Sat 3rd July, 2010 - Day 36 - Week 6

I dragged Grandee out of bed at 4.30am to prepare for our big day at The Bungle Bungles. The bus picked us up at about 5.30 & ferried us to the airport, where after briefing, we (Grandee, Maureen & myself)boarded our single engine aircraft (this is the same type of plane that is used for the mail run to Mittiebah) & after warming up the engine we were airborne. Mick was not with us on this trip as he suffers from motion sickness. I was lucky enough to have the co-pilots seat. The pilot was a young girl, (anyone under 50 is young to me) she really knew her stuff. Luckily for Grandee, she didn’t have parcels packed around her as she did a couple of years ago when we had Christmas in the middle of nowhere with the Doyles.

It wasn’t long before we were over Lake Argyle which is the largest man-made lake in Australia & is classified as an inland sea. It is hard to show in photographs just how large it is.

The terrain below us was ever changing with meandering streams & rugged ranges as we headed for our destination over which we arrived after about an hour’s flight, The Bungle Bungle Range loomed below us & soon we were on our final approach to the Bungles airstrip.

We boarded the awaiting 4WD bus & after a short distance arrived at The Bungle Bungle Wilderness Lodge where we sat down to a breakfast of bacon & eggs etc. This was very enjoyable after our long flight.

Once breakfast was out of the way, we re-boarded the bus which was driven by our lovely tour guide Katherine, & made our way along the rough track to the start of our first walk for the day. This was to Cathedral Gorge via Piccaninny Creek. Katherine with the aid of detailed signs told us how the Bungles had formed over millions of years.

After a short time we came to Piccaninny Creek. It was amazing to see how this creek bed had been formed by the torrents of water which flow in the wet season over millions of years.

After more walking & passing a couple of lovely waterholes, the canyon walls, which we had entered started to loom over us. We finally entered Cathedral Gorge which was truly amazing. It was a large cavern which had great acoustics. Grandee sang a solo.

After backtracking to the car-park we again entered the bus & were transported to the northern section of the park. After just over an hour we alighted the bus at the car-park for the Echidna Chasm walk. This walk started off with a very rocky creek bed which took a bit of negotiating. The rock formations here were made up of stones & earth layers, completely different to the dome formations in the southern section of the park which were sandstone.

As we walked, the walls of the chasm grew progressively narrower & after some time we arrived at our lunch stop where the lower section of the chasm widened out into a large cavern. Here we consumed our packed lunch which had been provided by the tour operators.

After lunch Maureen & I ventured a little further along the chasm where large chunks from the walls had fallen, making it hard to negotiate as it was very narrow. Soon we had to turn back to the cavern where Catherine was preparing for our exit.

The bus returned us to the Wilderness Lodge & after a cuppa we left for the airstrip, where after a short wait, boarded our plane for the return flight. The pilot for this leg was a very good looking young fellow who the girls immediately fell in love with. Once airborne the pilot did a few manoeuvres over The Bungle Bungles after which he set course for Kununurra via the Argyle Diamond Mine. After some time the mine loomed below us & as you may be able to see in the photographs is a very large concern.

Soon we were back at Kununurra airport where after checking in to the tour office we were bussed back to the Caravan Park. This had been a big, enjoyable day for us, however we were pleased to be home.