If I had to describe The Bungles in a few words it would probably be “unique scenery, bloody harsh conditions”. We have more or less enjoyed our two days here but we were expecting a real wow factor and there are a few spectacular views but maybe we have been spoilt by what we have already scene on our travels. A woman I was talking to in Kununurra said the only way to see The Bungles is to fly over it and I think I agree with her now

We were up at 5:30am and thankfully I was feeling much better this morning as I got very dehydrated yesterday and felt quite ill last night. I had decided to only do a couple of short walks today and after packing up the camper in record time we were at our first lookout by 7am and it was hot already and I was looking for shade. We didn’t hang around long as the sun was on the other side of the range and not great for photo taking. The first walk was the Mini Palms Gorge walk which meanders up a dry creek bed into a gorge with amazing high red cliffs and some very hardy palms growing out of cracks at least 100m up the cliff faces. There are two viewing platforms with the last one giving an impressive view onto a natural amphitheatre, the cliff faces were so big it was really hard to fit in photos. There was a French family on the platform when we got there and we took turns in taking photos of each other, we have been doing the same walks as them so keep running into them.

Palm lined path.

Amphitheatre.

Not a double selfie, taken by French girl.

Our next walk was Echidna Chasm, this is a Bungles iconic walk and didn’t disappoint us. We first popped up to the lookout near the entrance as it was only a short 10min walk then it’s only a 2km round trip through the chasm and although it was incredibly hot, again thankfully it was shaded for most of the way. Col and I were playing a game of spot the shady spot which we would make a bee line for then rest, have a drink and then take off again looking for the next one. The path again meanders up a dry creek bed and into a 200m long chasm with towering cliffs and as you venture further in the path narrows to barely half a meter wide. There were a couple of sets of stairs and some boulders to navigate over as you went deeper in. The amazing thing about Echidna Chasm is the way the light changes on the cliff faces as the sun moves over. We were walking in a quite dark passage when suddenly you were in a spotlight of sunlight beaming down in just one spot. The walk comes to an abrupt end when the chasm just stops and you are looking at a wall. When we were walking back out we passed an older couple taking photos, we said hello and I stepped down a rock and into a shaft of sunlight which I didn’t think much of but I suddenly heard the woman saying “come back the lady in the red top” I was a bit confused and walked back to see if she was talking to me which she was, apparently she was amused when I stepped into the sunlight and wanted a photo, so I kindly obliged. Col took quite a few photos as well as I stood obediently in the shaft of light for everyone.

Amazing cliffs.

Me in the spotlight.

Double selfie in the final chasm

Col in the spotlight.

Col going for the “arty farty” shot

When we got back to the car it was only midday but I wasn’t going to do anymore walking today, so we headed for Kurajong campsite to check out our prebooked spot and have some lunch. We didn’t want to set up camp just yet as it was too early so we tried our new awning out which worked brilliantly (thanks Stevo for the brackets)! With full bellies and the temperature sitting somewhere in the mid to high 30s we were finding it hard to stay awake so we went for a drive up to the visitors centre to get an ice cream and some aircondtioned comfort. To our horror they didn’t sell ice creams just cold drinks….bugger!. Went with a cold ginger beer instead. It’s only a small visitor’s centre really only for checking in to campsites, getting info on the area and buying souvenirs. I asked the woman if the heat was normal for this time of year and she said it wasn’t and that the high temps are early this year, that would be right!

Our shady awning.

Our shady awning.

Back to our campsite to setup and have our wash in a bucket (haven’t had a shower since Sunday…yuk) Col wandered up to a lookout out the back of the campsite to get some sunset photos of the range. Not sure where we will stop tomorrow, we need to survive the road out of here yet. There is a camper trailer parked behind the visitor’s centre that is broken in two! The family were driving out yesterday with it and it broke the chassis clean in half! Looking forward to some blacktop driving tomorrow.

Sunset on the southern end of Bungles.