Day 45 - Purnululu - Bungle Bungle National Park (south end)

Tuesday, 13 July 2021

Let’s do it, I say. We’ve been debating whether or not to do the Bungle Bungle National Park for days. Yes. No. Maybe too much like the Keep River rock formations, only crowded and touristy. Our last night in the N.T. we settled on giving it a miss. But this morning, that old gut feeling was there giving me a thumbs up on the Bungles.

The signs at the turnoff to the park are clear: this is not your conventional tourist site. Yes, it’s spectacular, World Heritage listed. But don’t expect ease and comfort. It’s down a 53 kms dirt road that’s only suitable for high clearance 4WD vehicles. Expect heavy corrugation, bumps, rocks, ditches, creek crossings, narrow turns and steep hills. You’re allowed to take heavy duty single-axel camper trailers but caravans aren’t allowed. In other words, it’s not a journey for the faint-hearted.

Still, the Bungle Bungle is top on a lot of Australians bucket list and we’re in the peak season. At least half the visitors opt for the expensive, pampered way in via helicopter ($600pp for a 40 minute ride) or small plane from Kununurra or Broome ($1700pp for the flight, plus four nights’ accommodation in a “rustic lodge” [read: glamping], guided walking tours, authentic outback travel in a fully equipped and air-conditioned 4WD tour bus, gourmet outback meals and full-strength beer).

The low budget way in appeals to us, despite our obvious delight in being back on paved roads again. And since we couldn’t find a car wash in Kununurra, heaping another layer of dust on (in and around) the car won’t make much difference. But we’re doubtful we’ll get a site in one of the two camping grounds in the park. The entry sign suggests booking ahead online and indeed most people book months in advance to secure their place. I check the park website and discover I can book the last available site in the southern (more popular) section – what luck!

Despite the road being exactly as described, the drive into the park is spectacular, especially after leaving the cow-trodden landscape of the station that takes up the first 20kms of the trip. Knobby hills and ragged ridges appear and the land looks wild and original. Picturesque and pleasing. Vast. I’m glad we decided to do it.

The Walardi campground is spacious, spread along a dry river. We pick a site with peek-a-boo views of the range, set up camp and head out to do the southern walks. It’s hot – 34C – but with the winter sun low in the north, shadows coat much of the trails by the time we’re on them.

The round-topped beehive domes are 350 million years old, striated orange and black, lending them a burnt appearance. The trail weaves in and around the domes, up a narrow gorge that ends at a small pool of clean water where a delightful bird’s song pings off the rock walls. It’s nice to wet the bandana and wrap it around my neck: free air con.

As we hike up the narrow trail to Cathedral Gorge, the poster child for the Bungle’s spectacular scenery, we pass a long train of hot and tired looking seniors, dressed in bright polyesters and clean sneakers. A lanky young Aboriginal man brings up the rear, dressed in a blue uniform, carrying a clipboard, a first aid kit on his back. Some of his charge are smiling, others look wan and dazed, possibly thinking this isn’t what they’d signed up for: a long walk on a hot day in the middle of nowhere, never mind how beautiful it is at the end. Where's the full strength beer??

By the time we finish the 10 kms loop, we know how they feel…at least the tired bit plus the yearning for a cold beer. The walk has been wonderful, different enough from other rockscapes we’ve seen, and we’re glad we made the effort to get here. The drive through the tunnel of dust that hovers over the roads gets us back to the campsite just in time to watch the sun fire up the distant hills, making silhouette of the trees. In the opposite direction, Mars and Venus have finally made their conjunction, close as they'll get (half a thumb's width with your arm fully extended) till they meet up again in 2024.