Australia — Bungle Bungles

Dingo, as in, "...a dingo ate my baby!" from the Meryl Streep movie, A Cry in the Dark.

Mini Palms Gorge, Traditional Aboriginal Birthing Cave — see two male hikers on bottom left of  the image give the massive scale of the cavern.

Bungle Bungles

Bungle Bungles

Mini Palms Gorge

Echidna Gorge, see hiker at bottom

Entrance to Echidna Gorge. Again, two hiker at bottom give scale.

Some of the mini palms and Mini Palm Gorge.

Mini Palm Gorge.

Australia — Bungle Bungles

I really just like saying Bungle Bungles, weaving it into normal daily conversation, as in, “I remember when I was in the Bungles and we happened upon a wild dingo …” Which, my guide and I did. It was her first dingo, and all I could think of when I saw it was the line from A Cry in the Dark when Meryl Streep wails, “A dingo at my baby!”  And, as cool as I was told it was to see a dingo, it looks a bit like a lean German shepphard. The aboriginal name certainly makes it cooler and more authentic: Warrigal or Noggum or Boolomo, depending upon dialect. When I read up on dingos, the Dog Breed Info Center said they didn’t make good companions because, “untrained dingos … cannot easily be obedience trained.” Um, duh, right? Anyway, we saw one on our way to the Kungkalahayi Lookout.

The lookout was nice, but I wanted to get into the unique rock formations, which are abundant in this park, which also goes by the proper name of Purnululu, almost as much fun as saying, bungle.

We zipped off to Mini Palms Gorge, with its red rock canyon and giant palms. Yes, giant. After a stunning walk into the canyon, the trail ends at an overlook of a traditional aboriginal birthing place, a cavern. The crevice in the rock that leads to the cavern leaves no doubt to the female reference. It was hard to see the scale until two MEN can out of the dark slit in the rock. Check it out in the image. The place was massive. 

But, as cool as that was, the more surreal was Echidna Gorge, a narrow slot of a canyon, that glowed an ethereal orange for the entirety of the hike.

After that, with light running out, we hurried around the range to the beehive dome shaped rocks that make up the proper bungles. They’re sandstone that has been sculpted by water through the centuries. The light and dark striations, and otherworldly mounds make them particularly dramatic. I was only in the park for once day, which was about two weeks to few from my camera’s perspective.

Where I stayed: Bungle Bungle Wilderness Lodge: kimberlywilderness.com.au