How to get to the Bungle Bungles

 Not many of us have been to the Bungle Bungles. There is a reason for that ... it's bloody hard to get there.

It's in the middle of the other nowhere, Uluru being the original middle of nowhere. Did you know it wasn't discovered by white man until the early 1980's? That's just mind boggling, it's not like it's a little place that if you blink you will miss it, the place is massive .... huge even but there you have it. 

We knew nothing about the place except pictures we have seen. I was married with my first child before it was discovered so it wasn't covered in Geography classes. But we are adventurers, we want to see what so many of us haven't.  In case you dont know the Bungles is a low mountain range that used to be an inland sea, when the water receded it left beautiful ringed formations that just take your breath away. 

The most amazing thing is even with it's isolation it has an awesome information centre. Air conditioned and everything. 

There is only one road in and out, 53 klms to the info centre where you need to register. 53 klms. Just 53 klms off the main highway. Fifty. Three. Kilometres. 

TWO HOURS later we arrived. That's 26.5 klms per hour. The speed limit was 90 kph, what a joke. It's a narrow dirt and sandy track with hairpin bends, dip and rises, water crossings, low hanging trees, trees on the track and boulders on the track. For example you get to the top of a rise then a sharp descend hairpin bend with a water crossing at the bottom which is hidden by trees until you are in it. It was the funniest track we have ever been on. 

We stayed 2 nights at the Bungles, our first full day was spent at Echidna Chasm. What a magical place. We had it all to ourselves. 200ft straight walls on both sides of the walking track that became narrower and narrower then opening up to a natural amphitheatre.  

We absolutely loved it... and we saw something that I thought I would never see. A Bower Bird nest. 

A beautiful ground structure decorated in the birds colour of choice to entice a female. The hours it must take to build and maintain. Our guy chose white so the bower was decorated with bottle tops, tissues, white stones, toilet paper and other assorted bits and pieces.  This sight did really make our day. 

The following day we set off to see Cathedral Gorge, a 4 klm walk. It started off as a beautiful lazy walk, views were spectacular.  The going was a little rough, loose stones, gravel and soft dry sand.  You know what it's like walking through soft sand, it's very tiring however we were enjoying the walk so much it wasn't really bothering us until the snake. 

I was in the lead walking thru a narrow path when I looked down to see a snake laying across the full width of the path about 6 inches from me. I was in mid step and just about to step on him when both snake and I froze. I let out a squeak, the snake raised it's head about a foot from the ground, stared me down then jumped sideways in the opposite direction. 

Didn't know snakes could jump sideways but I'm sure glad they can. I yelled "snake!" Martin pulled me behind him, people scattered, the snake disappeared and we all continued our journey like nothing had happened, except me. I was pretending I was fine but I was FREAKING OUT silently. I couldn't stop shaking and sweating, I knew I had to pass that same spot on our way out and that had me shaking even more. 

We made it to Catherdal Gorge and I'm sure it is a wonderful sight but I had lost interest. I took a couple of photos but I didn't want to be there, Martin could see my anxiety level was through the roof so we headed back to the car.

Now I think it was the shock of a near death experience (in my head it was) but with about 1.5 klms to go I was exhausted. Exhaustion like I have never known. Panting, shoulders slumped, head down, shuffling, headache and dizzy. My nose was dripping like a tap and I didn't care. My head was so hot I thought it would explode so I took my hat off, a really great thing to do in blazing heat. I was beyond thinking reasonably. The Captain is like "look at this! ", "take a photo of that" and all I could mutter was "no".  I couldn't muster the energy, what energy I had left was spent putting one foot infront of the other. Martin ended up having to constantly double back to encourage me to walk.

With 500 mts to go we had drank all our water and I had lost the will to live. Just let me lay on this hot sandy ground and let me sleep. We could see our car yet I doubted I would make it. While I was busy losing the will to live Martin was losing the will to save me, he could see the car too and with all his doubling back he had walked twice as far as me. 

Just when I was about to give up completely and Mart was looking a little worse for wear a young couple came up from behind us, power walking with smiles on their faces  "good morning" with all the cheeriness of 6 yr old girls at a birthday party. 

