Left Kununurra yesterday and headed south for Purnulu and the Bungles (it's so last tourist season to say the full Bungle Bungles out loud....). It was already 34 in the shade at 08:30 as we left town ad heading for 39! The Great Northern Hwy wasn't any cooler :(
Anyway, we set up camp in a free camping area just opposite the tun off to the Bungles. We heard about this from some people we were chatting to in the pool, next to the bar at Jabiru - as you do. It wasn't in any of our books or maps. I think it must be fairly new like the caravan park just inside the gate on the road off the highway. The road goes trough Mabel Downs cattle station before it gets to the National Park and they have set up a camp area just inside their property. It is very bleak looking (much prefer our free camp area) and apparently the people running it advise everyone not to drive in to the park as the road is so bad - much better to go in one of their 4WD bus tours or helicopter flights. Gee they are helpful!
Anyway, back to the free camp. We had cattle (bulls, and big ones at that) strolling all through the camp area, right up to peoples vans and campers, but they seemed quite at home with the situation and eventually just mosied off into the bush.
Next surprise was when we saw an Aussie Swag camper just like ours pull up next to us. Well tickle our arsxxxxxxxxxx sorry, you could have knocked us down with a feather, as we had not seen one the same as ours in the 7500+ kms we have traveled so far. The couple were from Queenscliff and picked there camper up a month after we collected ours. Only difference being they never took it home - just started their trip right from the factory door.
This morning, it was up with the strangled kookaburras (they sound funny up here!) and off to the Bungles. Truly spectacular! The road in had been the subject of horror stories everywhere we have been, but it wasn't that bad. Just 53ks of corrugations twists, turns, ups and downs which leave you quite wrung out by the time you get to the park information center. Then it is another 50 odd ks of driving around the park to get to the attractions (aka rock hopping exercise areas). Still very well worth the effort, but I'm glad we decided to leave the camper outside and just drive in for the day. The camp area in the park (well the one we looked at anyway) was no better than what we have outside, and the drag into the park would have been very un-entertaining. Even with just the truck to worry about, I'm sitting here completely knackered as I type this up. I don't think I have ever been so tired just from driving.
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| Elephant Rock |
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| Echidna Chasm |
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