Day 30 Follow Up: Gosang's Tunnel

We had heard rumours of it. A tunnel that leads to the ocean. We were intrigued to say the least and chose sunset to go exploring.

Getting to Gosangs Tunnel itself is pretty straight forward. A wide track leaves Abrahams Bosom Beach in Currarong and is pretty well signposted. All is well, until you look up and realise that every ten metres or so are giant spider webs with giant spiders lurking above you. Eventually you come across a sign warning you that continuing further is ‘at your own risk.’ Things just look more and more promising. We pushed on. Reaching the tunnel is almost a relief as you gain respite from the spider spotting. Gosangs Tunnel is about 30 metres long and, as you crouch down ready to manoeuvre your way through it you are granted a glimpse of what awaits you on the other side.

We waddled through the cramped space, honestly not really knowing what to expect. So, when we stepped out the other side and the world seemed to crack open before us, we were both incredibly overwhelmed. While hard to explain...I'll try.

It is like stepping into a dream. Like something out of Inception. Everything seems bigger, grander and like you perhaps shouldn’t be there. A video game. Or somebody else’s life. Like you’re watching. Not really a part of it. You are not on top of, or at the bottom of a cliff as you usually are. Instead, you emerge midway down a sea cliff and it seems as though you have been plucked from your life and placed somewhere foreign and unfamiliar. We were certainly not in Kansas anymore.

The sea cliffs themselves are like a layer cake. Like sponge and cream and jam layer precariously balancing on top of one another in spectacular shades of earthy tones. Huge boulders sit on shelves as if showing off the size and grandeur of this place. Simultaneously, you are reminded of the fragility by the cracks and fallen rock. It’s easy to forget that the collapsing walls you see around you are what you are currently standing in the middle of. The wind has ripped through this place, tearing rock from the walls where you are standing and toss them like pebbles into the sea below. Mermaids Inlet, the crevasse we overlooked, was strewn with such boulders and was nothing like the mermaid pools with which we were familiar.

A rocky seat was perfect for viewing life’s great cinema as it paraded before us. I pushed my back into the safety of the cliff wall and breathed in the sacred space. With upturned palms I felt my closed eyes prickle with tears for everything this country’s first people had experienced. This was their place. This was Aboriginal Land. Wild and powerful. It was how this great land stood before us, and how it will continue to stand long after we are gone. We sat in silence with nothing but the sounds of the waves between us.

Birds danced around, the only life in this barren, wild landscape. The ocean pulsed slowly, ruffling like a blanket that continued forever. Clouds lined the horizon, sitting low, just above the ocean, decorating the layer cake that was the cliffs. The ocean swelled and sank, covering then revealing the lowest rock shelf. Pockets of silver dotted the rocks where puddles reflected the day’s dying light. The ocean swirled below us in a thousand shades of blue before the sun slowly dipped and our view darkened.

This isolated spot was willing us to leave so it could return to its natural state. A wildness that had always been.

As we moved back along the path under an endless number of spiders we spotted glitter in the light of our head torches. Closer inspection found that the ‘glitter’ that lined our path was actually the eyes of spiders, reflecting green in the light. ‘If you see 5% of what sees you, you’re doing well’ was ringing very true right now. This magical, natural wonder was the icing on the layer cake of our evening at Gosangs Tunnel. Our favourite place to date and one that words will never do justice.