I Still Call Australia Home (Purnululu National Park/The Bungle Bungles, Picaninny Creek, Cathedral Gorge)

Today is the THE DAY, after so many years of waiting and wanting, we are spending almost the entire day in Purnululu National Park or The Bungle Bungles, as they have been known since white fellas came to the area. Not even a Bruce McAvaney "special" can sum this up, dear reader. Although it is just so special.

I'm certain we stopped for morning and afternoon tea, somewhere, or carried it with us, but it is of no import today.

The domes and a local Grevillea.

There was a short drive from the lodge to a viewing spot in the national park. The beehive shaped domed are as impressive as I imagined. But beehive shaped? The only beehive I have ever seen shaped like a dome was in Yogi bear cartoons. Native bees in Australia hive in tree hollows, as do the European bees that have escaped the professional keepers.

The domes of Purnululu are another amazing piece of the landscape out here. I'm going to minimise the written text and let the pictures do the talking today, but first a brief lesson in the geology of the area. Thanks to https://www.kimberleyaustralia.com/bungle-bungles-ranges.html.

The domes are sandstone that was estimated to have been laid down around 350 million years ago. Weathering as a result of wind, rain, heat and cold wore away at the weaker sections of rock. This erosion is constant and ongoing today. Fault lines of weakness in the ground can be viewed from the air.

The darker layers in the rock have a higher clay content and as such hold more moisture than other layers. The moisture allows for the growth of cyanobacteria, a kind of primitive algae. This microorganism protects the layer in which it grows, which slows downs erosion. The orange colour in the remaining rock comes from oxidation of iron.

The view from Picaninny Lookout

Massive rainfall in the wet season has gradually carved out the softer rock and created the creeks, canyons, chasms and gorges that we see today.

Heading into Cathedral Gorge

Another Grevillea.

We commenced with our walk to Picaninny Lookout. Those feeling less confident detoured before the end point and headed straight to Cathedral Gorge where we all met up later in the day. I'm sorry the photos don't do it justice, I didn't have a lense with a wide enough aperture to capture the height.

You might recognise Cathedral Gorge from the Qantas ads featuring the Australian Youth Choir singing I Still Australia Home. Eventually. If the flight wasn't cancelled. Although their luggage probably didn't make it home. And I doubt they were flying using Frequent Flyer points, that's almost impossible. Sorry I digress. As you can tell my dear reader, my love affair with Qantas is well and truly over.

Anyway, today's title is the original Peter Allen version of the song.

The pool at Cathedral Gorge.

Colours changing as the sun moves.

The shapes, the colours, and the remote, unspoiled beauty of the area were marred by the relentless march of the introduced species, cane toads, across the top end. They were evident everywhere and are having a major, deleterious impact on native wildlife. Animals that try to eat the toad end up being poisoned and a program has commenced to try to train the locals not to eat the introduced pest.

A couple of young cane toads.

After we walked out of Cathedral Gorge, lunch was enjoyed at the HeliSpirit airstrip as we waited patiently for our flight over the national park. There were three different flights you could enjoy, 18 minutes or the longer 30 minutes, up to 42 minutes. Not being huge fans of flying in helicopters with no doors and only rudimentary seat belts, we opted for the shortest flight.

We scored the red helicopter.

Just as spectacular from the air.

In the meantime, I was kept entertained by the possibility of bird watching. There was an artificial pond near the administration building that had previously been host to some Gouldian Finches. I was sceptical about that, but there were plenty of other avian visitors that afternoon.

The range goes on forever.

This area was used to hold mustered cattle.

The chopper flight was magic and the domes of Purnululu looked even more spectacular from the air. Uluru is special because of its sheer size and domination of the surrounding landscape. Kata Tjuta engenders a magic cathedral-like spirituality. Purnululu is different again. It rises from the surrounding landscape without dominance of the rock or the spiritual feeling of 'The Olgas', but the shapes and colours create their own level of wonder and awe.

That evening, we adjourned to a local spot not far from the lodge to watch the sunset. Supposedly. We actually left for dinner before the sun had gone down completely. Aside from that, the colours weren't that great. I've seen better in Redfern. Watching the changing colours on the surrounding ranges is more impressive.

Colour changes on the mountains are worth watching.

A Kimberley sunset ... pretty average colour.

All in all, an awesome day.

Bucket list ticked.

Until next time.