Captivating Canyons and Gorgeous Gorges

We departed Uluru and headed for Kings Canyon along the Red Centre Way. We were tossing up on where to stay there were two options; Kings Creek Station (36kms away from Canyon) or Kings Canyon Resort (6kms away from the Canyon) We stopped at Kings Creek to suss it out but decided to press on as we didn’t want to waste fuel going in and out to the walks at the Canyon.

Once we had set up our campsite we decided that there were three walks we wanted to do adding up to about 12 kms and we also decided to book in a camel ride at Kings Creek Station. While booking the camel ride Shaun asked if there was any work about at the moment and the Maintenance Manager came and saw us. He said he could give us a week of work. We discussed this a lot and were leaning towards staying on for the week. After discussing with the General Manager he was wanting us for 6 weeks. We passed but said we would definitely call him up next year for work. It is that easy.

Now the thing to do at King Canyon is the RIM WALK – google it and see what it says. IT WAS AMAZING. The climb at the start is a killer hence being nicknamed heart attack hill.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the walk we relaxed and recouped around the campsite as that afternoon we were hopping on our camels.

 

 

Another thing Kings Canyon is famous for is their nightly entertainment. The Roadies are a duo that play at the pub for 8 months of the year and have done this for the past 11 years. They insisted Shaun sing a few songs. The audience loved him.

 

From Kings Canyon, Mum and Dad were heading home and Shaun and I were continuing on to Palm Valley. It was sad to see them head off and no longer be able to chat away to them on the UHF. I am sure we will have many trips together in the future.

We were aiming to stay at Palm Valley but we made really good time so kept heading onto the West Macs, the beautiful ranges surrounding Alice. We stopped in at Hermansberg, a Lutheran Aboriginal Mission. Very interesting. This is where the artist, Albert Namatjira was born and raised.

 

As we neared the West Mac Ranges, the rain began to fall. We passed two camp spots due to the rain but by the time we reached Ormiston Gorge it was clear and the ground not wet so this is where we decided to stay. We would back track to the other two gorges that we missed, Redbank Gorge and Glen Helen Gorge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had a mammoth day looking at all the gorges, chasms, gaps and ranges. The West Macs we are definitely going to revisit – you could spend weeks exploring them. We found heaps of free camp sites that are not advertised or listed anywhere but are well worth stopping at.

There is no camping at Simpsons Gap so we pressed onto Alice. We had a big couple of days and the car had to get fixed ( A side rail needed repairing from corrugation damage) so we decided to say at a hotel. A nice hotel. After 25 nights in a tent we deserved a little luxury a hot shower, air conditioning and a king size bed. It was lovely. We went out to dinner and Shaun had a mixed grill of the Australian variety – it had camel, kangaroo, crocodile, venizon and buffalo with Native plum chilli sauce. He really enjoyed it. We enjoyed a nice spa amongst the resorts garden. It was a nice, relaxing evening and we are ready to continue on with our journey.

So this morning (27/10/11) we are re-packing our things, using the free internet and heading off to the mechanics. From there we will re-stock supplies and hit the road to the East Macs.

Bye for Now.