Now add embarrassment to my symptoms.

We made it back, obviously,  and after drinking several lts of water we were driving again.

We got the hell out of the Bungles.

Very slowly....

***** We have no idea what type of snake it was, may have been poisonous,  probably wasn't.  A kid around 10 yrs old said it was a Death Adder, others said a harmless Green Tree Snake. Back in Kununurra that night, eating dinner at the local pub I was a approached by a gentleman asking if I was the snake lady. It seems news travels faster than we do.

The Kimberlys

 Is there anything nicer than being a passenger in car travelling for hours and hours and hours? Off the top of my head I can think of a 1000 things nicer like relaxing in a pool, eating spare ribs, playing with the grandkids, a massage, even hanging out the washing is preferable.

 Not all at the same time of course though I am getting an image of it right now. 

Sadly though if you want to travel and see the country and you want to do it with your house strapped to the back of the car then you must sit in said car for a very long time. 

It's not too bad really...... really it's not too bad, it's not bad at all, I'm repeating myself in the hope I will be convinced. That happens a lot when you have so much time to kill. Daydreaming, repeating, mind wandering........ Now where was i?

I have learnt to spend my time productively.  I think. Over the course of the years I have solved world issues, cured cancer, resolved the divide between indigenous and white Australia, taught myself how to cut hair and how to farm sheep. I have started up businesses and created a peaceful totalitarian society in which I rule. I have designed the perfect house and the perfect caravan. I've done it all. Yet the second I step out of the car and stand upright every thought I had disappears. I am THAT happy to have knees that can straighten.

So here we are off to the Kimberly's again. Our last trip was so enjoyable  we needed to experience it all over again. We stopped at the usual places along the way, Port Augusta(where, apparently, not even the locals want to be) Cobber Pedy (where we don't want to be) Marla(where they make a decent steak sandwich), the Alice (where you get to see grass but NOT decent souvenir shops) Devil's Marbles (where you have to book weeks ahead and we didn't) Tennet Creek (where the caravan park has barbed wire fencing) and Katherine (where it's just hot ALL the time).

We had the opportunity to spend some time in Katherine where we stayed at Knotts Crossing Resort. 2 lovely pools, restaurant, and each camp sites has it's own ensuite. It was lovely with plenty of shade and we do recommend it. The township is hmmm...... different. Supermarket is great. Maccas doesn't open until after 12pm and the bottle shop (and pubs) don't open until 2pm. To enter you have to show I.D. to a cop then answer a few simple questions like "where will you be consuming the alcohol? " If you could have seen the policewoman's face when I answered "on the road". She was dumbstruck. Martin was dumbstruck. I was oblivious and wondering why i had left a cop wordless, "close your mouth love there'sa lot of flies around here".  Martin woke from his stupor in time to explain that we were travelling and would only be drinking once we stopped driving for the day. What? Isn't that what I said but in a more condensed and time saving manner? 

See the thing about Katherine is the weather drains you. We had an hour to kill before the bottle shop opened so we wandered around town which took about 10 minutes, it's not big, then sat and watched the world go by. There were many indigenous people in town and I thought how sad these people seemed. They walked hunched over, never spoke to even the people they are with and walked slowly and without purpose. I discovered after being in town for an hour we too had our life force sucked out we were hunched, quiet and shuffling without purpose. It's the heat. It's oppressive. It's relentless. It's is soul sucking. It's hot. 

Don't get me wrong, Katherine is worth the visit, there is a lot to see. Just be prepared and bring along your fully air-conditioned t shirt, shorts and thongs.

From Katherine to Kununurra in WA we bushed camped. Our new Pigibak camper was so good. Easy to set up and easy to pack. The canopy that Mart decked out was perfect. Everything in its place and easy to access. You can't ask for more.

 

Oh, by the way, if you know of anyone who wants to buy a Piggibak camper let me know. I'll explain later.

