We left the beauty of Uluru (Ayers Rock) for another 5hr drive back towards the Watarrka National Park, also known as Kings Canyon. We just had to get around this massive cow in our way first and pass a couple of wild camels, not to mention the Brumbies that decided to gallop across the road in front of us.
Kings Canyon Resort has an interesting setup, you check in on the left and then drive about 100m down the road to the actual camping grounds. On arrival we were lucky to drive straight through our site and setup the caravan quickly so we could pack our lunch and head out for the afternoon to explore Kings Canyon and the highlight Rim Walk.
The Kings Canyon Rim Walk is a 6km marked walking track around the rim of kings canyon (no really). It has a very steep start, climbing about 500 steps but straight up, with a landing about half way to see the views and have a little rest – which was needed for me after completing Uluru 2 days in a row.
We continued to climb, after about 10 minutes we were at the top where the earth started to flatten out slighty and the beauty began by taking in the views, seeing some unusual rock formations that had amazing colours (some looked like giant bee hives) and just the adventure of being here. The hike itself was a moderate effort and around every corner something new to view, this includes the lookout point (crossing a bridge) and then climbing down a very steep staircase, across another bridge and up another very steep staircase. Before heading back up though, just off the main track is a little 30 minute (return) walk down to the Garden of Eden where a waterhole is located and well worth the extra moment to take in the serenity. On the returning side you do question when was this going to end as for as far as the eye could see we could not see the end! However looking back on the other side of the canyon you got some beautiful views and look at the sandstone cliff face. Finally after about 3.5hrs we were on our way down the track.
On returning to the camping grounds it was now to have a quick look around so we could get cooking for an early night before heading off to Alice Springs in the morning. This unfortunately is where we were slightly disappointed, the camp grounds while having many amenities were not clean, run down and didn’t have toilet paper! I went for a walk to seek out the BBQ’s could not find them except for one that was broken. So off we headed up to the Outback BBQ and Grill and surprisingly enjoyed meat and salad for $120 (4 of us). It was expensive but the salad bar was fresh and the serves were not small so it was good value for money.
My Drone footage used, I did have approval to fly my drone as per the Drone Permit for Central Australian Parks issued by the Northern Territory Government.
Our Aussie Family 