Saying a sad goodbye to El Questro, and heading into Purnululu National Park, to check out the Bungle Bungles!

After a 2.5hr very bumpy, slow drive into the national park-we were treated to a glimpse of the awesome dome shaped rock formations in varying shades of orange, black and brown. Already worth the drive-and we weren't even in the park yet!

We enjoyed three nights of exploring the Bungle Bungles, doing the Southern section one day, then the Northern section. Both areas are quite different, the southern end had the dome formations. We enjoyed the walks around these rock formations, it was a 10km walk into Whipsnake Gorge. It was very hot walking up the dry river bed, not many trees, and the heat bouncing back off the rocks as well. The promise of a permanent waterhole at the end of the walk kept us going. Funny-when we got there, waterhole was no bigger than a kitchen sink! Kids didn't care, they spent time checking out all the different frog species trying to survive in the pond. The effort was Worth it though, as we really got a good look at everything, and have thousands of photos! Kids managed the walk well, although Aden puffed out towards the end, and needed a shoulder ride from Dad. The Cathedral was the highlight of this section, an easy walk into a huge open cave, with a water hole. The cathedral was like an open air theatre, and I could imagine the traditional land owners using this . There seems to be no information about the traditional owners or cultural significance of places at the WA Parks, which after Kakadu is disappointing.

Spent some of the evening around the communal fire, chatting to other travellers. Then tackled the Southern section. An easy walk into the mini palm gorge. Was fun as we had to squeeze through small rocky areas. And again, we managed to be the only people there!! Next we looked around Echidna Chasm. Another spectacular, squeeze walk- that ended when the cave could go no deeper. We timed our run into the chasm for when the sun was directly overhead. We were told that we would see bright oranges in the stone walls. We found that the bright orange happened before the sun streamed in-but was nice to sit still and watch the small crevice come alive in its little bit of sunshine each day.

We managed an early start to the next day, knowing we had a long, corrugated drive back out of the Bungles.

We then headed into Halls Creek, for re supply.....again. We enjoyed a BBQ by the pool, although the camp ground was a red dust bowl- it had washing machines....again! Craig and John went to watch the state of origin, while Barb,i and the kids played charades. The nights sleep was a combo of the water pump in the park turning on, cars hooning past, people partying.....We couldn't get out of there fast enough, and Halls Creek ate our red dust the earliest ever-730am, all packed up and ready to go!!