Natural wonders
IMAGES: Tourism Western Australia
THE BEAUTY OF THE BUNGLE BUNGLES When most people think of a gigantic rock formation in the Australian outback, their mind no doubt leaps straight to Uluru. However, the Bungle Bungle Range in Western Australia’s Purnululu National Park is 60 times bigger and, some would argue, a more exciting experience. Words Michelle Hespe Although I visited the Bungle Bungle Range more than a decade ago, the memory of the experience has never dimmed – it is still one of the most spectacular natural formations I have ever seen in the world. There is nowhere else on the planet where you can see hundreds of enormous, tiger-striped, bulbous sandstone mounds rising 250 metres out of the stark savannah grasslands in an equally stunning 2,400 square kilometre national park. The Bungle Bungles (as it’s commonly known) was formed over 360 million years ago when sand and gravel were deposited during the Devonian period. The sand was left by rivers flowing from the north-east, while at the same time gravel from eroding mountain ranges to the north-west was also being deposited into the range.
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FROM TOP: Take a scenic flight over the Bungle Bungle Range for the best aerial views; embark on a walking tour of the National Park with a local ranger.
The quartz sandstone eroded over a period of 20 million years into the remarkable series of beehive-shaped cones that we see today, the steeply sloped surfaces marked by regular horizontal bands of dark-grey Cyanobacteria. The Bungle Bungles are, by far, the most outstanding example of cone karst in sandstones anywhere in the world. Put more simply, the range is the sediment of an old river bed, which was laid down in layers, compressed into sandstone, and eventually raised to form mountains. Oxidisation of iron in the sandstone gives the range its beautiful orange and red colours. The sandstone is also very soft, so the raging waters of the wet seasons have carved out creeks and deep canyons, rifts, chasms and gorges. Don’t miss the gob-smackingly beautiful circular Cathedral Gorge – created by a massive whirlpool that forms during the wet season.
