Saturday 20th July 2013 – Parry Creek Farm to Bungle Bungle Caravan Park

Karen and Mark set off early to head back to Kununurra.  The tyre repair yesterday was not 100% successful so they had decided to travel via Kununurra today to pick up a replacement.

Jill and I took our time and did a little exploring along Old Halls Creek Road (originally the main road south but now only a 4WD track.  It was along this road that thousands of people trapsed hoping to strike it rich at the Halls Creek gold rush.  We had read that some of the edges of the road at been paved and we did find sections of this.  It’s still pretty hard to imagine anyone pushing their wheelbarrow 300 km to Halls Creek.  Temperature is in the 30s again today and we’re very happy with the air-conditioned vehicle thankyou.  They don’t breed them like they used to!!!  We called into the Grotto and I walked down the 140 steps and had a quick swim.  It wasn’t particularly inviting as there was no water coming over the falls which meant the water was a bit stagnate.  Jill didn’t like the idea of the steps – a bit steep she though, so stayed in the car.

The drive towards Hall Creek is quite pretty, through the mountains.  We called into Doon Doon Roadhouse for an ice block and Warman Roadhouse (formerly Turkey Creek) for a burger with the lot (where we met up with K&M).  From here it was only 50km to the turn off to Purnululu National Park and the Bungle Bungle Caravan Park where we planned on camping the night.  It’s a fairly dusty spot but has toilets and showers so is quite adequate.

Sunday 21st July 2013 – Bungle Bungle Caravan Park to Purnululu

Filled up with water before we set off.  We had heard that the track into the National Park was pretty rough.  Guess everything is relative.  Compared with some of the roads we had been on it was in pretty good condition – corrugated in places, up and down a lot and quite windy but better than a lot we have been on.  The clouds today are amazing.  Quite scalloped across the sky.  They certainly make photos interesting.

We called in to the Park Office to find our allotted camp spots (had booked from Kununurra the other day).  Bought a couple of tee shirts, cards etc and set off to Kurrajong Camp Area (no generators at Kurrajong which will be a nice change after the generator din last night).  Found our spot and set up – big annexe plus the tarp extension today.  Seeing we're here for three days it’s worth the extra effort.

Lunch and then a nice restful afternoon.

Soon after 4 pm we went for a drive back to Kungkalanayi Lookout to view the sunset.  It was quite pretty booth to the east (shining against the Bungle Bungle Range) and to the west (for your expected red sunset).

Back to camp for dinner and a communal campfire tonight.  While the days are still very hot the nights are cooling down.  It was nice to hear about other peoples travels.

Monday 22nd July 2013 – Purnululu

And now for something completely different!!!!  I remember saying before that it’s amazing how everywhere in WA has different rock structure.  Purnululu is no different.  Here it’s the banded sandstone cone formations made even more remarked by the large areas and large boulders of conglomerate rock.  The striking orange and grey banding is caused by the presence or absence of cyanobacteria (blue-green algae).  The dark bands indicate the presence of cyanobacteria which grows on layers of sandstone where moisture accumulates.  The orange bands are oxidised iron compounds that have dried out too quickly for the cyanobacteria to grow.

This morning we were up early to get the 4.4 km (return) Mini Palms walk completed before the heat of the day.  What an amazing spot.  Initially you are walking through a creek bed in fairly open country.   The creek bed is covered in small rounded pebbles unlike the large rounded rocks in the creek beds at El Questro.  Once in the gorge one needs to climb over and around large conglomerate boulders that have fallen into the gorge at some stage of history partly blocking ones way.  Seeing we’re talking about rock that is 20 million years old I imagine the boulders have been here for some time and we don’t have to worry about further rocks falling today.

There are lots of Livistona palms through the gorge (giving it its name) including high up on the cliff faces.  They have survived in this part of the world because they are protected here from bushfires.  The walk concludes at the end of the gorge with a man made platform looking down into an amphitheatre of level gorge floor.

Next stop was Echidna Chasm.  We had timed things to be here at 11:30 to catch the sun shining down into the centre of the Chasm.  To ‘kill’ a bit of time we walked the short distance to Osmand Lookout which takes in the panoramic views of neighbouring Osmand Range.

The 2km (return) walk again traverses the creek.  The difference here is that the gorge becomes extremely narrow.  With walls over 200m high and in places only a few metres wide it is quite spectacular.  The Chasm itself is a little wider and the sun shines on the walls giving a very bright orange glow.

On the way back to camp we called in to do the short Stonehenge walk.  This short walk has lots of signs identifying the various plants in the area.

Back to camp for lunch and a rest.  Some of us even had a nap.  At about 4:30 we went for a walk up the hill behind the camp area to watch the sunset.  On the way we noticed that our rear passenger side tyre was almost flat so when we came back it was time to change the tyre.  We discovered a puncture – a hole in the tyre but nothing in it now.  Out came the tyre repair kit to plug the hole.  Even though the plug seems to have done the job I guess it will be a visit to the tyre repair shop in Halls Creek or Alice Springs to patch the inside of the tyre.

Dinner tonight was Sushi and very nice it was too.

Tuesday 23rd July 2013 – Purnululu

Today we went walking in the South Eastern section of the park, among the iconic ‘bee hive’ shaped domes that make the Bungle Bungles famous.  This is quite different to the North Western section we were in yesterday.  The North Western section of the range is massive, with deep gorges.  There has been much less weathering on this side of the range.  The South Eastern section is not as high and the whole countryside along Piccaninny Creek is one huge ‘lost city’ of sandstone domes.

We walked along the Piccaninny Gorge Track as far as the window (about 3km).  The track follows the creek bed and unlike yesterday where we were climbing over and around conglomerate boulders, today there is not one to be found.  The creek bed is a floor of sandstone (quite eroded in places).  What a site it would be at the end of the wet when the creek was still running.  It was a wonderful walk.  It was about 8:30 in the morning (not too hot) with a breeze blowing.  Looking back down the creek at all the domes it is easy to see why this area is world heritage listed.  It’s quite amazing.  The window is just a hole in a rock which is a bit of an anti-climax after the ‘lost city’.  We did see our bird for the day here – a cute little red browed pardalote.

On the way back we took the branch walk into Cathedral Gorge.  This spot is incredible.  A huge amphitheatre surrounded by soaring cliffs.  Apparently a few days ago there was a corroboree performed here.  That would have been quite a sight.

Near the car park there is a short Domes Track that winds around among the domes.  It’s fascinating having a close look at the banding of the rock.

On the way back to camp we called into the visitor’s centre to make a few phone calls.  Watched lots of double bar finches in the tree just off the verandah.  Then back to camp for lunch and another restful afternoon.  It’s just too hot here to be doing anything outside in the early afternoon.