Wednesday July 6        Bungles – Halls Creek

After breaking camp, we drove to the southern end of the Park to see the famous Cathedral Gorge and Dome Walk before leaving the Bungles. These were the short walks taken by most tour groups, and were very beautiful. The main cavern of the Cathedral Gorge was awesome and peaceful. There we again met the Kolfens. Nine- year-old David showed us a sand lion he had dug up from the white sand surrounding the pool in the cavern. Again we stayed some time in the cavern enjoying the wonderful reflections in the pool. On our walk back on the Dome track we detoured to find a small peaceful pool, again surrounded by white sand.

The drive out of the park was joint jolting. The ruts in the road seemed worse than on the way in. Half-way out, the plastic casing that held the right parking light and indicator light shook loose from the car but thankfully stayed connected to the car by two electrical cables. A flimsy plastic bracket had broken. John managed to get it back in place, but after it fell out twice more, John tied it in place with some nylon cord. Back on the highway we headed to Halls Creek. We thought there may have been radio reception, but even 40 km from the town there was still none. In the early afternoon, we arrived in Halls Creek. John suggested there would be time to drive the 150 more kilometres to the Wolfe Creek meteor crater before dark, but Cheryl was unwilling to forgo a hot shower for yet another night.

So we decided to find a place to stay in Halls Creek. But first we set out to buy some glue to hold the parking light in place. It seemed that the brightly painted Taylor's General Store, proclaiming to sell hardware along with drapery items, motor accessories and camping equipment, might be the right place. However it turned out that this store specialised in children's clothing, since a specialist hardware store had apparently opened in the town. The directions to the hardware store consisted of a wave of the shopkeeper's hand in the general direction of the store. Our first attempt to follow them ended in failure. We decided to ask at the local liquor store that also sold groceries. The proprietor of this place offered to sell us liquor next morning (not that we wanted any) even though locals might not purchase liquor until the afternoon. She explained that the rules, made down south in Perth, were different for locals than for tourists. Eventually we found the hardware store, only to discover that it was closed for "five minutes". The owner had left his dog to guard the entrance. Fifteen minutes later the owner returned and we bought some glue.

We decided to do a little more shopping before making camp, and discovered the complexities of shopping in Halls Creek. Along with children's clothes and hardware items, the bakery had a few loaves of bread for sale, one of which we purchased. The supermarket next door had some grocery items on the mostly bare shelves. For example, we bought the only packet of ground coffee, and decided against the only package of cheese. However it seemed to function mainly as a computer games hall. The most recent newspapers available were from the previous Sunday.

The camping ground was pleasant with good facilities and well run, but surrounded by high walls topped with barbed wire. We pitched our tent, had a long warm shower, and then went out to dinner at the Kimberley Hotel just across the road. What a surprise. We enjoyed large cold Matsos beers made in Broome at a table beside the hotel pool. The restaurant was full with around 100 people in tour groups, so we decided to stay for our meal at our table by the pool – barramundi for Cheryl and lamb shanks for John. As we walked back to the campsite we passed many aboriginals socialising on the wide area beside the road. The indigenous community and the white community seemed sadly to be completely separate in this town. And there seemed to be an obvious but relatively benign police presence.