Ginger and Ed's Excellent Adventures

I have dreamt of visiting this place ever since featured in a film over 30 years ago. That dream became reality this May. Purnululu is a remote park in the Kimberly region of northern Australia. It is accessible by road only during the dry season, May through September.

We spent two nights camping at Walatdi in the southern part in order to explore the bungle bungles, or beehive shaped domes.

The rocks.are sandstone and conglomerate. The red color is a coating, and the dark bands are layers discolored by blue green algae. The algae only grows on layers with high clay content that holds water longer. We hiked up Picninny Creek to Whipsnake Gorge.

The steep narrow canyon had a pool of water that lasts well into the dry season. It creates an oasis for plants and animals that could not otherwise survive here.

We were amazed at how much water re.ained in pools in the creek bed.

We took a few side trips on the return walk to viewpoints.

We moved to the north side of the park and camped at Kurajomg. We drove up to explore Echidna Chasm, a slot canyon where the sun only briefly touches the canyon floor for a few minutes each day.

The approach was along north facing cliffs and then up a stream channel. Vegetation here was very different, including palm trees and other plants we hadn’t met yet.

The hike involved a bit of boulder scrambling as the canyon narrowed.

We made it in time for “sunrise”

Our Last afternoon we walked a short nature trail and watched the sun set on the cliffs.

We said goodbye and looked ahead to several days in a row of.long drives…