We were up bright and early to beat the heat… we had lots of
walking ahead of us… We were finally
getting an opportunity to explore the famous Bungle Bungles. It turns out the Bungle Bungles are actually
an entire range with distinctly different regions of geology. Our adventures started at the northern end with
our first trek taking us into Homestead Valley.
Its name comes from some Aboriginal rock art depicting a homestead that
existed somewhere around here… but there is no public access to see this art so
we have to trust in the story…
Our 2km walk in was rather pleasant. The landscape in the Purnululu National Park
is far greener and prettier than we ever imagined… even the spinifex is green…
The northern end of the range doesn’t contain the typical domes that most people associate with the Bungles. The rock formations are still pretty impressive and well worth the effort to come and have a look but the thing that blew us away is the structure of these rocks… These cliffs are not just rock… they are made of what is known as ‘conglomerate’, so it is a whole bunch of smooth river bed stones that are essentially cemented together by sand… check out the boulder behind Aiden… that’s what all these cliffs look like close up…
Most of our walking throughout the entire day was along dry creek beds. With all those rocks at your feet it is impossible for a 10 year old to not pick one up and chuck it at something… but he didn’t realise how slippery the rocks are under your feet…
Next on our list of adventures was Echidna Chasm. Millions of years of erosion along a joint in the sandstone has formed a 180m chasm that we can walk through.
This is how narrow it is in some sections…
We timed the walk so we were inside the chasm when the midday sun directly above lights up the cavern. This is the end point of the chasm
At the end point looking straight up to the sky above
Here we are patiently waiting for the sun to move overhead
Looking back down the passageway we had just come through. Check out that boulder perched precariously above the ladder…
Coming out of the chasm this is what greets us… a little oasis in the outback…
Our day was not finished there… as the sun was setting we did a short hike up to a lookout behind the campground to watch the sunset over the Bungle Bungle Range…
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