To do before you die – Climb a Western Queensland sand hill…………..barefoot!!

To do before you die – Climb a Western Queensland sand hill…………barefoot!!

Did you know sand dunes cover 40% of the Australian continent?

The Western Rivers region surrounding the Georgina and Diamantina Rivers and Cooper’s Creek is a vast landscape that has a sporadic distribution of sand dunes throughout the entire area. So how is it that these dunes are here?

In 2009, the dunes we can see are actually isolated areas of sand which emerge from the floodplains – which are a clay rich black soil / mud dominated environment ranging from 2 – 9 metres deep. This means that the floodplain area has buried sand channels at its base which can be up to 50 metres deep under the ground, and the only visible bits are the tops of the dunes, which we can see and label sand hills. The tops of these dunes often act as a barrier that confines the overbank river and creek flows to certain area – which means that the flood water is contained to certain areas closer to waterholes.

You know that list we all have mentally compiled of 100 things to do before you die? Does your personal list include climbing a Western Queensland sand hill?