The Trip - Day 6
Trip Start
Mar 16, 2005
1
20
37
Trip End
Oct 31, 2005
Kings Canyon, Northern Territory, Australia
Wednesday, July 6, 2005
after breakfast we started the short drive towards kings canyon. we started climing the canyon at about 6.30. the first part of the climb was horrible, it was loads of really steep steps and is nicknamed heart attack hill!! we could see why.
once at the top of heart attach hill the sun slowly began to rise, gorgeous lilac and red skies were all around and reflecting off the cliff faces. we all sat at the top and just watched the cliff slowly changing colour as the sun rose more and more. although it was still a bit chilly the views were amazing.
the next 3 hours consisted of walking up and down and round the canyon with sheer cliff top views along the rim. the sights were stunning, all sorts of different rock formations and colours all throughout the cliffs.
the canyon is about 1 million years old and has worn away and eroded over thousands of years. along the walk we saw loads of different bushes and plants which shorty explained what they could be used for - most for medicinal purposes but some you could eat to survive in the bush.
we took loads of pics all around the canyon but we wont put all of them on because of the lack of picture space we have.
at the botton of kings canyon was a valley called the garden of eden. there was lots of tropical trees and bushes and plants and small rock pools. we took a walk through there and sat at the side of the pool to have a rest and a snack.
every time shorty goes to kings canyon he sees the same spider in the same bush. it is the size of a mans hand and is called a funnel web spider. shorty tried to coax him out of the bush but he wouldnt come out as it was probably too cold for him - thankfully!
by the end of the walk we were all dead and the sun was really starting to hot up so we were relieved to see the car park!
we headed off and had luch about 1 hour away. there are 25 people on this trip so the bus is packed out, we were lucky on the 1st trip as there was only 12 of us so we had loads of food and our own seat on the bus. shorty wasnt told that so many people were coming so he hadnt bought enough food to accomodate 25 people. most nights he had to cook 2 lots of meals as the food kept running out.
after lunch we drove towards Uluru (The National Park where Ayres Rock is) and we have a camp site there for 2 nights.
on the way we stopped off at a salt lake, it was dry but all of the salt still remained on the surface. there was salt rising from the cracks in the bed and this was fresh sea salt that could be eaten.
we then saw our first glimpse of what we thought was ayres rock. it actually wasnt - it was Mount Conner but they looked exactly the same from a distance.
at the salt lake there was a cow carcass which had died 8 years ago but because it was lying in a bed of salt its body, skin and bones were preserved.
there was a training guide on tour with us and shorty set him a test to put the carcass tail in his maouth and lift it up slightly. he did go ahead and do this, much to the disgust of most of the group.
tonights camp was fun, we all sat round the fire and shorty was telling us about aborigonal traditions and how they deal with law breaking etc within their tribes. we learnt loads of things about the different tribes and rituals.
shorty got some examples of bush tucker from round the camp and showed us how to prepare it and what it can be good for if you were stranded in the bush
all photos for this entry are in the previous entry!!
