111-113 - Purnululu NP (The Bungle Bungles) (17/7 - 19/7)

Rolling out of Fitzroy Crossing a little later than planned, we like the Butchers ahead of us, pointed the van towards Purnululu (formally known as The Bungle Bungles) a few hundred kilometres to the West.

For intents and purposes, it was a largely uneventful drive. There was a reasonably close call with another caravanner ahead of us who chose some very 'interesting' moments to overtake trucks, but we all escaped unscathed. We did have a 'picnic' lunch on the grass alongside the road in Halls Creek, stuffing down the last of the pastries. The Butchers has also arrived by then, having left a similar time to us, but needing to refuel in Fitzroy Crossing before meeting us.

Off we chuffed, in the same direction, albeit us headed for a free camp and the Butchers for the Caravan Park near the entry to the National Park.

We found a lovely roadside stop, Leycesters, just 10km short of the entry in the National Park. A spot was reasonably easy to find, although those arriving a little later took it upon themselves to simply park in the road, which would make getting out pretty interesting if they weren't early risers (they were).

An evening stroll around the grounds was lovely, before we made some dinner and repacked the truck for our adventure into Purnululu. For the first time in many, many, moons, the surfboard actually made it down from the lofty heights of the rock truck... only to be stashed away inside the van whilst we left it behind!

Our site at Leycesters. A little reorganising of stuff, as the roof platform needed to be used as a roof platform and not a surfboard holder.

Walking around Leycesters, we nearly missed this guy right near the campground. A reasonably effort by a cow to camouflage I reckon!

The free camp site was next to the old road alignment, which went across this causeway. Would a bit hairy meeting a roadtrain coming the other way on this bit of track!

The next morning we headed off. This was to be a van-less trip and we left the caravan park at the entrance to the park where the Butchers were staying. Offering storage at around $20 or so, we thought it was reasonable insurance compared to just leaving it overnight in a roadside stop (which I'm sure would've been fine, but... you never know).

And off we went.

The road into the National Park was an awesome drive in itself, but certainly a lot longer and more involved than I was expecting. Flat in parts, quite hilly and rocky in others, the terrain asked a bit. Throw in a water crossing or two, and some wildlife, and the drive in was probably worth the price of admission itself. I hope they don't upgrade it, as it adds to the experience and effort of getting in there in the first place. 50km of solid 4WD-ing and outback touring.

Here's a little time-lapse snippet of it.

Eventually we made it to the National Park entrance. Little did we know the Visitor Centre and campgrounds were still quite some distance away.

We got to the Ranger Station and confirmed out pre-booked campground and headed into the park proper. But before jumping in we noticed this guy coming through the carpark...

I have no idea how this guy got in here. The road we came in on, in parts was far too tight, narrow and dangerous for a rig this size. Surely, he knew some secret unknown road through somewhere. If not, I'm bloody glad I didn't meet him on the way out!

We quickly dumped our stuff at a campground site without setting up (the universal language for putting 'dibs') before heading into the park to get a few walks in in the afternoon whilst the sun was out and the weather perfect.

First destination... Echidna Gorge.

I hadn't heard much about this place, and my preconception of Purnululu was of the traditional 'beehive' domes. How wrong was I. This part of the park was almost like walking back into Central Australia, with towering red ranges and gorges galore. The walk into Echidna Gorge took us down this river bed... not my favourite walking surface.

Then as we progressed it got narrower...

A lot narrower!! We were quite lucky to have reached the gorge at the time when it was flooded with the most light. I would like to say that was deliberate, but to be honest, it was more fluke than anything else. Still, you take it where you can. I love this shot though, makes me think we look like Indiana Jones!

The gorge was phenomenal. Just when we thought it couldn't keep going, we scaled a rock or climbed a ladder and it kept going. And to give you an idea of how narrow it got in parts...

...here is James pushing the walls apart.

Evie then tried, but failed...

...before Sam had a crack. Still, it wouldn't budge!

Eventually though, the gorge ran out and we reached the end. Here is Evie walking as far as she can and standing under where water would fall from miles above her to continue the erosion process. This shot turned out better than I thought, as it was quite the optical illusion to separate the path from the walls.

