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Published: October 12th 2006
Tom at King's Canyon
Taking a break during the 4 hour Canyon walk.Our second night was spent at King’s Creek. Our dinner tonight was cooked in several camp ovens - wrought iron pots sitting on the campfire coals. We cooked damper bread, potatoes and chicken. It was strange having a campfire when it was over 30 degrees, but it was a good meal. The next morning we got to sleep in until 6:30. Luckily, others on the trip liked their sleep as well, so we pushed Debora to later wake-up times than she initially proposed.
At King’s Canyon, we really began to see the spectacular scenery that the Northern Territory’s Red Centre has to offer. The red cliffs that surrounded us all day were simply awesome. We began our walk with “Heart Attack Hill” - a climb straight up from the base of the canyon to the rim. Luckily, several scenic stopping points are built into the steps.
The rim walk around that canyon was spectacular. You can see time built into the layers in the side of the cliffs - all different shades of red. At points, the cliffs are so shear, you’d think some sort of huge mechanical saw had cut them at 90 degrees to the earth. During
On the road...
On our way to King's Canyon. our walk we were lucky to experience a freak rainstorm that produced spontaneous waterfalls and a repite from the midday sun. We saw rivers form almost instantly - pouring down cracks and worn areas in the rocks. It was strange event but incredibly beautiful. Equally bizarre was the fact that, even though we had been drenched by rain, everyone had dried out entirely before reaching the bus only minutes after the storm. 6% humidity will do that.
Up until King's Canyon, the flies (lovingly referred to as "lipshitters") tended to “bug” us but they weren't really too bad. During walks, a fly would take ownership of each person but breezes kept them at bay. Unfortunately, at our BBQ lunch near King’s Canyon, the flies were absolutely disgusting. We had to keep everything covered, and it was still extremely difficult to keep them off the food. We couldn’t eat one bite of our hamburgers without a fly landing on them! At one point, the salad looked like it was entirely covered by black peppers. Needless to say, we ate as quickly as possible and took off for our next stop.
We had been very lucky up until now, and
Ghost Gum
A eucalyptus tree found throughout the desert oasis. all our driving was on sealed roads. Today, that was to end. We began driving on unsealed, rough, corrugated roads. The driving was slow, and the lack of seatbelts in the bus made it even more disturbing. Debra did what she could to make the trip comfortable, but it really was impossible. We stopped at Glen Helen Resort for the night. Tom went to the pub for the evening and listened to a great local musician. Unfortunately, Sarah’s cold had returned for the third time, and she needed an early night to make up for the many early mornings.
Before hitting the sack, we arranged for a morning helicopter ride over Glen Helen. Another early morning 😊
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