Alice Springs to Kings Canyon (via West MacDonnell Ranges)

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Alice Springs to Kings Canyon

Standley Chasm was our first stop on the way into the West MacDonnell Ranges, here we found ourselves wandering along a track over white rocks surrounded by fiery red rocky cathedral walls. We came to a fork in the road, taking Namatjira Drive towards Ellery Creek Big Hole. The waters here were far too cold for swimming, but boasted a sandy creek fringed by gums around the large waterhole.
Neil Hargrave lookout was our free-camp for the night, with an abundance of mice we had been warned of in our travels north. The night tested every feather of down in our sleeping bags as we have struggled to acclimatize to Australian winter temperatures, having avoided the winter for over 2 years!
Morning light came and the bloke who camped nearby in his car commented that the cool temperatures had frozen his door shut the previous evening! (So it wasn’t just our imaginations – it really IS bloody cold!)
We continued west again popping in at Ormiston Gorge – where we took both the gorge and ghost gum walks, admiring the red walls and picturesque waterhole.
As we plan to travel through Aboriginal land we obtained a permit from Glen Helen, only $3, but this allowed us to travel the Mereenie Loop Road -155km’s of corrugated red gravel road toward Kings Canyon.
Along the way we stopped at Tyler’s Pass Lookout to take in the views over Tnorala – where a large comet slammed into the Earth 142.5million years ago.
Finally we made our way back onto the bitumen and arrived at Kings Canyon Resort - $42-powered site/night. We set up the camper and left to explore, by taking a 6km walk around the rim of Kings Canyon.
The walk began with a challenging steep ascent to the top of the rim, where we then enjoyed spectacular views over the canyon, particularly at Cotterill’s lookout. The 270metre high walls rose above Kings Creek with breathtaking magnitude. The descent into the Garden of Eden revealed tropical pools that would be great for a dip on a hot day. After completing the walk, we headed back to camp for happy hour before retiring for the day, hoping the rum will ease the pain in our legs and keep us warm for the night.

This part of the journey-544km’s
16,147 Km’s so far this trip

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