TRAVERSE Issue 17 - April 2020 | Page 86

Bungle Bungles, the colloquial name for the Bungle Bungle Range, a major part of the Purnululu National Park. An ancient land 350 million years in the making yet, only ‘discovered’ in the 1980s. Fringing the eastern side of the Kimberley region the Bungle Bungles are remote. The people in- digenous to the area, the Karjaganu- jaru, have lived here for over 20,000 years and although having a connec- tion to the land believed it to be of ‘no great significance’ due to a lack of drinkable fresh water. Local stock- man spoke of the area however, it was more of a hinderance than something of wonder. The greater population ‘found’ the area in 1982 … by chance. We’d flown over the area a few weeks prior and marvelled at the strange land formations; beehive like domes that rippled across the landscape, orange and black bands, perfectly spaced creating a surreal aerial view. From the air, the vast expanse TRAVERSE 86