Bungle Bungles Pictures
Kimberley Photo Gallery
These Bungle Bungles pictures were taken just after the wet season in May 2006. I can warmly recommend a trip into Purnululu National Park at that time of the year.
The Bungle Bungles range is a lot more beautiful when everything is still lush and green and the acacias and grevilleas are flowering.
There aren't too many tourists, and there is still water in the creeks and waterholes along the hikes in the park.
Some of the creek crossings on the way into Purnululu National Park may still be a bit deep, so you will need a real four wheel drive, not one of those fashionable toy things for the cities...
Bungle Bungles Pictures 1
Road Into Purnululu National Park
The track into Purnululu National Park doesn't have a very good reputation. It's supposed to be awful. So the last thing I expected was an exceptionally beautiful drive...
The other thing I didn't quite expect, was to find four dud batteries in the brand new pack I just bought for my camera in Halls Creek. Grrr. So this is the only picture I could shoot of the road in. It turns into a rough enough track pretty soon and you have to take it slow, but personally I wouldn't want to go fast anyway.
The views as the track winds its way through the hills and Bungles ranges that you see in the distance were incredible in the evening sun. One of the worst places I ever found myself without a functioning camera...
Bungle Bungles Pictures 2
Camping Outside Purnululu National Park
Not only had I run out of camera batteries. We ran out of daylight shortly after, before actually reaching Purnululu National Park.
So we had to camp, highly illegally, outside the national park borders. By next morning my batteries had recovered enough to take one more photo: the sunrise over our campsite, about one kilometre off the road.
The car is already packed up, we didn't want to get into trouble so we didn't hang around, although it was a great spot.
Most of the morning was spent at the Purnululu National Park visitor centre. Not because there is so much to do there (although the people in the store were lovely to talk to). No, they had power points! The first we'd seen in over a week. It took a few hours to bring my rechargeable batteries back to life...
The maintenance of the roads inside the Bungle Bungles National Park is funded out of a different pot and the tracks are much better:
Bungle Bungles Pictures 3
The Bungle Bungles
We made our way to the campground, set up camp, and in the afternoon finally, for the first time, set eyes on the beehive domes that the Bungle Bungle range is so famous for.
Morning or evening, the drive down to the southern part of the Bungle Bungle ranges is stunning. You are not really allowed to stop anywhere but in designated areas, but I couldn't resist. (As you can tell by the tracks, most people are better and stick to the rules...)
Bungle Bungles Pictures 4 + 5
Cathedral Gorge
Cathedral Gorge is the most famous and popular location within Purnululu National Park (it's the easiest to get to...). For many visitors it's the only place that they see on the ground.
Cathedral Gorge is an impressive place, no doubt. But I actually found every single other hike in Purnululu National Park more interesting...
Bungle Bungles Pictures 6 - 8
Piccaninny Creek
This is my favourite hike: Piccaninny Creek. It takes more time, so most people (who always seem to be in a rush) see this part of Purnululu National Park only from the air.
Bungle Bungles Pictures 9 + 10
Mini Palms Gorge
Mini Palms Gorge is one of the two hikes in the northern section of Purnululu National Park. As you can see, this part of the park looks totally different.
Bungle Bungles Pictures 11 + 12
Echidna Chasm
Echidna Chasm, the other hike in the northern section, is a fun walk, but it's impossible to photograph. The hike leads up a narrow gap in the rock, and gets narrower and narrower. Overhead the midday sun is blazing, and at the bottom of the chasm it's very dark. But at least it's cool...
Bungle Bungles Pictures 13 - 15
Creek Crossings
And to finish things off, here are a few photos, showing some of the many creek crossings on our way out of Purnululu National Park.
Go here to read more about Purnululu National Park.
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