Half-lap Day 23: Kings Canyon -> Finke River

I was up early enough to watch the sunrise from the viewing platform, very cool watching the sun pop up over the ranges. I had a bit of a wander through the scrub near our tent afterwards, looking for LiAM’s swimmers – I saw lots of shoes and socks and bags and other things, but not what I was looking for.

We did a fairly relaxed pack up, and were ready to go by 11. We stopped not far down the road to do the Kathleen Springs walk which we’d heard was quite beautiful. It was sunny and hot today, and there were a lot of flies – our fly nets and/or the fly repellant we’d bought came in handy for everyone. I really enjoyed the walk, it was a paved, easy path down into Kathleen Gorge, between red gorge walls – not very tall but really that image that I have in my head of the Northern Territory. This gorge used to be used as a cattle pen and there were still signs of cattle yards and watering troughs which were interesting to see. There were also lots of signs explaining the indigenous stories from around this land which were great. We could see a bit of water flowing over rocks towards the end of the gorge, and there was a lovely shady waterhole right at the end. We sat and rested and looked at it for a while, then headed back out. LiAM found a big stick insect, we saw lots of butterflies, and one lizard – I’m so glad we saw him because I’d told LiAM I was sure we’d see lizards at Kings Canyon and there had been none.  Tony didn’t enjoy the walk so much, with the heat and flies and he also ended up carrying Millie most of the way so it was a much harder walk for him.

The Waterhole at Kathleen Springs

We had some sandwiches at the car then drove a bit further to Kings Creek Station to get petrol, a lot cheaper than at Kings Canyon Resort (thanks to wiki camps for that information 192c/l as opposed to 176 I think). It was still expensive though so we just put 20L or so in. We had a bit of a look around the station, and the kids found zooper doopers for sale for $1 each so we grabbed some of those.

It was a long drive back out from Kings Canyon to the highway and then east again to the Stuart Highway. We finished listening to Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, then listened to music for a while. Eventually we arrived at Erldunda where we’d planned to get some supplies – there was no bread and milk was $4 for a litre of UHT milk so we decided to do without for now. There was mobile signal though so we caught up with the messages we’d received over the past few days, and there was an emu farm and we were able to feed the emus – these pellets were bigger than the ones at Uluru so it was slightly less scary when the emus pecked them out of our hands. We also saw a couple of emus fighting – they fluffed up their neck feathers until they were huge and ran at each other – one emu didn’t want anyone else eating the pellets so chased a few of them away. We also sent some postcards while we were there.

We drove north for another 70km or so and stopped at a free camp by the side of the Finke River. This is one of the oldest rivers in the world - it's been there for between 100 million and 350 million years! We arrived just before sunset and Caitlin and I wandered down to check out the river bed – there was water flowing and it was so beautiful standing in the dry part of the river with the bridge to our west and the sun setting behind it.

Sunset over the Stuart Highway and Finke River

As we were setting up 2 of our neighbours from Kings Canyon arrived, they had driven across the Ernest Giles track instead of coming around the sealed road (and they’d left an hour before us) so we were keen to talk to them in the morning about what the road was like.

We had ready made pasta packets for tea, and sat outside marveling at the brightness of the stars – they haven’t been so bright for a while because the moon has been so full – but at first the moon wasn’t up yet and the stars were mesmerizing. The moon rose before we went to bed, a big orange almost full disk, very very cool.

Half-lap Day 22: Kings Canyon

We woke at 6 and got up and had breakfast. While we were eating, and it was still dark, a dingo knocked the lid off our bread container and stole a couple of bags which had bread crusts in them – I went after him but he was too quick. I didn’t mind so much about the bread (although I didn’t want to feed them) but hoped the plastic bags didn’t make him sick.

We were on our way out to Kings Canyon a bit after 7. It was cool to see the ranges slowly becoming visible as the sun rose – it was fully light by the time we arrived, which did make the first bit of the walk easier. The climb up to the level of the canyon wall is very steep – at first as we approached it, it looked like a smooth path going up at a crazy angle, but it was actually rock steps, some man made and many of them natural steps.

