Birthday in the Bungles
(Location: Purnulu National Park, Western Australia)
For Andy’s birthday in 2014, we spent 3 nights “glamping” in the Bungle Bungle, part of Purnulu National Park on the eastern edge of The Kimberly in Western Australia.
If you find yourself wondering where the heck that is, you are not alone. Most of the Australians we know haven’t heard of it. From Melbourne we flew 4.5 hours northwest to Darwin. After a five hour layover, we took an Air North flight to Kununurra, where we picked up our “Ute” and spent one night before heading out to the park.
The first five hours of the drive were pretty uneventful, except for a small bushfire that totally fascinated us (THOUSANDS of birds swarming – likely feeding on insects). Once in the park, the driving got a little more interesting, with a half dozen river crossings. Nothing too crazy, but 4WD definitely required.
The camp reminded us of places we’ve stayed in Africa – a few dozen “tents”, a fire pit, and a large open air dining room. I don’t know if our tent was the same as the others, but we had a proper king size bed and an attached full bathroom with plenty of hot water. The temps did dip down into the single digits (celsius) at night, but we just bundled up before bed and it wasn’t an issue.
We did several hikes in the park – Cathedral Gorge, the Domes Walk, Sunset Lookout, Mini Palms Gorge, Echidna Chasm, and part of the Piccaninny Creek Walk. The views are spectacular, and the night sky is absolutely amazing (however we were there during a full moon so we only had a few hours of darkness before the moon rose)
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If you go:
- Flights: Qantas and Air North
- Lodging in Kununurra: Pinctada Kimberley Grande
- Hire Car: Budget
- Lodging in the Bungles: Bungle Bungle Wilderness Lodge
