Kununurra / Bungle Bungle Range (Purnululu National Park) (6 - 11 Jul)

After the Gibb River Road, we stayed in Kununurra to clean, replenish and rest before the next leg of our journey. Whilst in town, Justin visited a plaque erected in memory of his uncle, Terry Gray, to commemorate his work as a surveyor of the dam and roads in the area. We also decided to see a caravan mechanic who conveniently offered to keep our van for our 3-day stay at the APT Wilderness Lodge in the Bungle Bungle Range. Our stay would coincide with my birthday so it was nice to experience “glamping”, eat good food and share stories with our camp neighbours, Greg and Yeesim, from Adelaide

On our first day, we visited the Bungle Bungle Southern End – Cathedral Gorge (a natural amphitheatre of red rock), Piccaninny Creek Lookout and the meandering Domes Walk. When the morning became too hot, Millie and I took refuge under a carpark shade for some lunch whilst Justin went for a walk alone to The Window, being an erosion through one of the dome frames. On our second day, we explored the Northern End of the range – the Mini Palms walk which we really enjoyed, and Echidna Chasm where we waited for the moment the sunlight streamed through vertically to light up the chasm walls.

Our stay was capped off with a scenic helicopter flight which provided a great bird’s eye of the Bungle Bungle Range. As the helicopter had no doors, it took some effort to encourage Millie to join us even though she would not have entertained the alternate option of waiting for us by herself on the ground. After our final dinner at the Lodge, I made a goodbye call to my brother who, with his family, had been visiting Popo back in Melbourne.