After spending several days on the Gibb River Road, we headed east towards Kununurra: Purnululu National Park is our new destination.
This is a protected natural area where road admission is only allowed during the dry season and only by using off-road vehicles. With an area of 2,400 square kilometers, it was included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 2003.
The name of the park comes from the Bungle Bungles formations which, in the aboriginal Kija language means precisely “sandstone”. They are hive-shaped rock formations with incredibly vivid colours: there are bright orange layers, followed by very dark ones due to the presence of massive colonies of cyanobacteria, whereas the orange areas are composed of oxidized sandstone rich in iron minerals.
There are 3 different routes. The shortest is the so-called “Domes Walk”, a walk of roughly half an hour in the middle of the striped domes. You must not miss the longest path, the one leading to the great Cathedral Gorge: a huge natural amphitheater that welcomes you at the end of a long 1-hour walk. Keep your eyes open, on the most inner rocks you might be able to see some of the splendid cave paintings left by the Kija aboriginal people. Here, at the end of the gorge, the acoustics are really fascinating. If the rainy season has been intense, you will find a pond in the middle of the gorge.
The third walk available leads to the Piccaninny Creek Lookout, a spectacular trekking route that can be done only if you have a permit, which can be obtained from the Visitor Centre. We have only covered a small portion of it, but it was really worth it.
Another attraction of the park is Echidna Chasm, a deep rift between the rocks made up of sandstones and conglomerates, which loom over the narrow canyon with their vertical walls. At the highest point the rocks rise for 200 meters. The peculiar orangey or reddish light makes this place very fascinating: just take into account that you’ll need one hour or a little more to complete the round trip.
Before leaving, you cannot miss an unforgettable aperitif by sunset at the park’s lookout, while sitting on the rocks among spinifex (local bushes).
