The following morning Monday 15th July we all set off for a free camp outside the Bungle Bungles called Spring Creek. About 5 minutes from the turnoff to head down Great Northern Highway, Glenn asked me to check the kilometres from the turnoff to Wyndham, 52kms. We decided then and there that we had come this far we should still do Wyndham even if it was a drive in and drive out. We CB'd Chris and Roger and they weren't keen having been before but happy to go onto the free camp to secure a spot for our two night stay. So off Glenn and I went into Wyndham. Wyndham was one of the many outback towns that Glenn had communications with during his early days at Telstra and the Weather Bureau so he was really keen to see what the place was like. It was much smaller than we both thought. We visited the Five Rivers Lookout which gave a great 360' view of the harbour, mangroves and mudflats and saltwater lakes. I also rang my dad for his 75th Birthday on the Wednesday as I wasn't sure if I would have signal on the day. We tried to pickup the "West" at the general store but "Saturdays" wasn't due until lunchtime and Monday's wasn't due till tomorrow lunchtime so we gave it a miss. As we drove out we stopped by the giant crocodile to have the obligatory photo. All up we spent about an hour in Wyndham.

We arrived at Spring Creek about 3.30pm securing the last good spot near Chris and Roger. The Corellas were in fine song for most of the afternoon but once it got dark they flew off to roost somewhere else, thank goodness. We had the occasional bull wander through the camp; they weren't too fussed about us so we left them alone too. The following morning early, 6.30am Chris, Glenn and I headed to the Bungle Bungles, Roger stayed behind to look after their little dog Crystal who can't go into National Parks. It was a 53km drive into the visitors centre over a very rough corrugated track, crossing 3 small creeks which we did very carefully not knowing how deep they might be nor what might be under the water. It took just over 1 ½ hours to drive in arriving just as the visitors centre was opening at 8am. Chris has a pension card and as she was travelling in our car it only cost $5.

Our drive took us 23kms to the southern end of the range where the Bungle Bungles were at their very best. They really do look like beehives with their black and orange markings. The Orange being oxidized rock and the black being rock that is exposed to water and bacteria grows on it.

Cathedral Gorge is a beautiful open chasm with a ceiling hollowed out from constant water erosion during the wet season. This was truly a marvel of nature. We then travelled to the northern end of the range, 18kms past the turn off back to the visitors centre and headed to Echidna Chasm. We decided to have our lunch before heading into the Chasm, Chris and tin of Mackerel, Glenn a tin of Baked Beans and me a small salad and small tin of tuna. It was a ½ hour walk over a rocky dry river bed and I had to be very careful where I put my feet. The Chasm was very narrow at the end and was about 200metres high. It was a very quiet reflective place. It was hard to get a photo that really showed its size. Before heading back to the car we walked the 10minute track to Osmond Lookout which took in the vast plains of the area.

After calling into the visitor centre again to buy a postcard of the area before leaving, we headed off for the long drive back. This time we weren't so caution crossing the creeks and took great delight in driving through watching the mud splash all over the car. Glenn was in his element, this was real bush bashing!! We got back to camp about 3.15pm, it was a long day but a great day.

Bye for now, Virginia and Glenn