Worn from the ancient sandstones on Pungalina, deposited by millions of wet season floods, and reworked by migrating coastlines, a vast plain of sediment stretches between the rocky inland and the coastal flats, now 20 kilometers away. Subtle variations in elevation and soil composition have created a patchwork landscape, scattered with ephemeral swamps in shallow depressions, Cyprus woodlands on low sandy rises and a mottled scattering of woodlands in between. Fish, turtles, burrowing frogs and even freshwater crabs, all enjoy a roaming freedom throughout this landscape during wet season floods, but retreat back to the moist soil of shrinking wetlands to wait out the dry winter months and hide from hungry brolgas, black necked storks, herons and kingfishers.