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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Travel
Andrew Herrick

Deep impact: touring central Australia’s cosmic craters

An aerial view of Tnorala (Gosse Bluff)
An aerial view of Tnorala (Gosse Bluff), the site of a meteorite strike 142m years ago. Photograph: Auscape International Pty Ltd/Alamy

“You didn’t mention camping on Mars.”

My wife had a point: thin air, thinner soil, extreme UV, rocks straight from a Nasa red-planet image, jagged ranges – all ideal backdrops for a movie set. No wonder the place was considered for training by the Apollo program. Its sparse life forms include an intimidating shrub whose thorns mimic the stingers on the scorpions that come out after dark. A harsh, forbidding place, but beautiful too. We made shade with our camper awning and waited for magic time: the desert at dusk.

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