Bungle Bungles WA
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The Bungle Bungle National Park, first declared in 1987, is now the Purnululu National Park and covers approximately 3,000km2 or, more exactly, 239,723ha with an adjoining 79,602ha conservation reserve. Because its striped rock formations are so fragile, you are not allowed to climb them. The thin protective skins of dark grey cyanobacteria (formerly known as blue-green algae) grow on layers where moisture accumulates and the orange bands coloured by oxidised iron compounds grow on layers that dry out quickly. If broken, they will expose the soft sandstone beneath to weathering and erosion. To see key features, you ideally need a minimum of two full days in the Bungles; one day to visit the northern gorges and Walanginjdji Lookout and the other to do an early morning helicopter flight followed by a visit to the southern gorges, where the beehive formations are found. If you are not doing the Bungles on a day trip or a longer safari tour, you could stay at the Kurrajong Camping Area. Then you get to enjoy a number of drives alongside the spectacular western face of the Bungles - an especially brilliant sight at sunrise and sunset.
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Days are hot, so it is advisable to start your activities early. On your northern gorge day, it is a good idea to do the longest walk, the Mini Palms Walk, first. At a leisurely pace the 5km walk takes 2-3hrs. The last 500m is steep and rocky, with stairs leading to two platforms. A grove of palms stands at the end of the trail, a narrow amphitheatre. The Frog Hole walk is a moderate-to-hard 1.4km return trip and takes about an hour. After following a pebbly creek bed upstream, you negotiate large fallen blocks of conglomerate rock to get to the head of the fairly open gorge. You end up at the base of a vertical cliff with a chute-like waterfall that runs after heavy rain. The rockhole frog is found in the pool at the base of the waterfall. Echidna Chasm is an incredible, narrow, winding chasm with towering walls of conglomerate sandstone.
The easy-to-moderate 2km return walk takes a comfortable one-and-a-half hours. Following the base of a sandstone cliff to a pebbly creek bed, you then head upstream among Livistona palms, flowering grevilleas and other plants. Along the right-hand side of the track, look out for a bowerbird mound. If you’re lucky, one, two or three bowerbirds might be in the vicinity. As you continue towards masses of rock, you feel like Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves and wonder where you should cry out "Open Sesame!" Suddenly, you see an opening and feel a cool draught as you enter the shade of the several-hundred-metres-long chasm. One section of chasm is so narrow you can touch the two sides at once. After climbing over large piles of boulders wedged between the chasm’s sides, you come to an abrupt end at a vertical rock face. To traverse the chasm is an eerie enough experience in company. If you were alone, it could be quite mind-blowing. Time your return to camp to take in the Walanginjdji Lookout, 1.5km north of Three Ways, shortly before sunset if you want to enjoy seeing the late afternoon sun on the whole length of the western massif. However, avoid driving along the rough track to camp after dark.
The 500m return climb and descent is easy and takes less than 30min. Allow time to enjoy the magnificent panoramic view, a scenic and spiritual experience. On another full day you might enjoy an early morning helicopter flight from Bellburn Airstrip. All who take a flight come back bright-eyed and full of awe at what they have seen. Even the pilots come back on a high. Ross, a pilot, originally from Glen Waverley, Victoria said, "Sometimes I go up seven to twelve times a day, and I get something out of it each time". On the 30min flight, a round trip from the southern tip of the Bungle Bungle Range, you will fly over Y Gorge and Deep Gorge to Horseshoe Valley. Then you’ll return via the Piccaninny Circular Structure, formed from the impact of a meteorite 300-180 million years ago. It is 7km across, with a central elevated areas of about 4km. Erosion has since destroyed the impact crater as well as younger rocks. After your flight, you might spend the rest of the day in the southern gorges.
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At the Piccaninny Creek Car Park, a display board tells you that Piccaninny Creek has cut a long, winding gorge back into the range now standing 200m above you. It is so quiet standing among all the domes; it’s awesome. One Aboriginal guide sings for his tour groups. If you are lucky, you might hear him sing the haunting melody My Home in the Valley, which echoes round Cathedral Gorge. As you walk back, you might detour via the Domes Trail, a short loop walk off the main track that takes you among many domes and ends at the car park. After lunch, you might have a look at the start of the Piccaninny Creek walk, a 15km walk to the upper reaches of Piccaninny Gorge. The 30km return walk takes 2-5 days depending on the time you wish to spend exploring the main and side gorges. Where it branches from the Cathedral Gorge trail, you walk through the water-sculptured landscape and see single beehive domes.
As Aborigines thought the beehive formations were babies of the mother Bungle Bungle Range, and early colonists called Aboriginal babies by the Spanish name piccaninnies, this name was also used for the domes. If you have a full day to spend doing the walk, you might walk the first 7km along the creek pavements - which is relatively easy going - to the Elbow, the mouth of Piccaninny Gorge. There the gorge narrows and is strewn by fallen rocks with the creek bed covered in loose pebbles; so hiking becomes more challenging for those scrambling on to camp in the gorge. As you leave the park, you might experience sadness, yet a great uplift of spirit. Here, close to wilderness, you have experienced something of the primeval, of the world in prehistoric days.
Location: By vehicle: 250km south of Kununurra and 109km north of Halls Creek along the highway, then 53km to the Visitor Centre by a rough track.
By air: about 160km south of Kununurra and 100km north-east of Halls Creek. Aerial Tours: Run from Kununurra, Wyndham, Halls Creek, Warmun (Turkey Creek) and the park.
Fees: Entrance fee $9 per vehicle ($3 for seniors and aged pensioners), $3 per motorcycle, $9 per night for an adult and $2 a child.
Facilities: Pit toilets, fireplaces, firewood and water (not recommended for drinking). Visitor Centre-cum-Ranger Station with drinks, books, souvenirs, information displays, public flush toilet.
Features: Helicopter flight over the Bungles from Visitor Centre. To book, phone airstrip on (08) 9168 7335.
Further Information: Kimberley Regional Office
Department of Conservation and Land Management
Corner of Konkerberry Drive and Messmate Way Kununurra WA 6743
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