Bungle Bungle

Sat 18^th – Mon 20^th June

The Bungles are absolutely spectacular! I am going to run out of ways to describe them, and photos don’t do them justice because of the massive size of the ranges, and the height of the chasms and gorges.

We left Kununurra early so that we would get to our camp at the Bungles in good time, because once you reach the entrance, it is then about 2 ½ hours to drive the 53km to the park, through a station, Mabel Downs.  The scenery is stunning, all the way in.

At the entrance to the station, there was a gate and a person waves you through if your vehicle is suitable.  Then it’s time to attend to tyres, and there were several cars either blowing them up before leaving, or letting them down to about 28 prior to going on,  to reduce the risk of tyre damage.

The road is not bad, some corrugations, rather narrow and winding in parts, and with numerous creek crossings...40! some looked quite dramatic...steep or muddy... but were ok, and there was no problem at all – even with the passenger! 

Going through a creek on the way to one of the walks.

The visitor centre and the camp ‘hosts,’ are all volunteers.  Rangers are based at Kununurra because of the difficulty with being so remote. It is all really well done, and the camp ground is very nice, (just drop toilets and bore water) shady and not too crowded, depending on how many come in and leave each day...the turnover is fast!

There are quite a few small tour buses, and wherever you go to walk, there are always at least 10 – 20 cars there. The people are a different mix – 4WD enthusiasts, as well as some families and some familiar faces from other camps.

The park has several gorges to walk to, or walk through... the ranges are 200m tall, so the walls of the gorges are awesome.

We were late going to Echidna Gorge on the first day, so the photos are no good of the gorge itself. On the way to the gorge

The famous domes are at the southern end of the park, and they are so beautiful and so much more extensive than I realised. The scenery is stunning and photos just can’t give the impression of its grand scale

Cathedral Gorge...can you spot R??

We have managed the walks quite well, so that has been good. There is quite a lot of scrambling over big boulders, between big boulders,

along pebbly creek beds,

and sandy paths.



Birds are noticeably few and far between, which is surprising. The highlight was seeing a Bustard on the road from Kununurra, a Sandstone Shrike-thrush and a Square-tailed Kite.

But there have been some beautiful flowers, and Grevilleas are the highlight. They are common and a real picture.

The Tall Mulla Mulla is the only Ptilotus in flower,

but it is really pretty and in large patches, giving a mauve hue to the scenes.

And a Wonga Vine, which look just like the one in Gippsland, growing out of a rock in the Mini Pams Gorge!

Also some butterflies...this is the Blue Argus

Catching up on jobs!

R did the washing

I cut R’s hair

I washed my hair

So did R

And I did the blog write up .

Peaceful Doves are around the camp all the time

On the way out of the Bungles,

there was quite a gathering when we reached the end of the road where you adjust tyre pressures

And a final treat for us was a really good view of a pair of Bustards, along the roadside on the way out.