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| From the air, Bungle Bungle looks like a bad case of pimples on the sparse landscape of Outback Australia. But when you walk into this maze of unusual sandstone peaks, you get a much different sense of their size and majesty. |
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| From the air, Bungle Bungle looks like a bad case of pimples on the sparse landscape of Outback Australia. But when you walk into this maze of unusual sandstone peaks, you get a much different sense of their size and majesty. |
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| As our small aircraft came in for a landing on the dirt strip, this collection of tents was our first view of the camp where we would stay during our time in the remote Bungle Bungle area. |
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| (left) Home-sweet-home for our stay, complete with an alarm clock in the tree, a couple of white cockatoos that called us before dawn so that we could begin our hikes in the coolest part of the day. (right) Our bunks and the cookhouse/dining room. | |
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| Day's end brought the perfect cocktail party with a toast to the brilliant Australian sunset turning clouds and the Bungle Bungle a rosy pink. |
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| Our first hike was into Echinda Chasm, a narrow passageway made by 20 million years of water trickling across a sandstone fault line. On the left is the chasm as it appears from the air; on the right is the view as you approach at ground level. | |
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| Look up...and you can see trees growing outside the chasm, along the rim. | On the other hand, it's not always a good idea to look up! |
| Working your way toward the back of the chasm, the air becomes cooler -- dropping from the 90s outside to near 60° -- vegetation disappears, and the passage way shrinks. Finally, although there's still "light at the end of the tunnel," there's no way to go forward and no way to get out ... except the way you came in. |  |
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| Even from the air, the entry to Cathedral Gorge is more open and you can see that the gorge is larger than Echinda Chasm. The route in is filled with interesting sites, such as trees that seem to grow right out of the walls and termite tunnels glued to the side of rock so that the little insects can reach the roots of the plants on which they feed. | |
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The "cathedral" itself is an amphitheater-like cave snuggled in the shadow of huge rocks. In addition to plenty of hard "seats" for a rest and lunch, the cave has a picturesque pool reflecting the pink rock walls and blue sky outside.. But from the looks of the "water monitor" lizard on the shore, I'd say you might not want to drink the water! | ||
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| Echinda Chasm | Cathedral Gorge | Wilderness Camp | |
