China Wall near Halls Creek, WA

The Clare Valley's Great Wall, SA

Diving on Queensland's China Wall

Australia has not one, but four geographical features which go by the name of Great Wall or China wall, because of their size. Three are natural phenomena, one is man-made.

WA's China wall: Not far from Old Halls Creek, Western Australia, there is a miniature "Great Wall Of China". Unlike the Great Wall of China, Hall's Creek's China Wall is a natural phenomena, a subverticle quartz vein which projects above the surrounding landscape to form a natural stone wall that covers 15 kilometres. The quartz, being hard, resilient and resistant to weathering remained as the surrounds eroded away. This natural wall is on what is believed to be the largest single fault line of its kind in the world. Situated in a tranquil river valley amongst the hills, the formation can been seen at several locations.

A section of the China Wall near Halls Creek, WA

SA's Great Wall: A similar but smaller feature is found straddling the Camels Hump Range north of the town of Clare in South Australia. Unlike the Great Wall of Halls Creek, Clare's Great Wall is man-made and runs like a piece of thread over bald hilltops, down gullies and up steep slopes, only to vanish over the next summit. This unmistakable feature is a dry stone wall running like ramparts along the topmost ridges of the entire Camels Hump and Browne Hill Ranges. Some 65 km in length, it is comprised of over seven million stones of varying sizes sourced from the surrounding fields. The ranges once marked the division between the Hill River and Gum Creek pastoral runs. Charles Fisher of Hill River Station began to erect the wall in the 1860s as a visible dividing line between the two properties. Gum Creek staff saw the advantage of such a dividing line and helped in its construction. The idea was then adopted by others to the north and south and has resulted in a remarkable 19th century relic - believed to be the only one of its kind in Australia.

The Walls of China, Mungo National Park

NSW's Walls of China: A formation known as The Walls of China is located in Mungo National Park, New South Wales, 980km west of Sydney. The area incorporates 17 dry lakes, which have been eroded by years of wind, searing sun and droughts - leaving essentially a fossil landscape. The Walls of China, a crescent of eroded rock, is the largest formation etched by wind in this locality. Along with large mobile sand dunes, these give Mungo a distinctive lunar-landscape feel. 33km in length, they are older than China's Great Wall by about 13,000 years. Mungo's Walls have displayed evidence that humans have continuously occupied the region for 45,000 years.

Qld's China wall: Queensland also has a China Wall but it is under the sea. It is located 3.5 km off the eastern side of Moreton Island. As its name suggests, China Wall consists of an extensive granite wall rising from a depth of 32 m up to 16 m on the western side. Along the wall are several 3 m deep and 2 m wide gullies. On the northern side of the wall there is a granite arch that is 3 m high and 6 m wide. A similar arch 2 m high and 4 m wide can be found on the southern extent. At the midpoint of the site a granite plate rises out of the wall at a 28 m depth on an almost vertical angle. In the top part of the plate at about 22 m there is a 2 m wide swim-through known as the keyhole. Surrounding this site are many granite boulders with various caverns and overhangs. Most of the granite is covered in kelp.