We arrived in Halls Creek around lunch and toped up with diesel and supplies. It seemed to have a bit better feel to it than Fitzroy Crossing. From Halls Creek we made our way up the road to a free camp opposite the Bungle Bungle Ranges. A great spot to stay right on the Ord River. Again Charlie wasted no time in befriended all the oldies in the free camp area. He would come back to the van armed with lollies and chocolates.

We were in two minds about the next day leaving the van and going into Purnululu National Park to see the Bungle Bungle Ranges. The main issue was the road is very bad. It's 4x4 only and corrugated and rutted with some creek and river crossings. You can only average around 30-40 km/h and it's around 53km in and then around 27km to the best walks. People in the free camp that had done it suggested it would take around 3 hours to get to the first walk. Mandy really wanted to do it and despite thinking if I break an axle or pinch a tyre we are stuffed, I agreed.

So the next morning around 7:30am we set off to explore the Bungle Bungle Ranges. Holy mother of God! What kind of a road is this! 2km in and there is a new four door Nissan Navara with a broken front axle, resting off the side of the road. 4 km in and there is a new looking 4x4 camper trailer with a broken axle sitting in the middle of the road. Mandy looked at me and said 'turn around if you want'. I probably should have, but I now felt challenged, onward, forward and upward. And that was just the kid's breakfast!

Three hours later, its 32 degrees and we arrive at our first walk to the south of the park in an area called Piccaninny Gorge. No phone reception and I need to ring John at Northend Service Station to book the car in to have every nut and bolt tightened. Armed with drink bottles we set off for a 1km walk called Domes Walk. The walk was nice, you see the Bungle Bungles and how they form sandstone domes. We then pushed on to Cathedral Gorge which is about another 2km. Charlie decided his legs didn't work anymore so I had to piggy back him most of the way. The trial takes you along a creek bed (fully flows in the wet season) all the way to a massive amphitheatre at the end. The amphitheatre is spectacular. It's pretty much an amphitheatre / cave with a rock pool at the base. It would be half the size of a football oval. We spent quite some time here. It was nice and cool, at least 10 degrees cooler than outside. We then trekked back to the car park (Charlie on my back) and had lunch in the picnic area there. We thought about doing a walk in the north end of the park but just felt it was too much to push in the day. So back in the car for another three shaky hours to get back to camp.

The Bungle Bungle range was great to see, but I wouldn't do it again in my own car. You can take a 4x4 tour bus in, they provide lunch and take you to all the best walks. A lot of the grey nomads in the free camp did this. It was $285 which sounds a lot. But if you consider the damage that you could do to your car and what that may cost to get sorted in this remote area, it's probably not too bad. Or if you want to see the ranges from the air, there are a few helicopter charter businesses that run tours over the Bungle Bungle range.

That evening after a swim in the river we caught up with another family in the free camp area. They were travelling in the opposite direction to us. So it was great to get their tips on where we should go to next and what they valuable to do.