Undiscovered

Although it been around for 350 million years and revered by its Aboriginal custodians for at least 40,000 years, the Bungle Bungles was a secret from the outside world until 1983 when it was "discovered" by a film crew. The Purnululu National Park was formed and in 1987 and it was World Heritage listed in 2003.

Today this maze of orange and black striped karst sandstone domes, often likened to giant beehives, is one of the best loved attractions in Western Australia's Kimberley region. It's a spectacular landscape of sculptured rocks rising 250 metres (820 feet) above the surrounding semi-arid savanna grasslands and the most outstanding example of cone karst in sandstone anywhere in the world.

What is surprising is that the domes' striking orange and grey bands are only skin-deep. It's dark grey or black in layers where clay particles hold remnants of the wet season's deluge for long enough to encourage cyanobacteria to live, and it's orange where iron oxide has leached to the surface.

Fabric collage with thread painted details on a sun dyed background.