An aerial picture of the sandstone 'beehive' area in the Bungle Bungle range.


(Picture and map used with permission and acknowledgment to Dan Hoatson, David Blake and others, authors of The Bungle Bungle Range published in 1997 by the Australian Geological Survey Organisation)

The Bungle Bungle range forms a large part of the Purnululu National Park (shown in the centre of the map)

The tour approached the park via the Buchanan and Duncan Highway (lower right), Halls Creek (which featured on the previous page) and the Great Northern Highway. Note the relatively close proximity of the park to Lake Argyle and the Ord River which we will visit towards the end of our journey.

The 'road' from the Great Northern Highway to the park is a rough, narrow track through the Mabel Downs station and is suitable only for four-wheel-drive vehicles. Although the park entrance lies only fifty three kilometres from the main road, it takes over three hours for a 4WD coach to negotiate this section of the track.......

...but this land-cruiser seems to be making quite fast progress!

Elephant Rock on the approach road.

The Bungle Bungle range was known only to a few cattle drovers and local aborigines until a television documentary shown in 1982 revealed its secrets to the world. The Purnululu National Park was gazetted in 1987 - the word 'Purnululu' means 'sandstone'.

Hundreds of thousands of termite mounds (anthills), some three metres tall, are to be found throughout the Kimberley region. Their diverse colours relate to the soil on which they are found.
The termites enrich the soil by recycling dead wood and grass (but can also cause damage to fence posts and buildings). Mounds come in various shapes, but, generally speaking, each one is built with the narrow or 'sharp' side facing the sun so as to regulate the temperature within the mound.
Each mound (or nest) is made of baked mud, formed from soil and saliva, and comprises a maze of tunnels and chambers containing the termite colony composed of workers, colonisers, soldiers and a queen.