Walks and gorges, and outrunning the oldies!!!

After arriving at the Kurrajong campsite at Purnululu and setting up, we found ourselves sitting in the shade of the camper (because the 31 degree day was a bit warm!!) and having a cool one, looking out at the Bungle Bungle Ranges.  As the sun set, the cliffs glowed a wonderful orange and we could feel the temperature drop as night quickly fell after that.

The time change is taking a bit of getting used to still.  It’s getting dark by between 5.30pm and 6.00pm, and the sun starts to lighten the sky in the morning around 5.30am.  Because it’s so warm, we think it’s summer, and therefore that the nights should be lighter, but we have to get our head round the fact that it’s really “winter”, or the “dry”. 

The campground was moving early the next morning, and we were up enjoying a coffee and slowly getting ready for what we had planned for the day.  We planned to take in the northern section of the park on Tuesday, which included the famous Echidna Chasm.  By 9.30am, it was already 29 degrees, and we left the campsite to drive the short distance to the northern end.  Others had been up and on the road a lot earlier, but we had the luxury of three full days to explore the park, so didn’t have to rush around doing it all in the one day.

Bungle Bungle Range

Echidna Chasm was one of the highlights of the park for me.  The gorge is a spectacular long, narrow chasm, the bottom of which is lined with palms and depending on the time of day, the walls of the chasm light up with different colours.  The walk in takes about an hour, scrambling over rocks and boulders as you follow the dry creek bed up.  By the time you reach the end, the walls of the chasm are only about a metre apart.  I’m not sure how we managed it, but we got the chamber at the end of the chasm all to ourselves, at least for about ten minutes, and we sat and took in the atmosphere of the place.  It was a good stop for morning tea too, as we enjoyed the cool of the chamber after the heat of the walk in.

The walk into Echidna Chasm

Echidna Chasm

After the Echidna Chasm walk, we headed off to explore Homestead Valley.  By this time it was about 11.30am and really starting to heat up, but the walk offered a fair bit of shade here and there and again, when we reached the end, we had the whole valley to ourselves.   It’s hard to do the Bungles justice with a camera; there’s no lens wide enough to take it all in and show the absolute beauty of it.

After having lunch in Homestead Valley, we walked back out again and headed back to camp, as that was enough walking in the heat for one day.  The afternoons at camp were spent sitting the in shade, reading one of the many books we brought with us, thinking about what was for dinner and generally relaxing. 

Purnululu is probably the best managed National Park we have ever visited.  The campgrounds are well set out, the toilets are clean and there’s lots of them, there’s bore water taps to provide water, the signage and other infrastructure is good and the rangers and volunteers are present, but not in your face. 

Because we had ready access to water, one thing that we have finally got round to using was our black solar shower bag.  We’d had one for years but never gave it much thought.  Don’t those things work a treat??  You fill a 20 litre black plastic bag full of water and leave it in the sun all day, and by about 4.00pm we had plentiful hot water for our showers.  Easiest bush showers ever.  And how lovely to wash the dust off after a day’s walking.  The lilly-white Victorian legs are starting to turn a shade browner, and I was getting quite excited by the tan line I had when I took my boots off after my walk, only to discover my tan washed off in the shower – it was only dirt!

The next day we travelled to the southern end of the park to explore for the day.  This involved about an hours’ drive south, to Piccaninny Creek.  The southern end of the park is home to the famous bee-hive domes that the Bungles is so famous for and as we drove towards them it was hard not to stop and take a photo, as every corner brought a more spectacular view.

The domes of Piccaninny Creek

We headed off much earlier this day, because there was more to see and we wanted to avoid the crowds.   We parked up and headed straight for Cathedral Gorge, in the hope of getting there before the bus load of APT tourists that had just arrived in the car park did!

