We left Uluru early Friday morning to make the 300km trek across to Kings Canyon. When traveling on narrow roads as we knew this one would partially be, we like to get an early start to avoid other travellers and road trains, although being off the main highway there are less of the latter in this area. Because our motorhome is large we take up a lot of road! For those who haven’t seen ‘The Tent’ here she is.

The Tent, plus 4 wheel drive Suzuki under tow

Kings Canyon Resort and camping area is very well patronised, despite a quiet trip largely free from other traffic. We elected to have a relaxing afternoon and later in the day joined other travellers in the bar to listen to very good live country and western music. The camp ground is adjacent to the Watarrka National Park area, and despite tales of plentiful wildlife we didn’t see any (other than a lone camel on our way back out again), however we certainly heard the nightly chorus of dingoes which for those who haven’t experienced it, is quite something.

On Saturday we kicked off with an early start to do the rim walk at the canyon. This is a 6km walk meant for the fit and healthy because the first 10 minutes is a climb of about 500 steps straight up. Great kick-start for the lungs first thing in the morning. The walk is spectacular, featuring ancient sandstone towering vertical walls up to 270m tall, sculptured domes, amazing plant life where you wouldn’t expect it, and a natural spring waterhole in the aptly named ‘Garden of Eden’. The garden is the habitat for breeding birds and is surrounded by local and exotic plants and trees, including massive prehistoric ferns. There was lots of evidence of kangaroo life, but alas none for us to spot. We couldn’t believe the numbers of people doing the walk. Thankfully because we were early and probably faster than most, we were able to enjoy the splendour in relative peace and quiet. For those thinking of doing this walk, I would recommend getting into it first thing or risk being caught up in the bottlenecks that occur.  Sorry I can’t share any photos, as Steve was the official photographer on this excursion (I didn’t want to carry my ipad) and he hasn’t gotten around to downloading them.

We also did the short walk into the canyon at ground level, however for us,it really didn’t compare with the rim walk. There are several other walks in the area, but not in the canyon, which is what we had specifically come to see.

On Saturday we started on our way to Alice Springs and have stopped at a little park on the corner of the Stuart and Lassiter Highways, called Erldunda, where we met up with our good friend Brian who  bypassed the canyon.

We are looking forward to Alice Springs where we plan to use the motorhome as a base and go off in the Suzuki and do some real camping for a few nights in the MacDonnell ranges. Mmm, I wonder how Miss Jane will fear without all her mod cons, this should be interesting!