Western Australian Museum CEO Alec Coles tells Explore of his love for the East Kimberley. “This is Gija Country, and Gija people use the name Gawarre, interchangeably, to describe both the whole of Purnululu and the famous ‘beehive’ hills,” he said.
North of Purnululu is the “Warmun Art Centre, where Rover Thomas and Queenie McKenzie, amongst others, created a school of Aboriginal art that endures and thrives today. I recently had the great privilege of going out on Country with Gija Elder and celebrated Warmun artist Shirley Purdie,” said Mr Coles.
“The Kimberley is one of Australia’s most photographed – and photogenic – regions: the waterfalls, the boab-studded watercourses, the dramatic red breakaways, the spinifex-covered hills … This is a landscape like no other.
“I like to camp in the ‘Bungles’ at the Walardi campground … but if you are nervous of the arduous drive in (four-wheel drive obligatory), there is a campground just off the highway.”
Visiting the East Kimberley and its people is “a transformational experience you will never forget”.