Trip to the Red Centre - Day 4
Elena and I woke up around 5:30am to start our long trek up Kings Canyon. By the time we got there around 6:00am it was quite windy and there were already 2 tour groups that were ahead of us consisting of about 10 people each.
The start of the 9km walk was the initial climb up the side of the canyon which was quite difficult, even though there is a rugged staircase made from rocks. It goes straight up the side and is quite steep. The staircase in the photo only shows the first part of the climb, once you reach that top it goes in a bit and then there are 3 more staircases about the same length after that.
The "Rim Walk" as it's called takes you up the side of the canyon and around its "rim" (hence Rim Walk), and then back down the other side.
Once at the top you are rewarded with a beautiful view of the desert and this sign:
Though I have to say, the sign isn't exactly accurate in that it says, "The next part of the Rim Walk is more leisurely"; it isn't. Well... ok, I suppose it's MORE leisurely, but I don't think I would have used the word "leisurely" since it's a bit misleading. The terrain was quite rocky and can be dangerous if you're not careful since there aren't really any railings to keep you from falling over the cliff if you get too close to the edge.
Yes, that's me sitting on the edge of a cliff, there's a close up version in my Flickr Album. About half-way through the walk we went down into the valley to the "Garden of Eden" which lies in the middle of the canyon. It must have been a great relief to the first explorers to find water and lush greenery in the middle of a fairly barren canyon. It was there that we took a rest and at apples in the Garden of Eden, very poetic. We were then back up the canyon about 15 minutes later to continue our journey around the rim.
This is a view looking down into the Garden of Eden, the black part of the photo is water. According to the history of the canyon it apparently used to be covered with ocean which is why at the top you can sometimes see fossils of trilobytes and jellyfish. There's also white sand at the very top that you'd normally expect to find on the white sandy beaches of
Whitsundays.
In total, the walk took us about 3.5 hours (estimated walking time was 3 - 4 hours). And we got back to the resort around 10:00 to refuel the car and pick up the others. We were then on our way back to Alice Springs.
Because we were lucky enough to have a 4WD we were able to take the "unsealed" road back instead of having to re-trace our route back to the Stuart Hwy. This gave us the unique opportunity to do some sightseeing which included walking to the famous Henbury Meteorite Craters. For those of you who aren't familiar with these craters they were used by NASA as a training ground for various things.
Back on the road to Alice Springs we saw wild camels grazing by the side of the road. So we parked the car, rolled down the window and took a few photos. From what I hear, Australia is the only country in the world that has wild camels.
We arrived back in Alice Springs around 3:00pm, checked into the youth hostel and Elena and I went to the Alice Springs Telegraph Station. Unfortuately by the time we got there it was closed, but we were able to see the real Alice Spring, though it's all dried out now what with being in the desert and all.
We finished off the day with dinner at Red Rooster and then back to the hostel where we met Maria and Casey who had just arrived in Alice Springs and were travelling to Kings Canyon and Ayers Rock the very next day.
Tomorrow I fly back to Brisbane, it's been a great 4 days, my only regret is that there isn't something similar to Kings Canyon in Brisbane. It was so much fun, I want to do it again!
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