Purnululu NP and Surrounds

We booked into Hidden Valley Caravan Park for a couple of days in Kununurra. This park backed onto Mirima NP, often referred to as a Mini Bungle Bungles, and therefore a great introduction for our plans to come. The weather had started to pick up in temperature – hitting 40 odd degrees in winter in plain scary. We spent a day relaxing and swimming in the park pool then began our epic adventure down to the Bungle Bungles.

On the way out of town we waved to the friendly Belgian Backpackers on the main road (with their thumbs up once again), then travelled down one of the rural roads to check out the famed Zebra Rock Gallery. Kununurra/ Lake Argyle is the only region in which this rock is found, and is affectionately known as being more rare than diamond, however without the massive price tag. There is a lot of mumbo jumbo to go with the Zebra Rock story, but basically it looks cool, isn’t found in many places, and the majority of it was flooded when the Ord River was dammed, making it pretty dang hard to get your hands on. Even to get it out of the ground is no mean feat with the weather up here, but of course I wanted some and am now one rock heavier in my collection. As if Zebra Rock wasn’t impressive enough, the gallery bordered on the Upper Ord River, and had hundreds of catfish that came to the jetty for a feed of bread, a must do, amazing to see the size of some of these guys.

Just a few cat fish ....

A little further down the road was Oria Orchards, which had a whole load of different plantations along the driveway with signs saying what they were and when they were harvested. This was interesting, however the farm shop left us wishing we were here a few months later, with just some fresh veggies on offer (we want mangoes dammit). We settled for a bag of dried mango and some sweet potato instead and continued on our way. The next few hours was an epic journey of boring blacktop, broken up by a boring rest area for lunch and some amusing boabs spotted on the plains bordering the road. We pulled up at a rest area almost opposite the Purnululu entry and immediately realised we were not the only ones with the same idea. The lower (shady) area was overflowing with caravans (and a massive bus towing a mid-size 4x4) and so we had to settle for the upper area, which at least had a few perks.

One of the perks! ..and some boabs below.

Our overnight stop left us in a great position to begin our Purnululu/Bungle Bungle experience, being within a kilometre of the gates and dirt road into the park. With previous accounts warning us of the road conditions and 2+ hours driving time, we prepared ourselves and the car after closing the entrance gates. Like with many of these warnings, we found ourselves pleasantly surprised with the time it took us to get into the park. Unlike the Gibb, this road kept the speed down due to the many twists and turns and although corrugated we had definitely experienced worse recently. A quick stop over at the visitor centre gave us a bit more information and a bumper sticker in preparation of what was to come. Our first night was set to be in the southern section at Walardi camp and proved to be a nice, shady site (and prior recommendations to not go in site 13 resulted in less toilet fumes). It was 10:30 by the time we set up, and the mercury was already easily hitting 30 degrees. An executive decision to stay put and get up early to do the walks in the cool morning air was made. Somehow the day passed, doing very little, except socialising with some neighbours, getting good ideas on where to go and what to do over the next couple of months. Travellers going in the reverse direction is one of the best info sources about.

We arose with the early morning light and watched the sun rise as we ate our breakfast. Having packed up mostly the night before we were off to a flying start and were back out of the car and into our hiking boots by 7:00. The southern walk trails range from a 700m loop walk of the famed Bungle Bungle Domes, through to an overnight hike through the gorges. We set our sights for “The Window”, knowing that the return trip, along with other points of interest, would add up to a 10 km walk.

The Hulk meets the Bungles

The Domes loop provided some great vantage points to view the black and orange bee-hive-like structures. These domes have alternating horizontal rings of black cyanobacteria and orange iron oxide that each play their part in preserving these magnificent ranges from the harsh, eroding conditions of the tropical wet season. Following this was a short walk to Cathedral Gorge, a stunning, deep gorge with a small pool at its end. There was a short moment of peace and serenity until the masses entered the gorge along with us, at least we were 5 minutes ahead. Continuing on, the track exited the scrubland and spinifex and followed the dry creek bed onwards to Piccaninny Creek Lookout. This creek bed spanned some 15 metres in width, and ranged in terrain from soft pure white sand to large smooth river stones and bare bedrock with numerous gaps and holes, some Michael could easily hide in and took pleasure in doing so (however wishing they were full of water).

