The Bungle Bungles

We parked up Ruby in Lake argyle holiday park for 3 nights.

The first full day we headed off early to catch a flight out to the Bungle bungles.

As we took off our pilot provided us with a commentary on the area

In the photo above the very green trees in the background of the image are Mango trees, because of the size of Lake Argyle , the Kununurra area is now able to support a rich farming area. With the cotton growing industry joining in the very near future.  

You may remember when previously that i mentioned the collision of tectonic plates that fused a floating continent to the Pilbara Plateau, which is now what we know now as the Kimberly, well the above image is known as the Halls Creek Orogon. It is believed this ridge was the result of the collision of the plates and in its early days would have been as high as the Himalayas , however because of the solubility of sandstone , they have weathered away which is they believe part of how the bungle bungles were created. 

The Bungle Bungle range is located in the Purnululu National Park and is world heritage listed.  The striped rocks and domes are a one of the most famous symbols of the kimberlies.

We traveled out on what is known as caravan plane , which has the capacity to carry both passengers and supplies, to the Eco resort located in the park.   

The images really do not do the ranges justice, they are conical hills built in a banding pattern. 

The banding is an orange and dark banding is caused by the differences in the layers of sandstone. The darker bands are a type of rock that holds more moisture this then results in the growth of Cyanobacteria, which creates the black bands. The orange bands are the sandstone which as a high iron content and basically on the outside is rusty. When chipped away the stone is the creamy coloured stone we know as sandstone.

Interestingly whilst the traditional owners of  the land have known and used this area for 20 000 years + ,it was virtually unknown to the remainder of Australians (other than a fewstockman) until the early 80s , when a film maker arrived in the area to film a documentary for the Kimberley’s.

above is Cathedral gorge , this amphitheatre has been created over many years by water rushing into the gorge during wet season, carving the rock away. The amphitheatre is so good that they have had musical performances recorded in there. We were provided with a lunch , which we all enjoyed sitting right here enjoying the space and tranquility.

Until the next blog

Travel safe 

The Touring Knights