We hung around Kununurra for a few days, got a bit of washing done, bought food supplies and went sightseeing. It was decided by the captain that when we leave we will take the shortcut to Wyndam. Firstly, why? We have been to Wyndam and learnt then that there is NOTHING in Wyndam. It does have an awesome lookout but otherwise zilch. Have you ever been to Wyndam? Really, the lookout is wonderful but it's a long way off the track for just a lookout. Apologies to the lovely people of Wyndam, it's a perfectly lovely town if I want to exaggerate.  

Anyhow to go the back way you need to cross the Ord River at Ivanhoe Crossing. That was fun. I got Martin to drive over and back so I could take pictures of him splashing in the water, then I took pictures for a lovely couple who wanted to make a splash as well. What we failed to notice was that everyone drove over then back, no one kept going on to Wyndam. Honestly, if I did notice I would have thought nothing of it because you know ....Wyndham?  

The road was rough, the trail was long ..... tyre eating rocks abound,  i swear you could see their razor sharp teeth as they tried to throw themselves at the tyres. And yep, they abounded into one of our rear tyres and ate with the gusto of 6 starving Italian sons at their Mamma's dinner table. "Mangia  Mangia" ! Holey Moley the destruction was awesome! 

Before we left home for this trip Martin commented about the tyres. They still had a decent amount of tread and he wasn't sure if they should be changed or not. We decided to risk it and if we have to buy new ones while away, well we would just have to buy new ones. What we didn't consider was how much more expensive they would be especially as we decided to change all 4. 

Lesson learnt.

So it was back to Kununurra and another night spent in a caravan park. No complaints from me. I really do love to bush camp, the silence and the whole one with nature stuff but a hot shower and proper toilet really can make a girl smile. We still went to Wyndam though we drove via the main road and I still don't know why. We didn't stop to look at anything, we didn't go to the lookout, we drove into town then turned around and left. Fun.

 

Gibb River Road. We discovered it was a been there, done that moment. We were so excitied to finally get here, loved it so much last time but now all we could think about is dust and dirt for over 600 klms. Don't get me wrong, the road was kinda fun, the sights are still amazing but we didn't experience the magic that we did the first time. Infact, by quater way through we were over the dust, the bumps and the corrugations. Maybe we are just getting older. We camped in some awesome places but basically we plowed on through and headed for Derby.

Derby is a nice town,  I think I may have covered it in an earlier blog. We stayed in a caravan park and our neighbour was an interesting fella. His possessions consisted of a swag and a small wagon with water and a few clothes.  He hung around people in the hope they would feed him. His dole money covered the cost of the site and his booze. The 1st morning he announced to us that he was going to walk the Gibb River Road. He had it all planned down to how strangers will gladly feed and water him so they had bragging rights. "We gave a steak and a couple of beers to the man who walked the Gibb!" Nethermind that many walkers had proceeded him, walking the Gibb is probably the equivalent to swimming 10 laps of a pool. Not easy to do but so many have done it. We wished him luck because he was going to need it and hoped we weren't the ones to find a bearded, beer bellied corpse in thongs on the side of the road

He didn't go by the way, luckily the caravan park offered him a job. I was so relieved. 

 The town of Derby is suffering through a bout of youth violence. Our first night while sitting quietly around camp police approached us to warn about the violence but not to worry, they will be patrolling throughout the night. And they did. Every 15 minutes like clockwork a police car with lights flashing drove down each road of the park lighting up our tent, it was like having our own private and silent disco.  Occasionally we heard yelling and car doors slamming which was a bit disturbing, I was waiting for the gun shots, and it was around this time when I realised  how vulnerable and exposed we are. In a caravan the bad guy has to get through a locked door giving you warning of your impending doom, in a tent he just swings his 3 ft machete and will hit his mark. Just aim for one end, you're guaranteed to get the feet or the head. We wouldn't even know it's coming. 

I laid awake for a long time waiting to have my head chopped off. I've been told that's called catastrophzing, I call it an over productive mind besides I finally decided that the guy in the swag next to us was an easier target thus giving us the warning we need. I went to sleep then.

We didn't stay a second night.

We got the hell out of Derby.

I forgot to mention that Bluey and family came along with us on the trip. Oh the fun that was had.