The steep climb was hard work, we stopped often and rested and looked at the view, which was constantly changing as we gained height and moved across the mouth of the canyon. Once at the top of the climb it was great to know we’d done the hardest part of the walk. This is one of my favourite walks that I’ve ever done and it didn’t disappoint. The rock formations are incredible, unlike anything else we’ve seen. The rocks have weathered into dome like patterns, so when we were away from the canyon edge, it was like we were walking on another planet. Then as the track approached the edge we could see into the canyon which is an incredible view, just awe inspiring to see those sheer cliff walls on a massive scale. There are no fences around the canyon, so we were very careful at the areas where the edge was close (we didn’t ever go really close, close enough for me to feel nervous but not panicky). We took a couple of side tracks as well – one leads out to a little bridge across a deep ravine, and then up over some domes that jut out into the canyon. We’d seen people on top of these domes when we were back at the steep part of the walk, and couldn’t believe anyone could walk out there. Once we got there we decided to give it a go, one child at a time (my anxiety rockets the more children I have close to a scary edge…). It was really really windy too, so we took things very slowly. Tony took LiAM out first, across the bridge and to the top of the first dome, then it felt too windy to go any further (the track goes a few more domes back and looks down on the Garden of Eden but we decided that felt too tricky with the kids and the wind (and the height!)). Caitlin was a bit scared of the bridge but went across after asking that no one else be on the bridge at the same time, and then Tony followed and went up the top with her. Millie had been really scared then decided she wanted to try it, so she and I went across and up the top too – it wasn’t as scary as I’d thought it would be and we went very slowly and were glad we’d made the effort. I held very tightly to her hand the whole way, although once we got out there she wasn’t worried at all and I think the hand holding was for my benefit, not hers.

We continued our walk and after a while it led us down some stairs, then across a wooden bridge with water running way underneath it. I think this has all been built since I was last here, it didn’t seem familiar and I couldn’t see how we could get to the Garden of Eden like I did last time. The track in is now on the other side of the bridge, so we followed it along. There were a few more sections of steps going up and down as we walked along inside this smaller canyon, with the water alongside us (and much lower than us). Millie wasn’t happy when she discovered this wasn’t part of the loop, that we’d have to do these stairs again on the way out, but I convinced her to keep going and said we’d have lunch once we got to the end of the side track. We reached the Garden of Eden and were so glad we’d come down here. The waterhole was very full (the water level was up to the middle of some of the signs saying to keep off the vegetation). It was so peaceful, sitting on the rocks at the edge of the water, the kids paddling their feet, with lots of green green trees and palms around us, and the tall red rock canyon walls soaring up above us. The best spot on the whole walk. It is a sacred place for the local people and they ask that no one swims in the water, it was enough to sit and enjoy the tranquility and the bizarreness of so much greenery in the middle of the desert. We ate some lunch, then Caitlin and LiAM worked their way around the rocks to the other side of the water where there was a long flat ledge they could explore. LiAM got stuck once, and Tony helped him come back – he took off his shoes and went again and was able to maneuver better without shoes on. I had a few nervous moments watching them navigate the (sloping, fairly sheer rocks), but I know that they are confident in their own abilities and don’t push beyond their capabilities, so trusting them and being impressed with their confidence and skill made it all much easier for all of us.

Once they’d climbed back around a tour group arrived so it was a good time to leave and be away from the crowd. Walking out the group caught up with us and we offered to let them pass but they were happy to walk behind Millie, so she led everyone out. We climbed up the rest of the stairs to be out of the canyon and kept walking over more cool rocks. Because the rocks are layered and have weathered the most on the top layers, the layers form quite natural steps. Often the exposed edge of the layers are quite narrow though so it’s easier to go sideways to get more of our feet on each ledge. Stepping sideways down from one rock my pants split again, undoing all the sewing I’d done last night! I might need to patch them this time.

We stopped after a while and had another snack and took some self-timer photos, and kept going at a fairly leisurely pace. It was another cloudy day which was great, it would have been a very hard walk in the hot sun. As it was it wasn’t difficult, just long and the ground was unyielding as it was all rock. I’d hoped to see lizards but I think without the sun being out they weren’t interested in being out on the rocks. We did see several interesting bugs though.

We passed another little oasis type area with green trees and palms. There were a couple of more views into the canyon on this side, still amazing, then the path led away from the edge and had views out to the other side, including some areas that sometimes have waterfalls (not today though). Eventually we could see the carpark and made our way down the much less steep stairs that lead out of the walk. Caitlin asked me if I was tired and I felt ok. Once we got to the bottom and I sat down though, I didn’t feel like I could stand up again – yes, I was tired.

Back to the campground where we had a very quiet and restful afternoon. Tony took the kids for a swim and I stayed at the tent and did some puzzles, read my book, wrote some postcards. I made up some powdered milk for us to use, and while I was mixing it there was a dingo with his paws on the table. I couldn’t shoo him away, he would jump down if I waved my whisk at him, then come straight back up. Millie came to see and eventually he wandered off, she followed him and he thought she was playing so he came back at her, which scared her quite a bit (he didn’t nip or anything just ran a little towards her). Later I made some popcorn and had our salt grinder sitting on the table – a dingo came up and grabbed it in his mouth and ran off with it. Caitlin was closest and went after him, he dropped it under a tree and while Caitlin stopped, unsure what to do, he ran at her which understandably freaked her out. He ran off then and we were able to grab our salt back.

