Kununurra to Bungle Bungles (Purnalulu)

Hello all
I am back in Kununurra after the Bungle Bungles.

Approaching Purnalulu

The road in was like a 53km long roller coaster ride complete with corrugations. It took me over two and a half hours to get in, some did it in an hour and a half but had the damage to show for it. Corrugations just hammer the vehicle relentlessly, then things break.

would you drive your Holden Captiva or Honda CRV through here? 400mm deep! some did1

It was a pretty scenic drive in.................if you are going SLOW enough to enjoy it.
The only way to drive corrugations is slowly.
At one stage on a heavily corrugated section, I had a chuckle to myself, as I looked out the drivers side window I was being overtaken by a Butterfly........................

entering Purnalulu

entering Purnalulu

When I was in here last, in 1989,in a Subaru the road came in from further north and didn't have the creek crossings.

nearing Purnalulu

The northern areas were not open in 1989, when last here, so I chose one night at Kurrajong Camp, in the north and 2 nights at Walardi Camp in the south.

Purnalulu

Purnalulu

I love camps like this and in the Kimberley............there is nothing that compares to laying in bed at night and listening to the Dingo's howling.

walking into Cathederal Gorge

walking into Cathederal Gorge

The Purnalulu National Park is World Heritage listed.

...[is a] remote area managed as wilderness. It includes the Bungle Bungle Range, a spectacularly incised landscape of sculptured rocks which contains superlative examples of beehive-shaped karst sandstone rising 250 metres above the surrounding semi-arid savannah grasslands. Unique depositional processes and weathering have given these towers their spectacular black and orange banded appearance, formed by biological processes of cyanobacteria (single cell photosynthetic organisms) which serve to stabilise and protect the ancient sandstone formations. These outstanding examples of cone karst that have eroded over a period of 20 million years are of great beauty and exceptional geological interest.

— Brief synthesis of Purnululu National Park as inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

into Cathederal Gorge

 It was an easy 1 kilometre walk into Cathederal but was made a little more difficult by the soft "beach like" sand and mid 30's temperatures.
There were a LOT less people there in 1989.......................

Cathederal Gorge looking in

After waiting quite a while all the tour groups left and I was able to get some photo's without lots of people in them.

Cathedral Gorge looking out

I wanted to go to Wolf Creek Crater after here but....................after Steep Point, Cape Levique, Mitchell Falls, Gibb River Road and now here, I am a bit corrugated out. I really couldn't face another 300 odd kilometres of corrugations just yet. You learn to appreciate a tarred road....................
I have decided to head across to the Northern Territory tomorrow.
Bye for now.