Awake early today , but rolled over & slept in till 5:50am , places to go people to see , things to photograph !!!!
Breakfast done , lunch & water packed , 4wd engaged , tyre pressures lowered , and we’re off - 53 klms of gravel road ahead , and thats just to get to the Ranger Station , then it’s 27 klms one way and 20klms the other - so double that and you’ve got about 200klms of corrugated rocky road to cover today .
Todays destination is Purnululu ( Bungle Bungles ) !! We start by entering Mabel Downs - even had to open the gate ! The road wasn’t too bad - it was graded about 3 weeks ago - but was starting to cut up a bit now . There is a 50 klm/hr speed limit - you would be lucky to go that fast most of the way . There are creek crossings - a couple of them were about 600mm deep & rocky . The track goes through Mabel Downs property to get to the national park - it used to be owned by Mabel Downs till the government decided they would acquire it - so the road in isn’t much more than a graded farm track .It goes through a lot of undulating hills and valleys , so you are climbing one minute , descending the next , tight blind corners on crests - it’s got the lot !! The photo shows the country you drive through .
Arriving at the Visitor Centre , we go in and acquire a parks pass for the year , then head off to the domes and Cathedral Gorge . The roads in the park were slightly better than the road in and you find some sections are perfect gravel road , then within a metre it changes to a corrugated rocky road from hell !!
On the way in we had to keep going , not stop to photograph everything ( we’d get it on the way back out ), and get to the domes and the gorge , so that we could go to the other end of the park to go to Echidna Chasm which is at it’s best between 11 and 1:30 . We stop for a couple of pics , then arrive at the parking area , its hot , was 28.5 at 8:30 , now at 9:30 it was 31 . After 3 hrs in the ute , it was time to stretch the legs and do some walking .
The domes were astounding , amazing , magical - take your pick - we followed a creek bed till we got to the turnoff for Cathedral Gorge , then followed another into the gorge . We were mesmerised by the domes , the colours of the sky , grass & the domes themselves - what a display !!
We were greeted by a Rainbow Bee Eater on the way in , and also on the way out , it let us get to within 2m of it - they are a beautifully coloured bird , you don't see all their colours till they are flying.
The sandstone here is white - strange but true - whenever a chunk falls off , which they do , it is white underneath till it oxidises and goes orange ( rusts ) . The black bands are cyanobacteria - which grows on layers of sandstone where moisture accumulates , the orange bands are oxidised iron compounds that have dried out too quickly for the cyanobacteria to grow . Here ends the science lesson !!
The parts off the domes that are starting to erode are fascinating , all different shapes & patterns .
Into the Cathedral Gorge and you become aware of the acoustics almost immediately , hearing peoples conversations from across the opposite side , crunching gravel as people walk in & out . There is a pool of very stagnant water in the middle , below what is a waterfall in the wet season and would be a sight to behold .
We drag ourselves away , there’s more to be done today , so we head back and do the domes loop walk as we return to the ute . Temperature is nudging 33 , as we get back out in the sun we start to heat up , glad we brought 2lts of water each - the first 800mm is nearly gone !
Back to the north end of the park and up to Echidna Chasm , we have some lunch before heading up . Just for a change the pathway is the creek bed - and in the creekbed are rocks , anything from a small pebble to rocks that weigh hundreds of kilos . The whole mountain up this end is made of conglomerate rocks - it is amazing how much it has changed in the 20 klm straight line distance from the domes . There are also very dark rocks with nothing but spinifex growing on them .
We make our way up slowly , stopping in any shade that we find on the way - it’s not helping that everyone that comes toward us saying that it’s lovely & cool in the chasm . Arriving at the start of the chasm , we start to feel a slight cool breeze coming out at us - a nice relief , it would be about 25 in the shade . There are Livistonia Palms growing quite happily , giving it a tropical feel .
The chasm closed in the further you walked in , till it was about 700mm wide . It opened up into a larger area before shrinking down again and leading you onwards , further into the mountain . Up & over some rocks , round a corner and it looks like your walk has come to an end , then you zigzag around fallen chunks of rock and you find you can continue - it’s like Alladins Cave . Up a ladder and over some big rocks and you’re almost at the centre of the world - you cant go any further unless your spiderman !!
The light coming in from above changes the colours of the walls as the sun moves across the sky . The chasm would be 200m deep , and is amazing . We enjoyed it’s company for a while before heading back to the ute .
I went up to Osmand Lookout to check out the Osmand Range and look back at the main massif that surrounds Echidna Chasm .
Off we go again , driving back to the Visitor Centre , one final lookout to be done - Kungkalanayi - It would be awesome for sunset as it gives you a full view of the massif and its western face . We wont be here then though , the track back out is bad enough in daylight , we wont tackle it in the dark !!
Spinifex is tough as old boots - it just grows in rock !!!
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=z1G8gwwxwyYo.kYTYCYkuIqFQ&usp=sharinghttps://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=z1G8gwwxwyYo.kYTYCYkuIqFQ&usp=sharing
As we head back to the RV , it seems the track has deteriorated since this morning - there were several tour buses that left today and also all the other day trippers and those that were leaving today from camping in the park .
We left at 2:30ish and arrived back at 4:30 , time for an icy cold beer & some salsa , kick back and relax after an awesome day out . Australia’s got so much great scenery to look at - get out there & do it - we can recommend it !!!
Here’s a map link :-https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=z1G8gwwxwyYo.kYTYCYkuIqFQ&usp=sharing
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