Bungle Bungles (Purnululu National Park)

Beautiful  Bungles!

After a 3 hour drive south of Kununurra, we arrived at the edge of the Purnululu NP. According to our 'sources' (other travellers) we would get the camper into one of the campgrounds in the NP.

So we bumped and shook and rocked and arrived at the Kurrajong Campground 'sick of it' but otherwise okay. It took us 2 hours to drive the 50kms in!! These shots are taken.  from the Lookout above the campground overlooking the Bungle Bungle Ranges, at sunset.

We decided to rough it, and stay 2 nights there - had toilets, running water, but no showers. And campers were allowed to have a fire. Rangers even delivered wood to the campground fireplaces! Not much, but they did.

This was the first time we had trialled the "Solar-shower". Soon heated the water, while lying out in the sun, in the Kimberleys in August.

Was one of the best showers I've had - probably something to do with the measure of dust that is on your skin!

It is also very good for the balance, if you can stand still enough to keep both feet in the 'trusty blue tub' (now a bath tub amongst other things!). This way the feet could have a bit of a soak and be clean for ooh, about ... 2 minutes.






The main features of the Bungles are at two distinct ends of the range, so we did the "Domes" and Cathedral Gorge, at the Southern end one morning  and got up early to walk into Echidna Chasm and Mini Palms Gorge at the Northern end, before it got too hot. Then we packed up and headed back to Kununurra.

We've all seen the pictures but these beehive shaped domes
are amazing in real life, with their orange and grey striped
 layering of rock types. And they go on for miles and miles.

 

Great 'channels' in the bed of Picaninnie Creek



Lily in the creek bed



Cathedral Gorge - another one! There are a few in this great nation of ours. Hard to capture the magnificence of this one
on camera. Size and colour simply amazing.



Walk into Mini Palms Gorge



Clambering over huge boulders - a "conglomerate" rock that has heaps of little rocks thru' it

Colour was amazing! These Livistonia Palms occur in only
 a few places in WA - Bungles, in this gorge are one of them.

Echidna Chasm

The 2 km trek in, over river pebbles was hard going

Water has rushed through this river bed too, in the Wet Season

 After we had done the sights and packed up, it was time time to do the two hour trek again, out of the park. Up, down, bang, thump, sway, lurch... What a marvellous place. But now I have done it, I probably won't go back there again. It would be good to fly over next time ...!!??