Jesus
You always meet some very different and interesting people
when you travel around this grand country of ours. But seeing Jesus was really
up there.
Jayne and I saw Jesus on this trip!
We first saw him at Turkey Creek Roadhouse (Warmum
Aboriginal Community). We pulled in contemplating staying there the night rather
than Bungle Bungles Caravan Park as Turkey Creek have a swimming pool, and
Bungles don’t. Seeing it was 39⁰C in the shade a pool sounded like what we
needed.
Jesus got out of his old red beat-up Toyota troop-carrier
in a flowing gown, which was a faded pinkie-red kind of colour. First it looked
like it was a wraparound sarong or similar something close to what a Hare
Krishna would wear, but it was actually culottes (3/4 pants) with really wide
legs and a top (shawl) made from the same material wrapped around his upper
body, which as he walked between the bowsers he continuously loosely swathed
over his shoulders and around himself.
He looked at least 50 in the shade with long grey hair and
beard to match. On closer inspection Jayne reckons he was between 35-40.
We observed him sitting on a rock contemplating the world.
Jayne wanted to take a picture of him, but she didn’t want to feel like the
paparazzi, so we never got the shot. Well, you know how famous Jesus is!
Driving 50 kms from Turkey Creek, we turned onto the dirt
road into the Bungle Bungles and there at the locked gate appeared Jesus and Mrs
Jesus. She hovered very quickly to the gate and opened it to both Jayne and I
exclaiming in unison “There's Jesus!”
I have to say Mrs Jesus was a very young sprightly looking
lass who was well endowed in the upper body, so obviously Jesus is doing well
from his flock.
She opened the gate and closed it after us, waving with a
big friendly smile similar to a Mormon who knocks on your door on Sunday
mornings. Jesus himself was in the driver’s seat of his red Toyota and gave us a
big wave as we drove past.
The next time we saw Jesus it was a far more moving
experience for us.
The following day we headed into the Bungle Bungles for a
day’s hiking around their Domes or Beehives. The 53km road in is just a mine
field of corrugations and with a maximum speed limit of 50kms/hour which I fail
to see can be maintained on such a road. We were passed by a 4WD Tourist Bus who
was doing well over the designated 50kms/hour and obviously the ones who chew up
these roads.
They don’t let you drive dual axle caravans into the Bungle
Bungles as they claim the rear axle of the dual set chews up the roads as it
skids around the tight creek turns etc. We didn’t see any tight creek turns that
a dual axle van would chew up, but we did see several ones which were single
lane with a steep entry and exit to and from the dip.
One of these which was particularly nasty and also has a
turn in the middle, and this is where we next saw Jesus.
His 4Wd was hurtling towards us at much faster than the modest
50kms/hour, obviously he had divine ability to drive faster than everyone else.
Well, his Toyota hurtled down into the creek bed and came flying up the other
side, headed straight towards us. We saw the whites in his and Mrs Jesus’s eyes.
They no doubt could also see ours! He when shooting past us
waving madly at us.
We felt exceedingly heavenly having survived this
experience. When we drove back through this creek crossing later in the day we
were both amazed that we didn’t see Jesus’s Toyota slammed up against a tree.
We’re not sure of Jesus and Mrs Jesus’s fate. Maybe he
launched themselves into the heavens at that creek crossing never to be seen on
earth again, or his experience in the Bungle Bungles was just as mundane as
everyone else’s, albeit it very spectacular.
We’re still pondering this encounter today. A very moving
experience.
Kununurra to Bungle Bungles
The Bungle Bungles (now called Purnululu National Park) are
amazing beehive (dome) like structures which pop out of the WA desert and cover
an amorous area. Jayne and I have flown over them in a helicopter in 2005, but
we’ve never been to them on the ground.
There is a new caravan park at the start of the road into
the Bungle Bungles which is obviously owned by former South Africans. The whole
place is set up just like a camp in the Kruger. Complete with enormous Potjie
Pots which are placed on the fire via a frontend loader. Too big to pick up.
Unfortunately it was too hot the days we were there for
them to do us a Potjie Pot dinner, but they had this enormous fire which reviled
the size of their pots. Our van was the closest to the fire and we could feel
the heat from it on the inside wall of our van. We had to sleep with the air-con
on that night. Jayne asked them to restrict the size of it the next night, so
the paint wouldn’t blister on the van, which they did. We could still feel the
warmth of the fire, but it was not radiating like the night before.
Their Bungle Bungle travel brochure here includes trips to
South Africa! As if you would fly from here to South Africa. Seems like a crazy
starting point.
.
We ventured into the National Park with a 6am start to the
day to avoid the heat. But after a 2 hour drive to the start of our first walk,
the temperature was already at a balmy 35⁰ with almost no breeze. So we headed
up Cathedral Gorge which was amazing. On the map below, our walk is in yellow,
and the drive in red.
We contemplated doing another walk to Echidna Gouge but due
to the midday temperatures we decided we couldn’t find a valid reason to put
ourselves through this torture. So we enjoyed lunch inside the Landy with the
air-con on and then walked up to a lookout over the ranges and Jayne drove the
1.5 hours’ drive which is only 53kms long back to the Caravan Park.
.