On the walk out we all decided that the walk was absolutely 'one of the best' we'd done. It was right up there with one of the coolest places I've walked. I used to think Standley Chasm was just about the coolest gorge/gap I'd been to, but I think this one has taken the title. A stunningly beautiful place.

Not done, we headed over to Mini-Palms Gorge. You can actually walk from one to the other, but that would have left too little time in the day to actually get into the gorge so we drove around.

The walk into this gorge was also a little sedate at the start, and took us through some burnt out scrub land. I did wonder what it must have looked like before the fire, but in a way, we considered ourselves lucky to see it in it's current condition.

But then the walk became a little more adventurous and the kids came into their own. On the flat I have their measure. In this terrain, I can hardly keep up.

It was a great walk, where we were met with this view from the lookout at the end. It might be a little deceiving, but those trees at the bottom are fully grown trees and the canyon floor is easily 10-20m below where we stood. Now this place would be insane in the wet... Not to mention completely inaccessible... 

Mini Palms was a great walk, but by the end, our intrepid explorers (and their guides) were pretty worn out. It was time to head back and set up camp!

Camp Purnululu... It's amazing how stuff can just explode out of the car when you open it up! There is something nice about heading 'back to basics' and once again it was Boys vs. Girls tents. It was a great little site, but we did away with the fire in exchange for early nights. Surprisingly, there wasn't much argument!!

The next day we arose as early as we could and packed up camp. One thing I don't miss about tenting is packing up! Sure it's ok if you are set up for a few days, but it's a bit of work for just one night. Roll out the swags I say! But we got away not issues and headed for the Cathedral Gorge Walk down the southern end of the National Park.

Now this is how I pictured Purnululu to be like. The 'domes' are just freakish and nothing like the Northern end of the park. Actually, nothing like anything else I've ever seen.

This part of Purnululu (and our weather) just lends itself to panoramic shots. It's almost impossible to take a bad one. Here are the pic (excuse the pun) of the bunch. I hope it shows just how amazing the landscape is.

As we entered the gorge walk proper, Evie took time to read us the danger signs. The walk itself wasn't too bad, but it was nearing noon and the temperatures were climbing quite fast. This was not a place, with all this rock, that you'd want to be caught out in without a fair stock of water and provisions.

These gorges quite simply dwarf us all. Even more so when you are a cheeky but determined little five year old.

And this was what we came for. The amazing Catherdal Gorge... Hopefully clicking on the pic and enlarging it will give you a better sense of it, but really it was inspiring. I often wonder at places like this, just when will it collapse? What will it sound like? What will it look like when the dust settles? But really, I think we might all be long gone by the time that happens.

A family shot on the way back out. I include this shot as a reminder of the lady who took the photo for us. She took a heap, moving around, getting different backdrops. Portrait. Landscape. Contrasting colours (or so she was saying). Here I was thinking we'd get a new family shot for the loungeroom wall. But no... this was the best of them, and whilst it captures the moment, it isn't what I'd call postcard worthy!! Funny stuff, she meant well.

Still time to fit in a final panoramic or two. This was about the exact time Evie realised she has left her Monkey Mia drinking bottle all the way back in the gorge. She was very upset about it, and I hoped it would form a good lesson as to looking after her stuff... alas... it hasn't. She's lost another two since...

And so ended our brief but amazing trip into Purnululu National Park. There is just so much beauty out here, you could spend weeks exploring it. I look forward to the day we can return and tackle some of the bigger walks.

So off we trekked to pick up the Gecko who hopefully had stopped sulking about being left behind. After seeing the track, we were very happy to not try and take the van in (although others had!).

The way out did provide an interesting obstacle in the final water crossing though...

We picked up the van late in the afternoon, and after borrowing the caravan park's showering facilities, we headed off down the road to find a nice free camp. A lazy 150km or so we finally found one at Doon Doon Roadhouse which offered free unpowered campsites on their grassed area with showers if you wanted them. Suffering from "Icantbebotheredcooking-itis" we shouted the kids to a roadhouse dinner of fish and chips, with burgers for B and I... which by the looks of it, they thoroughly enjoyed!

Purnululu... we love you...