Rocky Cape National Park is full of surprises. There is plenty to see if you take the time. Before you know it you're finding out there's more to this park than meets the eye. Aboriginal heritage, ship wrecks, rock formations turned sideways, beautiful hills running down to the sea and an incredible variety of flowering plants. It makes the many corners of this small park worth closer inspection.
The Park is situated on the north-west coast of Tasmania about two hours drive west of Launceston. The park has two approaches. From the west, turn left off the Bass Highway (A2) into Road C227 with park access clearly marked. From the east, turn off the Bass Highway 12km from Wynyard, to Boat Harbour Beach.
The reference to Zorro in the title is due to the popular rock climbing at the Cape which is called Zorro Wall.
The Rocky Cape Group occupies a large area of northwestern Tasmania, where it is considered to represent a block of the autochthonous basement to Palaeozoic Tasmania, lying west of the limit of allochthon emplacement during the Tyennan Orogeny. It comprises a 10 km thick sequence (base unknown) of cross-bedded quartz sandstone (commonly indurated to quartzite), laminated siltstone, pyritic shale, and minor dolomite, deposited in an open marine shelf environment varying from low-energy and below storm wave base, to relatively high-energy between storm and fair-weather wave base, and perhaps to shallower marginal marine conditions at times. Common bipolar current patterns in cross-bedded quartz sandstone suggest tide-dominated settings, while hummocky cross-stratification in sandstone and gutter casts in siltstone attest to storm influence in parts of the succession. Rare, possible evaporite indicators occur in some siltstone units. Outcrop-scale growth faults in lower parts of the succession imply active extensional tectonics during sedimentation. The rock is around 700 millions years old. Much later, around 100,000 years ago, when the sea levels were much higher than today, wave action eroded the caves that you now can see.
Quartzite is a hard, non-foliated metamorphic rock which was originally pure quartz sandstone. Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tectonic compression within orgenic belts.
When sandstone is cemented to quartzite, the individual quartz grains recrystallize along with the former cementing material to form an interlocking mosaic of quartz crystals. Most or all of the original texture and sedimentary structures of the sandstone are erased by the memamorphism. The grainy, sandpaper-like surface becomes glassy in appearance. Minor amounts of former cementing materials, iron oxide, silica, carbonate and clay, often migrate during recrystallization and metamorphosis. This causes streaks and lenses to form within the quartzite.
(Quartzite Pictured)
The listed Co-ordinates will bring you to the lighthouse car park and cliffs. In my opinion, the views of the cape are best from here.
To log this Earthcache you will need to answer the following;
Q1 What colours do you see at your feet in the Quartzite rock here?
Q2 Looking at the Rocky Cape, which is in a eastern direction, you can see a cave which is a sacred site loacted within the Rocy Cape. Estimate, how wide and high do you believe the Rocky Cape is? (for a closer look there is a path that goes to a viewing platform, close to the cave.)
Please email the answers before submitting your discovery. If answers are not submitted, your log will be deleted.
Na'wal
Please feel free to upload a photo from your experience here. I hope you enjoyed the views of this amazing cape 