203kms / 10 ½ hrs

We were awake just after 5:00am this morning and were surprised how light it was outside as normally it's pretty dark till closer to 6:30am. We watched the sunrise and got ready for our big day in the Bungle Bungles.

We only had to drive about 8kms down the road to drop off the caravan but when we arrived there was a gate to be opened. Out I jump, but half of the gate was broken and next thing the broken gate knocked my thigh and so I was struggling to balance the broken gate on my leg whilst still trying to undo the chain. Roger and the kids were too busy laughing at me from the car until I frantically started waving at Rog to come and help me as the gate was really heavy and I couldn't move.

We made it to the Bungle Bungle Caravan Park (which is right at the entrance to the Bungle Bungles) and unhitched the caravan and then commenced our drive at 6:45am.

The Bungle Bungles is a 4WD only road. You drive through Mabel Station first before entering the National Park. The dirt road was terrible and we drove the whole 53km doing 20kmph. It was corrugated and there were holes and blind crests, corners and hairpin turns where you are just hoping you don't meet another car head on and 3 water crossings (which the kids loved). There were a lot of other cars speeding around and lucky they didn't cause any accidents (apparently a camper trailer went over yesterday)

The Bungle Bungle Range is renowned for its striking beehive shaped sandstone domes. They are made of sandstone deposited about 360 million years ago. The domes striking orange (are oxidised iron compounds that have dried out too quickly for the cyanobacteria to grow) and grey bands (indicate the presence of the cyanobacteria which grows on layers of sandstone where moisture accumulates) are caused by the presence or absence of cyanobacteria.

We arrived at the visitors centre around 9:15am and then continued onto Piccaninny. We started with the Domes walk (which is a 1km loop walk winding around the banded domes towering majestically around you) then we continued on to the Cathedral Gorge (which is a 3km return walk through stripped domes, pebble and potholes, towering cliffs over 200m high and honeycomb rocks that lead to an amphitheatre). Roger and I loved it and couldn't get over the size of it. I couldn't even get the whole amphitheatre in a photo as it's just too large so my photos don't do it any justice. We were lucky enough to hear someone singing whilst we were there and it was a beautiful sound.

We left around 11:30am and drove to Echidna Chasm. We first went to the Osmand Lookout (which provides views to the north-west over the Osmand Range) and then we continued onto Echidna Chasm (2km walk with a spectacular 200 metre chasm with varying colour hues) which was another beautiful place.

Although it's an effort to get to the Bungle Bungles they really are spectacular and we were very glad we could see them.

We left the visitors centre around 2:15pm for our slow 53km drive back. Luckily there weren't too many other cars on the road at this time. We arrived back at the caravan park around 4:45pm and checked in.

The caravan park is the most expensive we have stayed at so far but has the most basic facilities. The toilet/showers are made out of corrugated iron with no roofs or lights. Lucky Roger worked this out before it was dark so he set me up with a good light to take with me. It was nice though having a shower looking at the moon and the stars in the sky. They also don't have any rubbish disposal so we have to take it all with us when we leave. The convenience is why we are staying here though and why everyone else would be staying here.

We set-up and then had pies and vegetables for dinner. We had two very over tired kids tonight who finally fell asleep around 7:30pm. I think our neighbours would have been glad for the peace and quiet when they were finally asleep.