With the orientation of The Bungle Bungle Range, half of the park is in sunshine in the morning, and the other half in the afternoon. Obviously, when it’s not in sunshine, it’s in shadows, and in shadows there isn’t much colour/light so the best time to see it is while it is illuminated. The half we did yesterday was the half that is bathed in light in the morning, meaning that the half that was left is an afternoon visit. …which meant we could have a lazy morning. Finally re-installed the new inverter and removed the broken spotlights (that were being held in place by cable ties).
The main attraction on the north side of the range is Echidna Chasm, but, on the way I saw a turn off for Stonehenge. How could I NOT check this out? Well, if you are like me and thought there would be some circular collection of rocks, or something even vaguely like that, be prepared for disappointment. It was a circular walk with descriptive plaques explaining the use of various plants of the area…
Yesterday, the lady at the welcome centre suggested that the best time to view this chasm was when the sun was at its peak (around 11:30-12PM) so that the sides of the chasm were illuminated. I was actually expecting there to be hordes of tourists, but it the car park was strangely vacant (for Purnululu). Interestingly, this chasm is one of the features that made Purnululu a world heritage listed site. It was getting close to noon, so we raced along the pebbly riverbed for the canyon. At first the chasm was like any other we’d been to before, but after a hundred or so meters, it began to get narrow.
The further we travelled up the chasm, the tighter it became, so much so that in some places it would have been little more than 1m wide! The chasm twisted and turned as it wound towards its origin. More than one point we thought we’d reached the end, only to find that it continued around a hidden bend.
We were a little late for the peak of the sun, so we didn’t get the full illumination, but what we got was certainly spectacular and we weren’t disappointed. Sometimes, not researching what you are going to see can yield pleasant surprises, like today.
The outside of the range really reminded us of Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) – they are both made of similar rock/conglomerate. The main difference is that this is much more heavily eroded, which I guess is to be expected somewhere like here that receives heavy monsoonal rains each year.
We were hot, dusty, sweaty, and tired. There were more walks that we could have done, but we took the lazy way out, and pulled the plug. It was far too hot (in the sun) to comfortably enjoy walking. I hope we didn’t miss much!
The drive back to the Great Northern Highway was worse than we’d remembered. The 55km of unsealed road seemed to have deteriorated since we travelled it yesterday morning. The last 15km in particular were agonising. I wish I knew how long it took a road to be like this after being graded… We even tried letting the tyres down a little, but it made little to no perceivable difference… We just accepted our hot, sweaty, dusty fate and waited for sweet, sweet bitumen. Tonight is really one of those nights that a real shower would be so amazing.
Also, Risa took a photo of one of the parrots that was making noise in the rest area. There were a few of them having a feed in this tree.
７６日目 ７月２８日 (日) Bungle Bungle バングルバングル〜その２
今日は、バングルバングル 2日目。 昨日は、南側散策をしたので、今日は、北側を散策です。
オーストラリアらしく、この国立公園もかなり巨大な規模なので、ビジターセンターから昨日の散策した場所は、２４km、キャンプサイトまでは７kmそして今日散策した北側のEchidna渓谷までは、１３km。 すべて未舗装で細かい土ぼこりの立ちやすい土なので、エアコン故障中のデリちゃん＝窓を開けて走行なのでなんか空気が土の味がする〜！！
今日の散策場所Echidna渓谷は、とても狭い渓谷で、正午でないと日がささないので、写真の為に昼から行動開始とリーダーの決断が。
朝は、車内の清掃。整理整頓、思い切って処分したものもあったりで、ちょっと車内が片付きました。
気分がすっきりしたところで、いよいよ出発。
ロスも私もここに車では、バングルバングルは、ドーム状の岩のみだとおもっていましたが、ここが世界遺産に登録された決めてとなったのは、実はこのEchidna渓谷 のユーニークさからだそうです。
外側からは、オルガ山（カタジュタ）のような大きな岩で、２０分ほどごつごつした乾いた川底のようじゃり道を歩くと、渓谷の入り口に到着。
渓谷は、スタートからかなり狭く、すぐに幅は、２mほどになりました。 渓谷の両脇の岩壁はとても高く、かなり圧迫感がありますが、なんともいえない静けさと、狭い隙間に刺す日の光がとても幻想的でした。
そして先を進むと幅は、一人の人がちょうど入れる程のせまさになり、岩の間に滑落した岩が挟まって行き止まりかぁ。と思いきや、まだ先が続いていて、岩を登るとまた細—い道が続いていました。
高い岩壁と、うねうねした細い道は、スペインの細い路地を思い出させました。
途中で、屋根裏部屋にいく階段の様な小さな数段の階段を上り、たどり着くとそこは、本当に行き止まりになっています。そこは岩の割れ目のスタートでこれ以上は、岩に割れ目がついていませんでした。
このウォークは、半分が日陰だったので、昨日とは違ってかなり楽でした。
そして何とも幻想的！ とても感動的な場所です。
ランチを取った後は、昨日来た激しいでこぼこ道を再度2時間かけて戻りました。 あまりの振動に頭痛と、首がいたい。。そして車内は、土ぼこりで、ベットまで土ぼこり臭い。。。。 今日は、でこぼこ道と土の夢をみそうだ。。
あ、今日のキャンプ地でとてもカラフルでかわいらしい鳥を発見しました。
Red Wing Parrotというらしく、オスとメスカップルでいました。 この鳥の写真は、私が撮影したのだよー！ むしゃむしゃお花の蜜を食べてて、全然最初は、気づいてなかったけど、カメラに気づくととポーズを取ってくれました。
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