THE  KIMBERLEY

PURNULULU  (BUNGLE BUNGLES)

We loaded our tent and camping gear into the car, left our van at a caravan park, and drove the 54 kms. into the Bungle Bungles.  The road in was quite rough and windy, along which we encountered about 16 water crossings, the first of which was quite deep - about 50 mm.  It took us 1.45 hrs to reach the Visitor's Centre, where we had to register.  We had previously booked a campsite, a process which has been started just this year, due to the high numbers of tourists wanting to stay in the national park.  There are two main areas where you can walk, so we headed for the northern  end, past Kurrajong campsite.  We did three walks  a short one to a lookout with lovely views; then along Echidna Creek bed to the Chasm; and finally along another creekbed  to the Mini Palms Gorge.  We didn't finish the third one, as I was finding the going a bit hard on the pebbly surface, and it was getting quite warm. 


Echidna chasm

The light streaming into the Echidna Chasm at midday was spectacular.






We drove south to Walardi Campsite, to set up camp before sunset, which happened at about 4.45 pm.

The evening was fun, sitting around a communal campfire, chatting with other campers.

Despite the temperature falling quite dramatically overnight, we slept comfortably on the lilo.  However, we were amazed to hear dingoes howling early in the morning - a haunting sound which we'd never heard before.



Cathedral Gorge

The next day we drove a short distance to Piccaninny Creek car park, and from here we walked for about 2 hours.  This is where  the domes are situated - the iconic rock formations for which Purnulu is known.  It's a fascinating area, with the striped rock, grey creek beds, and beautiful gorges. 
 Because we'd started quite early in the day, it was reasonably cool, and there were also some shaded areas we walked through, particularly as we got into the gorge. 




Later in the afternoon, we sat and waited for the sun to go down, so we could get some photos of the changing colours on the hills in the distance.