After our tour of Geikie Gorge our 4WD bus travelled the nearly 500 km to our next stop, this time for two nights at Purnululu, the Aboriginal name for a truly spectacular rock formation that is probably better known as the Bungle Bungles. In fact, this stop-over was the most anticipated element of our Kimberley trip. The Great Northern Highway, which accounted for all but the last tortuous gravelled 50 km, was sealed and we made good speed over much of the distance. The countryside was virtually empty except for a few cattle stations. In the entire distance we only encountered one small town, Halls Creek, which has a population of c. 1500. Unsurprisingly, this post records the desolate, but often attractive, countryside.
Huge grassy plains are interspersed with rocky outcrops. On this occasion I got to ride in the bus next to our driver. If you see strange patterns in the sky, this is because the pictures were
taken from inside the bus.
The next picture shows a small termite mound - the brown blob below. We literally saw maybe a thousand such mounds during our trip!
On reaching Halls Creek, an old gold-mining community, we saw many historical associations in the main street. There were statues like this one and collections of old machinery. In fact, gold production started in the late 1800s, but restarted only recently.
From Halls Creek, the highway turned northerly towards Kununurra, but the views were similar to before: sweeping curves in the empty road often accompanied by rocky outcrops.
This highway did not carry much traffic, which is hardly surprising given the sparse population.
At last, we turned off the sealed road on to the 50 km (30 miles) of winding dirt and rocky road leading to Purnululu. Although slow-going, this also had its scenic and other attractions. For example, we frequently encountered wandering cattle.
On other occasions, we began to sense the mountains of Purnululu (aka the Bungle Bungles), and the shadows grew longer in the late afternoon.
And the mountains seemed turn a reddish-brown colour as dusk approached.
It was all rather romantic and we eagerly imagined the scenic treasures of the following day.
Our home for a couple of nights proved to be an extreme form of 'glamping'. Have look at the 'tents' provided for us:
And here's our 'tent'! We stayed two nights in a cathedral! It was little different in amenity to a hotel room - we had a toilet, shower, choice of beds, fridge, and access to power points.
And we had lovely food provided in the outdoor dining / community area - all in a bush setting with views of the encroaching mountains. That dark blob in the bottom left-hand corner of the photo is my shadow!
AS
Huge grassy plains are interspersed with rocky outcrops. On this occasion I got to ride in the bus next to our driver. If you see strange patterns in the sky, this is because the pictures weretaken from inside the bus.
The next picture shows a small termite mound - the brown blob below. We literally saw maybe a thousand such mounds during our trip!
On reaching Halls Creek, an old gold-mining community, we saw many historical associations in the main street. There were statues like this one and collections of old machinery. In fact, gold production started in the late 1800s, but restarted only recently.
From Halls Creek, the highway turned northerly towards Kununurra, but the views were similar to before: sweeping curves in the empty road often accompanied by rocky outcrops.
This highway did not carry much traffic, which is hardly surprising given the sparse population.
At last, we turned off the sealed road on to the 50 km (30 miles) of winding dirt and rocky road leading to Purnululu. Although slow-going, this also had its scenic and other attractions. For example, we frequently encountered wandering cattle.
On other occasions, we began to sense the mountains of Purnululu (aka the Bungle Bungles), and the shadows grew longer in the late afternoon.
And the mountains seemed turn a reddish-brown colour as dusk approached.
It was all rather romantic and we eagerly imagined the scenic treasures of the following day.
Our home for a couple of nights proved to be an extreme form of 'glamping'. Have look at the 'tents' provided for us:
And here's our 'tent'! We stayed two nights in a cathedral! It was little different in amenity to a hotel room - we had a toilet, shower, choice of beds, fridge, and access to power points.
AS
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