Blogs from Bungle Bungles, Western Australia, Australia, Oceania

Day 18 – Tuesday 17th July – somewhere outside of Timber Creek to Mabel Downs Caravan Park,near the Bungles We started the day with a very quick cuppa and the promise of a proper breakfast in Timber Creek, 60kms along the road from our dusty overnight stop at the side of the road. Timber Creek proved to be a few buildings, each multi-function. Tourist office-cum-café (where we bought some freshly baked scones), a hotel-pub-cum-fuel station and some council offices. The residential area seemed to be situated some distance from the main road, away from the noise of the road trains and trucks. We were directed to the Policeman’s Point Lookout for a breakfast picnic, which is a beautiful little spot overlooking the Victoria River. The Victoria River is an excellent place to fish and ... read more

Purnululu National Park (Bungle Bungle) 23rd June Leaving Wyndham after filling up with ‘the cheapest fuel in the Kimberleys’, we headed back along the Great Northern Highway towards Kununurra passing the Gibb River Road turnoff that provided so many great memories. Around 50 klm from Wyndham we came to the intersection, east to Kununurra, and south to Halls Creek, (this Hwy takes you back to Broome and then on back down the west coast to Perth, the way we came north). Turning south we were headed for the Bungle Bungle Ranges and another opportunity to tick off an item on ‘The Bucket List’. But first we had a stop at the Warmun Art Centre which is situated in the Warmun (Turkey Creek) Community. Warmun Art is an Indigenous enterprise owned and operated by the Gija artists ... read more

Our plans for today were dependent on whether the Purnululu National Park had been re-opened. The park is a four wheel drive access area only and can be closed to visitors when conditions are unsuitable. We were all disappointed to hear when we left Perth that the Bungles and Gibb River Road were closed, but although there was no opportunity for the Gibb River Road to re-open before we passed it, there was a chance that the Bungles would reopen today. So we packed up our camp at El Questro and drove 30mins to the main road where the guides could pick up telephone signal to call the rangers and check whether the park had been opened. We all crossed our fingers as the Bungles were going to be one of the main features on the ... read more

Just for something different, we were settled in to our new location at Turkey Creek, Warnum, at ten in the morning. With a picnic lunch organised, we headed to Purunululu National Park, home of The Bungle Bungles. It was a six-hour return trip with about one and a half hours there, but it was worth it. The Bungle Bungles are magnificent sandstone domes, with red and black layers of colour. They were discovered in the 1980s and are now a very popular tourist destination. The trip involved several river crossings and horse and cattle avoidance. Livestock on the roadside is a normal feature of travel in this part of the world. Today we also have livestock wandering through the caravan park. Two very big Brahman bulls to be precise. Staff assured us that they are safe ... read more

I was up early and had breakfast before I was picked up at 8:30am for my day tour. Picked up a few more people and then we headed to the small airport. I would be flying with Alligator airways. We were all given a brief talk about where our tours would be flying over. We were then split up into small groups. My pilot only looked like he was about 15.....yikes! We were taken over to our plane and then given a safety talk. The plan only seats about 7 people, 8 including the pilot. I was seated directly behind the pilot. I wasn’t really nervous at all until we got into the air. It was quite a windy day and being that the plane is so small I could feel all the little bumps and ... read more

Wednesday 29th June and today we were heading for Halls Creek. It’s another fairly lengthy journey and not a lot to see on the way. We have heard some bad reports about Halls Creek, both the caravan park and the behaviour of the locals although our recollection from last time didn’t support negative views of either. True it’s not the most attractive place in the world and true the caravan park lacked some of the glamour of many that we’ve stayed at. But, once again, Halls Creek is conveniently placed on our onward journey towards our next chosen stopping place, The Bungle Bungles. In the meantime, though, we were able to secure a powered site at the Halls Creek caravan park and to find a garage with reasonably priced diesel which accepted another discount voucher. The ... read more