Tony made flatbread dough and then did pizzas in the camp kitchen oven. We chatted to some other travellers in the kitchen, and LiAM, Caitlin and I went up to the sunset viewing platform. There had been late afternoon sun on the top of the ranges, but it was cloudy by the time we got there and once again there was no pretty sunset. I talked to my friend from the previous sunset/sunrises, and another mum who is travelling for a year in a camper trailer with her husband and 3 kids. The kids played together while we chatted.

We ate our pizzas and Caitlin wanted to go for a swim in the dark, so she went and got ready. LiAM was going to join her but we couldn’t find his swimmers. I looked everywhere I could think of and none of us could remember exactly where they’d been put after his swim that afternoon. They’ve either been thrown in somewhere odd to keep them away from the dingoes, or they’ve been taken by a dingo. Caitlin enjoyed her evening swim and was there until the pool closed at 7pm.

Everyone was exhausted so it was a very early night for all of us.

Half-lap Day 21: Uluru -> Kings Canyon

When I woke up I heard dingoes howling from various spots around the campground. Later in the morning as we were getting ready to leave we heard a howl and then saw a dingo at the base of the sand dunes right near us. There was much excitement all round and he disappeared into the bushes before anyone could get a photo.

We packed up, which was a pretty big job after 4 days, and were ready to leave by 11. We waved goodbye to Uluru and set off back East. We stopped at Curtin Springs to get fuel and the kids and wandered around to see the emu (1 emu by himself, standing in his little food shelter and looking like he wanted to escape) and the native bird aviary (lots of budgies and other colourful birds). We continued the drive east and then turned to go up to Kings Canyon. We arrived at Kings Canyon resort around 2pm, after watching the ranges rise up from the flat ground for a while before we arrived.

The unpowered area was unassigned, so we looked around for a bit and found a spot near the fence with a partial view across to the ranges. There were ant holes everywhere, but they didn’t ever bother us. We camped next to a couple that Caitlin had met a few times (at Marla and at Uluru) so chatted to them on and off. While we were setting up a dingo wandered over to check us out – the first of many. The dingoes wander the campground constantly, and keeping food away from them is quite tricky. They aren’t aggressive, and they aren’t scared. The information around the park says not to chase them or lunge at them – it’s hard to know what to do when they are trying to steal things off our table.

Once we were set up I took the kids to the pool for a swim while Tony checked out the general store. Milk was $3 for 1L of UHT and the white bread was $5.50, meat was very expensive so we decided to use our current supplies of food while we were here. As we were getting ready to go Millie and I had a collision through the tent door (we both went to open it at once, from either side, and her hand collided with my ear, and as I stood up in pain my elbow collected her chin). I quickly opened the door and scooped her out of the tent, and as I crouched down to cuddle her and make sure she was ok, my pants split, from just above the knee to half way up my leg! I had a brief swim – the water was not quite as cold as at Yulara, still pretty cold though. A couple of other kids came to swim as well, a 14 year old boy and 6 year old girl. Caitlin and LiAM swam and played with the boy for ages, Millie and the girl played on the grass near the pool and in the playground. They were very similar and got on really well. The mum came over and we chatted for a while, and the girls went back to Millie’s friend’s caravan to do some drawing. After the swim everyone had a shower and Millie talked a bit more to her friend. We sat at the tent doing puzzles and reading and enjoying some quiet time.

I went up to the sunset viewing platform with LiAM – it was too cloudy for an impressive sunset, but we did chat to our friends from the sunrise platform at Yulara. There was a drinks bar at the viewing platform and LiAM was briefly excited – it was $5 for a can of soft drink, and between $9 and $11 for a beer, so we decided to leave those drinks where they were.

Caitlin was sitting and reading at the table before dinner and looked up to see a dingo standing on the table – gave her a bit of a shock! Millie and I met one in the dark as we walked between 2 caravans – it seemed a bit scared of us and we were a little nervous too, we edged past each other without incident, it was the first time I’d seen one that wasn’t fully confident. We had tuna and rice for dinner and then packed up our tubs so that nothing was exposed for the dingoes. We put stuff in the trailer or tent and stacked the rest. I sewed up my pants, and Caitlin’s leggings which had also split along the leg seam that day. LiAM left his window open so that he could see if any dingoes came – and just after I’d finished reading he saw a dingo climb up to the top of our stack of tubs and knocked the two lighter ones off the top. We scared him off before he took anything, and put more stuff in the tent and trailer and made sure that everything that was left was very securely fastened.