Cathedral Gorge

We were lucky, by the time we’d trekked in, there were only two other couples in the gorge and we could enjoy the atmosphere and the wonderful acoustics in peace.  Not for long though, as the bus load were fast approaching.  Their ages had slowed them up a bit (just saying, there was plenty of white heads amongst them).

We returned to Piccaninny Creek and decided to keep on following it up the gorge, taking in more of the wonderful scenery.  The walk was a bit challenging in places but nothing too difficult, and again, we had it mostly to ourselves.  I suppose by the time we returned to the car, we’d walked about 10km, and the heat was again making it hard by then.

 

It was a smooth drive back to camp to have lunch and partake of another busy afternoon.

Our third day as a bit of a luxury, as we’d tackled all the walks we’d set out to, so we chose to have a lazy day in camp.  Nothing exciting except watching the campsite empty and fill up again, and slowly packing up ourselves, ready to leave the next day.  We did make our way up to Kungkalanayi Lookout for sunset that evening, which offers 360 degree views of the western escarpment of the Bungle Bungle Range.  The escarpment briefly is ablaze with brilliant reds and yellows against a backdrop of purple sky.

So it was Friday, and we were on the road early, at 7.30am, joining the steady stream of campers leaving the park.  Entry into Purnululu is restricted to 4WD, high clearance vehicles only, and only well set-up camper trailers are permitted in.  The road in and out, while only 53km, can take between 2 and 3 hours, depending its condition.  It’s windy, crosses many creeks and is rough and corrugated, but we made good time and did the trip in about an hour and a half.

After blowing tyres back up again at the end of the road, we turned westwards and headed back through Halls Creek, making our way to Fitzroy Crossing. 

Fitzroy Crossing is set on the banks of the mighty Fitzroy River, and apart from being the gateway to the Geikie Gorge National Park, there isn’t a lot more to say about the place.  Apart from the fact that it’s almost a dry town.  Apparently the local community was in such a bad way with the effects of alcohol and the subsequent problems that accompanied them, that it was considered a “disaster zone”.  Except disaster zones get help, and funding and support!  In 2007, the drastic step was taken to change the laws, so that take-away alcohol could not be bought in Fitzroy Crossing, except for light beer, and that was limited to only a small amount per day.  It was a pilot scheme at first, but domestic violence dropped significantly, school attendance increased, crime rates fell enormously, so it was decided that the scheme should stay.  A no-brainer really!

We are camped in the enormous Fitzroy Crossing Lodge caravan park, which serves the travelling public, again, emptying and filling up again daily.  We arrived yesterday afternoon, had a wonderful shower, did a good few loads of washing, and restocked a bit at the local supermarket.

This morning, again early (we’re getting used to getting up with the sun and going to bed with it – one night we were in bed by 7.45pm!!!) we drove the 20km out to Geikie Gorge.  We were again trying to get there before the APT bus.  I’m sure it was breaking the speed limit as it followed us along the road!!!  Geikie Gorge is a fabulous example of the power of the water that flows through the Kimberley each wet season.  The Fitzroy River, when it empties into the sea near Derby, releases 29,000 cubic litres of water a minute. 

The Fitzroy River - in the dry!!

Now all this water, flowing through Geikie Gorge, has been responsible for the shaping and carving of the magnificent limestone walls of the gorge, and the bleached high-water marks on the sides of the gorge show just what an enormous amount of water comes through here.

We took an early morning boat tour of the beautiful gorge, really the best way to see it, and were able to get very close the awesome cliff faces that line each side.  We were also lucky enough to catch a few small freshwater crocs sunning themselves on the rocks.  It was a beautiful morning, and after our boat ride, we took the 5km walk up the side of the river to see further how much water comes through each year. 

 

Erosion from the huge amounts of water

Little fella sunning himself

Tomorrow we’re on the move again.  This time towards Derby, where we’ll park the car and trailer somewhere safe, and head off on my birthday adventure, to the Horizontal Waterfalls.  I can’t wait!!!  Then onto Broome.

Now I’m off for a swim.