Kings Canyon - A big Aussie gem

  Kings Creek, Australia
Monday, September 3, 2007

Through the searing sun, we blazed our way back down the Stuart Highway before cutting west at Erldunda, and then northwards again on the track up to Kings Canyon. We pulled in for the night at the last place before reaching the National Park, Kings Creek; a little outback village of sorts, boasting a bunch of camels as pets that kept us amused as we made dinner, watching the sun set over the camels.

*603 km driven*

Early the next morning we set off to cover to 30 odd km to Kings Canyon to try and beat the crowds, and to attempt the walk in slightly cooling weather than the stiffling midday heat. We commenced the walk at 8.30 am, dodging a few tour groups who ambled up the hill at a leisurely pace. We stormed it, eager to get up to the top and see what the canyon had to offer. From the outside there was no indication of the range of scenery on offer once inside. It was a complete surprise, and a very pleasant one. It completely blew us away, having been unaware of what was here, and once having seen it, I couldn't believe noone we'd met hadn't made more of a fuss about it, it was incredible.



Everywhere you turned inside the canyon the views were stupendous, both out into the canyon and the valleys below, and across the canyon, looking out on the beehive shaped domes of red rock, stretching for as far as the eye could see.



We began the walk on the North face, giving us a first glance at the south face. From this side, we clambered over the sandstone pinnacles to Cotterill Lookout, climbing one of them to see for miles across the canyon, whilst being battered around by the strong winds, feeling a little perilous, so high up in the world.



Making our way across the canyon, clambering over the spectactular victims of erosion that were this incredible beehive rock mounds, we took some steps down for a brief jaunt in the creek, or the "Garden of Eden" as it was known, as amazingly, there was so much greenery and bird life down here.



This was in complete contrast to the harsh rockery of the rest of the canyon scenery, and the brash, jagged, white and black gumtrees adorning the top of the canyon.



Back up on the top we'd now crossed the canyon over lengthways views to the south face, offering breath-taking views first down the length of the canyon...



...and then, getting precariously close to the edge, across to the north face, splattered with dashings of whites, blacks, browns and oranges, hugging the sheer cliff face in stripe formations.



We kept turning more corners and finding more stunning views, and bits of canyon that we had no idea were there - on every twist and turn were more pinnacles... it was captivating to say the least.



Eventually the path wound back down the carpark, pulling the curtain down on the canyon, and again returning us to a state of disbelief that any of actually existed from our blind vantage point back down on the ground. The walk took us about 2 hours, taking everything in, although back at the carpark it seemed more like forever and a day that we'd been transported into this mythical land on unknown aesthetic delights.

Could the rock top this? Unlikely, but it remained to be seen.

An anti-climatic detour on the way, to Kathleen Springs, certainly didn't. To be fair to the place, it didn't claim to be anything like the canyon anyway... but my head was in another place really. It was an Aboriginal cattle farming site, due to its permenant waterhole, and boasted lush greenery and a plethora of butterflies, along with remnants of fences and cattle yards.



After that it was back on the road we drove up yesterday, until we hit the Lasseter Highway, and then we were headed for Yulara, aiming to get to the rock for sunset.