

"Warrumbungle" is an Aboriginal word for "Crooked Mountains". Warrumbungle National Park is on the north-west slopes of New South Wales, Australia, about 500 kilometres northwest of Sydney.

Coonabarabran is the nearest town - 33 kms east of the Park.

Are you ready for a climb? Slip on a shirt! Slop on some sunscreen! Slap on a hat! Have you got a drink and a sandwich?

First view of breadknife

Let's climb up to the Grand High Tops today. See that arrow in the picture? That's the Breadknife rock and we are going to that rock and just beyond it.

Kangaroo with joey

The kangaroo is eating now in the early morning but she will rest in the shade most of the time you are climbing. There are lots of kangaroos and wallabies roaming freely in the Park and they are very friendly because no one hurts them here. To the right is one of the Black Cypress Pines that grow very well in the Warrumbungle National Park.

Black cypress pine

Well let's get going - we have a long way to go. Are you making sure you look around you at the view?

Looking towards Siding Spring

Way over there on the top of the Siding Spring Mountain is an Observatory where astronomers study Space. This Park is very close to Coonabarabran.

Belougerie Spire	To the left is Belougerie Spire. Many of the rocks in this Park were plugs in an old volcano that erupted about 20 million years ago.	Valley near Belougarie Spire
	The rocks in that first series of volcanoes were sticky and built up around the vents, blocking them so new ones formed. Later volcanoes (14 million years ago) were made of softer rocks that have eroded away so you can see the very old rocks.

We are approaching the Breadknife now. It was formed when the volcanic magma forced its way into a long, narrow fissure in the rocks beneath the surface of the volcano.

Walking beside the Breadknife

The red arrow is showing you how close you are getting to the actual Breadknife rock. That sheer rock on your right is part of the Breadknife formation. To your left it is a steep drop down so watch your step!

Looking west through the Breadknife. The side of the Rock is on your right.

Well! Here we are - actually on the Breadknife rock and looking through a gap in it.

Do you like the glamorous yellow hat?

Looking back at the Breadknife from the high side.

The volcanic magma forced its way into a long, narrow fissure in the rocks beneath the surface of the volcano. The magma cooled and became hard trachyte rock. 13 million years later, erosion has warn away the softer rocks and we can see the "dyke" which we call the Breadknife. Try to look around you as well - there are lots of flowers to see.

Westringia longifolia Long-leaved Westringia

Dillwynia retorta Eggs and Bacon plant		Wahlenbergia communis Tufted Bluebell
		Billardiera procumbens

Identifying these flowers is a bit tricky for most of us so just enjoy their beauty for now and we'll try to find out their names later.

Hey! Did you see that lizard? No? Well look over there! There's one on that rock but you'll have to look carefully - it's fairly well camouflaged!

Lizard on rock

Many snakes live in these mountains too but we have been making such a racket with our shoes and our talking that the snakes have been sliding away before we see them.

On Grand High Tops

You made it! Here you are on Grand High Tops! You are allowed to feel that you are on the top of the world!

Why don't you get out your sandwiches now? That currawong on the tree is watching you carefully and just hoping you are going to have lunch. If you throw a little bit of bread, he will catch it in mid-air! Truly! He will! He's used to catching insects as they fly you see.

Can you see the Breadknife rock down there?

We have climbed much higher now!
We'll start climbing down again soon but let's look around first.

Far down there in the valley, can you see the grassy area? Well that is where we are camping. I am glad you made the tent tidy and did the breakfast dishes before we left.

We will be tired by the time we have climbed back down there but I think we will go to the left and down a different way - we don't have to go back on the same track!