Halls Creek - A natural buzz

The Bungle Bungle Range, in Purnululu National Park, is one of the most fascinating geological landmarks in Western Australia.

From an aircraft, the Bungle Bungle Range is an imposing sight. The orange and black stripes across the beehive-like mounds, encased in a skin of silica and algae, are clearly visible as you approach from the south. As you sweep further over the range a hidden world of gorges and pools is revealed, with fan palms clinging precariously to walls and crevices in the rocks.

Although the Bungle Bungle Range was extensively used by Aboriginal people during the wet season, when plant and animal life was abundant, few Europeans knew of its existence until the mid 1980s. The area has been a national park since 1987 and its unique appearance has captured the public imagination.

The park, which is open only between April and September, offers a remote wilderness experience, with few facilities and no accommodation; visitors must carry in all food and water. You can camp at Walardi and Kurrajong campsites, but it's essential to be well equipped.

In the Kija Aboriginal language 'purnululu' means sandstone. The name Bungle Bungle comes either from the corruption of an Aboriginal name for the area, or from a misspelling of one of the common Kimberley grasses found here - bundle bundle grass.

The Bungle Bungle Range rises up to 578 metres above sea level, and stands 200 to 300 metres above a woodland and grass-covered plain, with steep cliffs on the western face. It's cut by deep gullies and breaks up into complex areas of ridges and domes, with prominent orange and black or grey bands.

Virtually every visitor to Purnululu asks the same question - how did this remarkable landscape come about?

Well, the distinctive beehive-shaped towers of the Bungle Bungle are made up of sandstone (rocks formed by the consolidation of sand grains) and conglomerates (rocks composed mainly of pebbles and boulders and cemented together by finer material). These sedimentary formations were deposited into the Ord Basin 375 million to 350 million years ago, when active faults were altering the landscape.

The landforms seen today were produced by uplift and erosion during the past 20 million years. One of the most obvious features of the sandstone is the alternating orange and black or grey banding.

The darker bands were formed where moisture seeped through to the rock surface, promoting a dark algal growth. The orange bands are on harder rock which has been stained by iron and manganese.

While the geology of the Bungle Bungle is significant, the area is also rich in Aboriginal art, and there are also many burial sites.

The park is home to more than 130 bird species, including rainbow bee-eaters and flocks of budgerigars. The nailtail wallaby and the euro - a type of kangaroo - live around the base of the range, while the short-eared rock-wallaby is thought to live on top.