The Bungle Bungles

From Kununurra we headed to the Bungle Bungles before taking the Gibb River Road to Broome, however first we had a slight detour in the opposite direction as we headed north to Wyndham. About 8 kms out of Kununurra we took the back road north, making a stop at Ivanhoe Crossing, the old ford across the Ord River, which was closed due to the amount of water still flowing over it. The locals don't think Ivanhoe Crossing will be open at all this year due to the big wet last season. This dirt road took us up to Parry Lagoons Nature Reserve and our overnight camping spot at Parry Creek Farm Tourist Resort. We camped amongst the mango trees which were in full fruit but sadly a long way from being ripe. We unhooked the van and finished the last 40 kms to Wyndham and the Five Rivers Lookout, which gave excellent views over Wyndham Pier, the croc farm and as the name suggests, a number of rivers heading out into the Timor Sea. While we were there our solitude was broken by two 'Outback Spirit' 4WD coaches, which provided much entertainment for the kids. Maddi was convinced that we should have one of these luxury off-road vehicles converted into a motorhome.She was not fazed that we would have to sell our house to afford one and that we would have live in it when we got back to Sydney. Back down to Parry Creek Farm for a swim in the pool (rather than the lagoon due to the salties) before dinner.

Camped amongst the mango trees

Five Rivers Lookout

Outback Spirits Arrive at Five Rivers Lookout

Next morning it was a traditional late start after taking the tyres back up to highway pressure for the long drive down to the access road for the Bungles. A pleasantly uneventful drive took us to the new Bungle Bungle Caravan Park. 

We checked out both the Spring Creek rest area, which gets good reviews, and the caravan park. We opted for the caravan park as we were planning on leaving the caravan behind overnight while we spent a night in the Bungles. The caravan park was very new, only opened in May this year and with only a few powered sites. They only had unpowered sites available, which was fine for us. We found a nice shady site away from the main area but failed in negotiations to be able to leave it in the same spot the following night, so had to move it to the storage area in the morning.

The track into the Bungles is about 50 kms long and fairly rough in patches with a number of water crossings. National Parks has put a duel axel ban on the track so we had to leave the van behind. After driving in we decided we could have towed the van in but it would have been hard work and taken us even longer then the 2 hours it already took us.

Purnululu National Park (Bungle Bungle)

Car gets a little dirty at times

 On arrival at our first creek crossing, there was a Troopy in the river just off to the left hand side of the main crossing track. He was clearly stuck in the soft sand and a guy, Grayson, who we later discovered to be one of our hosts in the evening, had stopped to help them out. We stopped to check if they needed a hand and Grayson enquired if we had a spare shackle, then another snatchem strap, then ‘How about you pull them out!'. Grayson was driving a 4 cylinder Pajero, which he already had placed on fairly unstable ground and his snatchem strap was not long enough to reach the vehicle. With our snatchem straps looped together and our car on the main track and very solid ground, we successfully pulled the Troopy out. Thankfully the Troopy came out of the sand quite easily but was never going to make it up the sandy drop-off they had gone down, so they had to floor it through the firm sand and back onto the main crossing track. The rest of the track was uneventful and we never saw either of the two other vehicles again.

Troopy well and truly stuck

Entertainment for the kids

Once we finally reached the Visitor Centre and purchased our Park Entry Pass, we continued onto Piccaninny Creek in the southern part of the park for a late lunch by the car. After lunch we headed off on a short walk through the impressive beehive, striped domes and into Catherdal Gorge Amphitheatre. The walk around this area was fairly easy and we even found a snake in a deep circular hole carved in the rocks on our side trip into the Cathedral. The Cathedral itself is very impressive and provides some wonderful acoustics for the kids who wished to try out their voices just a little louder then usual. As if our kids could really get any louder.

Kai and Maddi take in the view of the Domes 

Cathedral Gorge Amphitheatre

 After a solid day we headed to our five star accommodation at the Kimberly Wilderness Lodge Camp. As we had to leave the van behind and wanted to spend more than one day at the Bungles due to the hard drive in and out, we booked some accommodation. These five star permanent tents are the way to go if the budget permits and, as we were late in the season, we got a half price deal. We had two tents (there is no family tent concept) with Tig and the girls in one and Thea and Kai in the other. Dinner was roast lamb followed by apple crumble with custard. The staff were fantastic and provided great entertainment for the kids of which they don’t see very many. Tig and I helped bridge the age gap between the guests and the staff and with ninety percent of the guests on an APT tour we also had the luxury of the whole place and staff to ourselves for breakfast at 7.30am. The last tour bus departed for the day as we arrived for our breakfast.

Kai and Thea's 5 star accommodation

Almost the whole place to ourselves

After breakfast we packed up our few belongings and drove to the northern end of the park to explore Echidna Chasm. We aimed to be there between 11.30am and 12.30pm so it was a rather warm and therefore slow walk in with the kids along a rocky creek bed before we got to the Chasm itself. Between 11.30 and 12.30 the sun's rays reach the inside of the 1m wide by 30m+ high Chasm as it is directly overhead. This made for a complete experience of this fascinating place. The kids had fun walking through the tight gap in the rock and then climbing the rock wall at the very end. The walk out was even longer than going in and we even had a little picnic of fruit in the creek bed before we made it back to the car.

Maddi capturing Echidna Chasm on film 

Kids take to the walls 

The midday sun pours in

 Once back at the car we decided to start the drive out before lunch and stopped along the track at a shady creek crossing for a bite to eat. After an uneventful drive out we made it back to the van where we hooked up and pulled out to the main road. We decided to get a little further north before turning in for the night and ended up at a rest area (not marked on our maps or in the Camps Australia book) about 15kms up the road. We were joined by a few other travellers soon after we arrived and amazingly we where the first to leave in the morning.

Next stop was the eastern end of the Gibb River Road.

Till then …

Tig & Thea