Page 337 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Australia

THE KIMBERLEY AND THE DESER T S  335

people, who co-operate with
national park authorities to
develop cultural tourism.
The most famous part of the
park is the Bungle Bungle
Range, consisting of unique
beehive-shaped domes of rock
encased in a skin of silica and
cyanobacterium.

oWyndham
* 700. ~ @ n Kimberley Motors,
6 Great Northern Hwy (08) 9161 1281.
The port of Wyndham lies at the
A freshwater crocodile basking in the sun, Windjana Gorge, near Derby northern tip of the Great Northern
Highway, on Cambridge Gulf. The
yDerby is the world’s second-largest town was established in 1888,
meteorite crater, in Wolfe Creek partly to service the Halls Creek
* 5,000. ~ @ n 30 Loch St
(08) 9191 1426. Open 9am–4pm Crater National Park. gold rush and partly as a centre
Mon–Fri, 9am–noon Sat. Y Wolfe Creek Crater for the local pastoral industry. It
also provided supplies, which
Derby is the gateway to a region National Park were carried by Afghan camel-
@ Halls Creek. n Lot 248 Ivanhoe
of stunning gorges. Points of Rd, Kununurra (08) 9168 6262. Open trains, for cattle stations in the
interest here include the 1920s Apr–Sep: daily. Closed wet weather northern Kimberley. The town’s
Wharfingers House, Old Derby (roads impassable). Afghan cemetery is a reminder of
Gaol, and the Botanical Gardens. those traders who were essential
South of town is the 1,000- to the survival of pioneer home-
year old Prison Boab (baobab) iPurnululu steads in the interior.
tree, 14 m (45 ft) in circumference. (Bungle Bungle) The part of the town known
At the end of the 19th century, as Old Wyndham Port was the
it was used to house prisoners National Park original town site and still con-
overnight before their final @ Halls Creek. n Purnululu National tains a number of 19th-century
journey to Derby Gaol. Park (08) 9168 7300. Open Apr–Nov: buildings, including the old post
daily. & 8 office, the old courthouse and
Environs Anthon’s Landing, where the
Derby stands at the western Covering some 320,000 ha first jetty was erected. The Port
end of the Gibb River Road, (790,000 acres) of the most Museum displays a vivid photo-
which leads towards the three isolated landscape in Western graphic history of the port.
national parks collectively Australia, Purnululu National The area around Wyndham
known as the Devonian Reef Park was declared in 1987. It is has a large crocodile population.
National Parks. The parks of home to the local Kija and Jaru Freshwater and saltwater
Windjana Gorge, Tunnel Creek crocodiles can be seen
and Geikie Gorge contain occasionally in the wild at Blood
spectacular gorge scenery. Drain Crocodile Lookout and
Crocodile Hole. To complete
Y Geikie Gorge National Park the picture, a 4-m (13-ft) high
@ to Derby. n Derby (08) 9191 concrete saltwater crocodile
5112. Open Apr–Nov: daily. Closed
Dec–Mar. greets visitors at the entrance
to the town. Saltwater
crocodiles have a taste for
uHalls Creek people, so exercise caution.
About 25 km (15 miles) from
* 1,200. @ n 2 Hall St (08)
9168 6262. Wyndham, Aboriginal petro-
glyphs can be seen at the picnic
Halls Creek was the site of spot of Moochalabra Dam. Also
Western Australia’s first gold worth mentioning is the Five
rush in 1885, and today is a Rivers Lookout located at the
centre for mineral mining. Close highest point from which to
to the original town site is a view the landscape. It provides a
vertical wall of quartz rock, spectacular view of the five rivers
known as China Wall. About The intriguing domes of the Bungle which enter the Cambridge Gulf
130 km (80 miles) to the south Bungles, Purnululu National Park and surrounding mangroves.
For hotels and restaurants in this area see pp490–91 and pp521–2