In the 1980's my main point of reference about all things Australian was Neighbours, and I clearly remember Helen ( Scot's grandmother ) grabbing an opportunity to go to the Bungle Bungles to paint watercolours of the area. I had no idea what they were, or where they were, but the name stuck in the recesses of my mind.
Situated in Purnululu National Park, the Bungle Bungle Range is a series of spectacular beehive-like sandstone domes. Europeans first arrived in the region in the late nineteenth century, but apart from a bit of gold prospecting and some cattle farming the ranges were pretty much unexplored and undocumented. A documentary about the region in 1983 put the area into the spotlight, and a National park was established in 1987 ( I am pretty sure that was when it featured on Neighbours) and in 2003 it was declared a World Heritage area.
The area is a maze of striped domes, many 250 metres high, and the colours of the rock and the surrounding fan palms are quite stunning.
It was with some trepidation that we arrived at the airport at 6 am, but the lovely Alligator Airways pilot seemed to know how to fly a plane and the 1 hour trip to the bungles was smooth and enjoyable.
We flew over Lake Argyle, the largest man made lake in Australia, created by damming the River Ord in 1971. It is 54 times larger than Sydney harbour, and boats sailing on it have to have a seafaring licence. It provides irrigation to the Ord basin and hydroelectric power to all the surrounding towns.
We managed to choose the hottest day of the dry season to date with the temperature exceeding 40 degrees so walking several kilometres around the rocks, through chasms and into gorges was a challenge.Fortunately we started very early but by mid afternoon we were all flagging. The tourist season is winding down at the top end as it is now too hot to do anything.
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| From trek phase 3 |
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