April 19 – 21 Purnululu National Park Walardi campground

April 25, 2018 - Reading time: 2 minutes

It took about three hours (270kms) to dive from Kununurra to the Purnululu turn off and then another two hours (52km) to reach the campsite. Maurs did most of the dirt – it was not difficult driving but the tyres pressures were lowered to 32 in the front and 36 in the rear. It was one of those drives were you could had to concentrate and not predict the road – quite a few kickbacks, creek crossings and crests with no view.

After setting up camp, we drove out to Echidna Gorge at the northern end of the Bungles on the advice of the visitor centre and walked the 2 km return walk. The Gorge gives a great example of how the bungles were formed, as you walk along the narrow creek bed between the Livistona Palms and the soaring 200 metre cliffs, scattered conglomerate boulders, eroded from the walls, you begin to appreciate the forces of nature at work here. It is truly breathtaking! But no sign of the famous domes. On the drive we saw three more Australian bustards! A magnificent bird that is now very rare, but once inhabited most of the continent.

We had decided that we would get early the next morning and visit the southern end of the Bungles, visiting the Domes, Cathedral Gorge and Piccaninny creek lookout to avoid the extreme heat. Good plan and it worked well even with unexpected rain and overcast skies. The drive south was approximately 20 kms in length and the last half was a case of…. Look at that etc…could have stopped twenty times for photos and the famous orange and black hooped domes everywhere. It is hard to describe the majestic nature of this place and photos do not seem to capture the vastness, however sitting in Cathedral Gorge, watching the pool and listening to the frogs calls, Maurs footsteps echoing around the gorge there is certainly something quite spiritual about the place. Every time you look at a spot something else captures your attention.

The walk into Cathedral Gorge was such a wonderful experience that we decided to do it again the next day – the first time on the whole trip that we did a repeat! And it was just as awesome

Cathedral Gorge Echidna Chasm