We were up super early this morning thanks to the light coming in through our tent and the birds singing. No one was complaining though so that was good! After we ate our breakfast and loaded up the car we went for the walk to Emma Gorge.
It was quite a rocky 3.5km return scramble to get into Emma Gorge but well worth it for the vista at the end. The gorge is stunning and although the water looked very inviting, it was absolutely freezing so the boys only lasted a few minutes and “A” opted out of going for a dip! They did however find the tiny thermal waterfall coming out of the rocks at the edge of the gorge to warm themselves up before the walk back out.
Once we returned to the car and everyone got changed into dry clothes and coffee and hot chocolates were purchased, we hit the road for Purnululu National Park. The drive to the entrance to Purnululu took about 2.5hrs of nice highway driving and we were interested to see that the termite mounds changed from the previous cathedral and tall magnetic mounds to rather round mounds instead.
Once we got to the turnoff from the highway we had a quick pit stop before embarking on the 53km Spring Creek Track which is so corrugated, windy and involves several water crossings that it takes the best part of 2hrs to complete. We all managed to survive though I’m sure there are a few compressed vertebrae after that drive!!
Once into Purnululu, we checked into the Visitor Centre before heading on to our accommodation at Savannah Lodge. Savannah Lodge is a really lovely place with the friendliest group of staff we’ve met. The cabins, although basic, are comfortable and the package is all-inclusive of breakfast and dinner which is nice.
After unloading our gear, we took off in Barry to the “Southern End” and completed The Domes walk which is relatively short but very picturesque. As it was later in the afternoon, we had the entire place to ourselves and got to see the changing colours of the domes as the sun set slowly. Around 4:30pm, we thought we’d better hit the road back to our accommodation which is about a 20min drive on corrugated road before sunset and the wildlife came out to play too much!
On the way back, we were treated to views of the Bungle Bungles with the sun setting on them. A quick shower and we were off to the restaurant for our 3 course buffet dinner. We had pumpkin soup for entree, a buffet of pork belly, barramundi, vegies and all sorts of goodness followed by bread and butter pudding for dessert. All the food was scrumptious. We headed out for a small walk away from camp (ok so towards the sunset viewing platform which is really still in camp) to look at the stars. Well with no light pollution what can we say but fantastic. We then headed to bed for another early night.
