29th July – 2nd August Bungle Bungles

Kununurra has been a great experience for us but like most good earthly things they must come to an end.  Friday for us has been a work day catching up on washing clothes, the car, restocking and preparing to pull out.

Saturday came and we headed south along the Great Northern Highway towards the Bungle Bungles.  This destination was another of our “must sees” for all of the years we have been planning this trip so we were more than a little excited that this day had finally come.

The Great Northern Highway is a road in good condition and fairly flat running but whether it is “Great” leaves some debate.  It was definitely not too busy so that was great and most of the users were travellers like us or the big four trailer road trains carting iron ore to Wyndham.  It was an easy drive and the weather was blue skies and warm temperatures.  The “Dry Season” up here really is dry with not even a heavy dew.

We stopped for lunch and fuel at Turkey Creek Roadhouse near Warmun after 220 klms.  The story goes that it was the owner of this roadhouse that instigated the exploration of the Bungle Bungles and after exploring them himself as well as taking paying tourists he urged the West Aus government to come and see the spectacle.  It was only then that the National Park was initiated and now it is one of only two World Heritage areas in the West. 

Fifty klms on we came to the turn off to the park and entered the gates of Mabel Downs station.  The access road crosses this station.  We say “road” guardedly as it is classed a 4WD only track.  This year the station owners have established a caravan park and expeditions business within the station.  It has caravan sites and tent type bungalows.  From here they offer helicopter flights and bus tours of the Bungle Bungles as well as tours of the station operations.  We booked in here for the night and then arranged the storage of our van as we drove up to the National Park.

Next morning we were up early to carry out all of our preparations, pack the tent, transfer all food & clothes to the car, reduce the tyre pressure to 24 psi, etc, etc, and then set off about 9:00am to complete the 53 klms to the park entrance.  They had warned us it would take about two hours and that it did.  The road was a lot better than we had expected although it was still very corrugated and over twenty water crossings.  The first was the upper reaches of the Ord River.  It was some fifty metres wide but thankfully not too deep.  Others were short & sharp, some with rocky outcrops but all had to be taken slowly and carefully.  The road was not a formed road, more an upgraded goat track.  Many, many times we climbed over a short sharp rise just to see the road on the other side drop out of sight beneath the bonnet of the car.  The concentration required in driving and the continual watching for other vehicles often through the dust made the two hours pass by quicker than we thought.  Once in Purnululu National Park (official name for Bungle Bungles) we thought that the roads might improve based on the assumption that the National Parks should maintain their roads better than a cattle station but we assumed incorrectly.  We set up camp at Kurrajong Campground.  These were very basic facilities but well set out.  This was our base for the next two nights.

Crossing the upper Ord River enroute to Purnululu

The first feature we visited was Echidna Chasm.  This amazing chasm is up to 200 metres high in some places but is as little as two metres wide for some of its length.  At some time about mid day (we were not there at the time) the sun shines down through the chasm in some parts.  It is a majestic appearance and the photos we took fell well short of representing the beauty accurately.

Entry to Echidna Chasm.

Entry walls to chasm.

Inside the chasm.

Note the height of the chasm.

The walls are only 2 m apart and rocks
almost block the path.

Through the darkness of the chasm
one can see the oasis on top.

Back out of the chasm and a short walk up a small climb took us to the Osmond Range lookout.  The Osmond Range is one of the oldest ranges in Australia and is claimed to date back 1.3 billion years as compared to the Bungle Bungles which are estimated at 360 million years old.  Unfortunately the caretaker at the time is no longer with us so this is difficult to confirm.  The Osmond Ranges are a significant source of water for the Purnululu park as several spring fed stream flow through the valley keeping it green much longer than the surrounding area. 

The contrast is unique.

Loking back from Osmond Ranges Lookout.

Back home to camp for the night and an early night it was.  As soon as the sun went down the cool moved in and with no TV to watch and no phone available we were in bed and asleep by 8:00pm

Even before the sun had risen we were awoken by laughter in the camp.  The birds were alive and a new day was born.  For us though it was a slow start (planned that way) before we were heading off toward the south of the park.  The destination was Piccaninny Creek Carpark from which all southern walks commence.  The longest of these is 14 klms and they suggest three days as the ideal time to do this.  We passed on that one.

As we travelled we followed the Bungle Bungles Range to its west.  The mountains looked great but as the sun was on the opposite side any photos taken were less than ideal.  Then as the road swung around to the east and we drove through a wide gap the colour of the mountains began to change.  So did the shape and the form.  Within about en minutes we were travelling through the Domes for which the Bungles are best known.  We had not expected to get so close to them.  These mountains truly are unique which can only be demonstrated by the photos which really were inadequate. 

The Domes.

More of these amazing forms.

And this is a bit different.

And how about this?

Reaching the park we set off to visit Cathedral Gorge.  The brochure said to allow two to three hours but we were there in forty minutes. These were very special.  As the many visitors entered the extremely large cavern at the head of the gorge they really became quiet as if entering a cathedral.  The roof of the cavern was some 200 metres high.  Below was a large pool surrounded by white sand.  The walls of the cavern were a deep red for the main and orange where recent rock falls had occurred.  By “recent” one means within the last five years or so.  This was truly awe inspiring.  God only creates good and wonderous things but in this case He excelled Himself.

Path up the sandy creek bed to Cathedral Gorge.

Pot Holes - formed by swirling rubble while creek is in flood.

Unusual erosion of the walls

The Cathedral Cavern, note the height.

From the far wall of the cavern.

Unusual erosion of the walls.

More potholes.

Beautiful scenes everywhere.

Out of the gorge and Ian visited the Piccaninny Creek lookout.  Here one could travel up and then look out over the dry creek bed of hardened sandstone worn with deep grooves lengthwise down the creek bed. 

The unique sandstone floor of Piccanny Creek.

Dry Piccanny Creek in the foreground.

Then another walk took the visitor in a loop track around some of the Domes giving a close up view of the rocks themselves.  

Like fine lacework in the rock.

The Abonomoble Termite Mound -
What do you think it looks like?

Alice loves Cocker Spanials.  Do you see him?

It was difficult to leave this amazing place but heat & hunger did a good job of enticement back toward camp.  Another night in camp where sleep would not be a problem at all.

Finally on Tuesday morning we slowly packed up camp and headed back out of Purnululu to the base camp down near the road.  Today there was not nearly as many vehicles on the road as we had experienced coming up.  And to our pleasure we found that the grader had been working on the road and it had improved measurably in many areas.  Biggest surprise however was that many of the creek crossings had actually dried up.  There were still about ten or so to cross through water but just as many as that had dried considerably. We wondered if it was our recollection that had erred but having spoken to other drivers in camp that night it was confirmed.  This was a real demonstration of the impact of the “Dry Season” here in the north. 

There was still some water to cross.

It was great to get back to our base camp and to relocate our van out of storage but much of the rest of the day was spent on clean up.  Still it was a memorable visit and will not be quickly forgotten.

That night in base camp we enjoyed a country stew meal with many other visitors and it was great again to meet new people and build new relationships.