I visited Purnululu National Park in early August 2023 as part of a trip around Western Australia and the Northern Territory with my wife and teenage son.  We flew into Kununurra from Darwin, which is a short 1 hour flight, and rented a Toyota Landcruiser Prado at the airport.  Before heading south towards Purnululu, we visited the excellent Mirima National Park on the outskirts of Kununurra and walked up a steep trail for views over the valley.  We also visited the Aboriginal Art Centre.  After lunch we visited Kelly's Knob, a high point with a view over the town then set out on the road, arriving in Warmun in the late afternoon.  We stopped a few times to check out the Baobab trees around the highway. 

We had originally planned to stay two nights at a campsite just off the highway but a dispute between the traditional owners meant the site wouldn't open for the whole season.  We were only given a few weeks notice of the closure so had to hastily arrange alternative accommodation.  We stayed at Warmun Roadhouse about 35 miles north of the turn off into Purnululu, and although the accommodation was basic, the roadhouse had everything one needs - shop, restaurant and fuel.  The night sky here was amazing, as good as anywhere I had seen previously. 

We set off for Purnululu early the next morning as you are advised not to travel at night due to the risk of hitting animals (cows, horses, kangaroos).  A few miles off the highway, the dirt road crosses the first of 24 creeks.  Even with the Landcruiser in the dry season it was pretty bumpy and a few of the creeks were fairly deep.  It took us around 3 hours to drive the 50 miles offroad on the Spring Creek Track.  We signed in at the visitor centre and parked up at Piccaninny car park.  We went on the Domes trail loop first and returned to the car park for lunch.  There is a shade picnic area but no services in the national park, so you need to bring food and drink with you.  In the afternoon we walked to Cathedral Gorge and then onto Piccaninny Creek lookout.  We left at about 2:45pm to return to the car and started driving back at 3:15pm.  

The Bungle Bungles were amazing – like being on another planet.  The orange stripes are caused by iron oxidisation and the black stripes by cyanobacteria.  The surface is fragile and if damaged, the underlying rock quickly erodes.  It was fairly hot on the walk but the temperature at 11am was only 28oC.  

On the drive back, we saw a VW SUV stuck in a creek which was being pulled out by a 4x4 truck.  Later we saw another VW struggling to get out of a creek; moral of the story: upgrade to a Toyota Landcruiser.  We also saw 3 Agile Wallaby’s and a Dingo on the drive out of the park.  We got to the main Victoria highway at about 6pm and headed north.  We briefly stopped at Doon Doon roadhouse but it appeared to be only a shop with no restaurant so we decided to try to find dinner at Kununurra.  

A few miles past Doon Doon we saw an eerie red glow in the sky.  I initially thought it was the diamond mine operating 24 hours but as we got closer we realised it was a huge forest fire with a line of flames shooting several metres into the night sky.  It came right up to the road.  When we got a mobile signal maybe 20 mins later, my wife called the fire brigade.  

We arrived in Kununurra at about 8:30pm and went to the Hotel Kununurra.  There was a very loud karaoke on the complex and we found our rooms.  It was pretty run down.  We walked into the town (only a couple of hundred metres) and got cat called by some locals spoiling for a fight.  There was a man unconscious lying on the side of the road, clearly intoxicated.  My wife got spooked and insisted on driving to a petrol station just a few yards from the hotel as there were drunk men everywhere and kids running wild.  Even in the petrol station shop, a drunk man pestered us to buy him dinner.  We got our food so quickly we didn’t even bother with drinks.  We went back to the hotel to eat it in our rooms.  I read later that the annual violent crime rate in Kununurra is 226 per 1,000 population putting it firmly in the top 1% of most dangerous localities in Australia. 

I had wanted to visit the Bungle Bungles since I first read about them in the 1980's, and despite our experience in Kununurra, it was definitely worth the three day trip.