The Bungle Bungles, or Purnululu National Park, is a world heritage park in Western Australia. It is in a remote area, with access into the park being a two to three hour trip by 4WD. At this stage of my trip I was travelling with fellow Rollers Leone, Bev and Sue. We camped in the free camp at the entrance to the park, and Bev, Sue and I set out to visit the park in Bev’s 4WD.
The Prado 
Bev lets the tyres down
The Bungle Bungles are not somewhere to be in summer. – it gets ridiculously hot. The park office was closing for the season the week following our visit as it was already too hot for most trekkers.
Here’s some tips if you are considering visiting. It’s not rocket science, but it’s so easy for things to go wrong.
Tip 1:
If you’re staying outside the park, leave early. 7am is not early, especially as your body clock is still on eastern time and you’re waking up at 4.30am every morning! By the time you drive in, including time to let your tyres down and time spent at the visitor centre, it will be midday before you get to see anything. And by then it’s mega hot with no shade. Try to enter the park by 5am.
Tip 2:
It’s hot. Even at 7am. And yes, it’s too hot to put your walking shoes on, especially as you have a three hour car trip ahead of you. BUT DO IT ANYWAY! The three people on this trip will all attest to the fact that hiking on hot sand in thongs is not optimal, and sturdy shoes set aside for the trip but left at camp aren’t helpful!
Tip 3:
Three to four litres of water per person per day is recommended – but I’d recommend more. I drank two litres of water in the car on the way in…
Tip 4:
When the forecast is for 39 degrees, remember that where you’re going is mostly sand and rock. And sand and rock store and reflect heat. The outside temperature was 44 degrees when we got back to the car. It is hard work just functioning in that heat, let along walking a couple of kilometres up and down on sand and rock with no shade.
Tip 5:
Don’t leave a water bottle as an incentive to make it back to a certain point (Sue!). The water will be too hot to drink by then, and you’ll surely need it sooner! 🙂
Tip 6:
I contemplated this problem at the time and investigated the facts later. Yes, it IS possible to do CPR with your foot. Thankfully I didn’t need to perform CPR, but it was such hard going that I was worried about how I would manage if it were needed. Because I had nothing left in the tank…
Tip 7:
It’s OK not to see everything. In fact, it’s OK to do one 2km walk and then head out of there. And live to come back another day. Preferably in winter!!
This Is How I Roll 
An amazing place. So glad you made it there – and have lived to learn from the experience. Pam
Sent from my iPhone
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