A look at the creek bed we walked along.

The lookout provided an elevated view over the surrounding savannah plains and Bungle ranges. We admired the view and took some happy snaps then both squeezed into a patch of shade for a bit of reprieve and a quick bite to eat. As more walkers came along we made our departure and headed back to the main track to continue a bit further up to The Window. With low expectations after our socialising the night before (“it’s a rock with a hole in it”), we were happy to have made it this far and enjoyed looking around and climbing the rocks for some great views and shots. With the heat barrelling down on us, we did not even consider continuing on and instead made our way back along the creek bed to the car. We had one final glance at the magnificent Bungle Bungles then hopped in our wonderfully air conditioned car, and drove to the northern section of the park for the evening’s camp site.

I give you a hole in a rock - the window!

Along the way we stopped in at a lookout, were aghast that we had to walk up a hill to get a decent view (we had just done 10 kms…) but continued nonetheless and took a few more photos and sung songs (potentially hysteria/delusions had set in).

We made camp in the midday sun, happy to have once again picked a shady site, this time at Kurrajong camp ground, and hid from the worst of the heat under the awning, playing games, eating food and just chilling.

The view from the lookout - if you look closely you can spy hulkie hiding.

The next day started similarly early, with grand plans for a long morning walk. We watched the sun rise as we had our toast and tea, then finished packing up and headed for the starting point of today’s walks – The Bloodwoods car park. From here it was a 4.4 km return journey through Mini Palms Gorge, during which time we looked at hundreds of palms, many of which were hanging precariously from the edge of the cliff in search of sunlight and water, and protection from fire, while others had to do it the hard way, having grown over twenty metres so the sunlight reaches their fronds for as long as possible deep within the gorge.  The walk took us through a dry creek bed, over rocks, through small gaps in the boulders and up some ladders to a walkway overlooking the “amphitheatre of mystery” at the end of the gorge. Being so early, we had most of the walk to ourselves and enjoyed the cool air within the gorge while listening to the echo of the bird whistles and taking in the sights.

As we exited the gorge we were hit by the hot air, it wasn’t even 8:30 and it would have easily been over 30 degrees. Even so, we soldiered on, quickly refilling the water on the way past the car on our way to the other walk here, Homestead Valley Gorge. This walk provided some great views of the surrounding palms and sheer rock cliffs, however with the wider gorge came a much greater heat as the morning wore on. Obviously others had felt this way, and at the end of the 2.2 km walk in there was a shaded pavilion with a couple of benches to sit and recover, preparing for the return walk through the scrubland and creek bed (dry again, as was all of the park).

Echidna Chasm 

Feeling ambitious, and with the recommendation of viewing Echidna Chasm in the middle of the day for the shaft of light that penetrates the deep gorge, we drove down the road, prepared a quick morning tea and were once again walking through a dry, rocky creek bed. The cool air hit us instantly as we entered the gorge, immediately surrounded by more Livistona palms reaching for the sky. The gorge was full of contrasting colours and textures, with red cliffs spotted with dark river stones, green palms and blue sky. The lower walls of the chasm were bleached white from the yearly wet season flooding, and were quickly diminishing in width to a point where you could touch both sides. Venturing on we had to manoeuvre around a couple of fallen boulders, climb a ladder, and all of a sudden we were at the end of the chasm looking straight up 100m to the blue sky above. On the return walk we experienced the magnificent colours as the sun moved overhead, lighting up different sections of the walls. This was a truly spectacular experience.

With 10.8km under our belt before we had reached midday, we felt that it was time to once again return to camp for a feed and relaxing afternoon trying to avoid the heat that comes with winter (36+ degrees…). We finished our day with a cold shower (water provided J by the park) and a stunning steak and chip dinner on the fire (wood provided J by the park).

Purnululu NP and the Bungle Bungles was a great detour and one not to be missed, and a scenic flight alone would not do it justice (despite what many nomads have suggested). In total we walked over 22 kms in two days (mornings) and really got a feel for why this area is World Heritage Listed.

Lesson of the Week: It is called the dry season for a reason!!