Purnululu National Park

From the Top End we headed west for almost 1000km, and with the Purnululu NP we reached the Kimberley region. Here everything revolved around beehive-like rock formations, the so-called "Bungle Bungles". We were lucky and stumbled across a helicopter company on the roadside on the way there who had just a slot free for us - so we were able to admire the Bungles from above (some travel guides are of the opinion that you wouldn't have really seen them without that). The journey then took us along a bumpy track about 70km long, which was decorated with - we counted - 18 fords. You should plan on about 3 hours for this, but the male M likes tracks like these and drove them in half the time.

We no longer had to worry about flight schedules, so we could devote ourselves entirely to hiking. We managed 20km, which was quite a distance for us at just under 30°C and with little shade. We had also seen everything that interested us - apart from one viewpoint, which we visited on the day of departure.

It is also worth mentioning that although the maximum temperature during the day was close to 30°C, we were blessed with 3°C in our tent at night - now we know again why we are not big fans of camping.

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After the Top End, we had to do a little driving. About 600 miles to the west, we reached the Purnululu NP which marks as well the eastern border of the Kimberley region. Here in Purnululu NP, its all about so-called "Bungle-Bungles" - beehive-shaped rocks. We were lucky and found a helicopter ride on the day of arrival - so without losing extra time we got the chance to see the Bungles from above (some people say, this is the only way to see them correctly). The track into the NP was a bumpy gravel road with - we counted it - 18 river crossings. It was advised to plan 3 hours for these 70km, however, Matthias likes to drive in such conditions and made it in half of this.

As we had the Heli ride already done, we were able to spend our full day in the NP with hiking - in the end, it added up to 20km (which is not that bad in about 85 degrees and little shade only). So, we managed to see everything from our list except one lookout which was done the next day before leaving the NP.

Remarkable were the temperatures: During the day, we reached about 85 degrees, but in the night (in our tent) it went down to 38 ...