The Kimberleys - The Bungle Bungles

The Bungle Bungles.

Whenever you think of The Kimberleys, the mind conjures up images of those funny bee hive mountains, that are the Bungle Bungles. Formed hundreds of millions of years ago, they were only really discovered in the 1980's, when some local pilots who'd flown over the area, created some interest, and then the whole area just exploded as a tourist attraction. Situated in the Purnululu National Park, there are lots of tour options to view the Bungles. You can fly over them in either a fixed wing plane or a helicopter. You can stay at a bush camp in the National Park, and explore the various canyons on foot. You can fly into the local Bellburn Airstrip, and tour one or more canyons. Many of the tours and options have finished for the season (again!), so we have checked out all the options available to us, and have decided to take a fixed wing flight out to the Bungles, then do a walking tour of Cathedral Gorge.

Fasten Seat belts.

Getting ready to fly!

So, bright and early, 5.15am to be exact, we are picked up at the caravan park and taken out to the airport to join our tour, which turns out to be a very personal tour for two! By being late in the season, sure some things have stopped running, but there are no crowds, and we are getting some personalised treatment. Our pilot is a bright young lady by the name of Alexandra, and we are soon strapped into our seats, now with heaps of legroom due to the lack of other passengers. A quick loop over the town of

Kunnunurra, then out over the irrigation area, where we get a real sense of how big it is, then

Over Lake Argyle

follow the Ord River out over

The river is dry at this time.

Lake Argyle, which is a huge inland sea, and about an hour later we are at Bellburn Airstrip in Purnululu NP. It is a nice smooth flight, and Alex tells us all about the dam and the cattle properties we are flying over. Seems these days, there aren't too many glamorous big cattle stations around The Kimberley. Some of the homesteads might have a caretaker, but mostly the mustering crew just comes in as required with their little helicopters, dirt bikes and quad bikes, 
horses and dogs, do their stuff and move on to the next property. We fly over the famous Texas Downs and Lisadell Stations. As we get closer to the Bungles, Alex has to follow a set flight path, which is testimony to how many aircraft can be in the air around here during the peak season. The scenery is amazing. Waves of rocks stretching for miles, and all those funny rounded humps!

Breakfast in the Bungles.

A Tour Bus for two.

Once on the ground we are met by our guide for the day, Bruce. He is a lovely guy with a vast knowledge of the area. He runs one of the bush camps, where he is cook, barman and guide. It is quiet at the camp, with only 4 guests staying at present. He drives us to the camp, where we are served a continental breakfast, before back on the bus and out to the gorges. Rather than just hang around, our pilot Alex has decided to do the tour with us, so after a quick change from her flying

Carolyn with Bruce.

gear, we are off. The amazing rounded rock formations do look just like bee hives. Bruce is full of information, telling us

Stunning Bee Hives.

that the name Bungle Bungles is most likely a misunderstanding of the Aboriginal name for the spinifex grasses, Bundle Bundle. We stop and look at lots of plants and birds, and sample some bush tucker. Bruce is really good with the names, even giving us the Latin name for the plants. However, Carolyn brought him unstuck when she spied a plant hanging out of the rock face. Bruce, as quick as a flash says that it would be "cliffus hangeronus", at which I just gave him the incredulous "pull the other one" look, and he came clean, that he didn't have a clue. Alex fell about laughing and suggested Bruce either pull the plant out, or find out what it is, as she has only done the tour 4 times, and every time someone asked him what it was!!!

Walking into Cathedral Gorge.

Cathedral Gorge.

We headed up into Cathedral Gorge, and at the end sat in the Cathedral and just stared up at the amazing rock features. There is a waterhole still hanging on, and all the way in is along the creek bed. One can only imagine what this all looks like in the wet season. Right now it looks just like a desert. The walk is around 2.5 kilometres in and out, and when we get back to the car park/picnic area, Bruce gets out lunch for us, which is a nice chicken schnitzel salad, with fruit, juice and lots of water. Bruce explains that it is thought that the strange shapes of the rocks was caused by the sandblasting from the sands of the Tanami Desert, over hundreds of millions of years. Whatever caused it, it is unbelievable to see. After lunch it is back to the airstrip for our return flight.

More & different formations.

Stand alone formation.

After take off, we rejoin the flight path, to finish our complete circle of the Bungle Bungle Ranges. This time we fly over some deep canyons and more amazing formations. The dry, sandy river beds wind their way through all the canyons. Our return flight path takes us over the Argyle Diamond Mine. What an operation! The world's most productive diamond mine is enormous. They have there own sealed airstrip, and a whole town has been built for the workers. The town was actually relocated due to the fact it was determined that the workers productivity would increase if they

Argyle Diamond Mine from the air.

couldn't see the actual mine on their leisure time! Imagine the

Waves of stone.

security issues at a diamond mine. There are apparently several layers of security, but Alex still said workers still try and steal. One security guy was apparently bringing diamonds out in his toothpaste. He was pretty unlucky to get caught. He sold the diamonds on the black market, but someone who bought one, then decided they'd like a set of matching ear rings. Apparently every diamond carries a tattooed number. When the jeweller tried to match the stone, it was revealed as a stolen one. Not only did the guy get caught, but the poor people who had paid for the stolen diamond, forfeited it as well! True or not, it is a good story to show crime doesn't pay!!

It was a bit bumpy on the way back, apparently caused by the heat, so Alex changed course to take us back over Lake Argyle, and it wasn't long before we were back at Kununurra Airport. It had been a long and exciting day, and we can now cross The Bungle Bungles off our Bucket List.