King's Canyon

Managed to pack up the tent and jump into the BT just minutes before it started pouring rain (well – Ryan almost made it back into the BT before the rain hit)(at least we kept the tent dry). So we drove the 35km into King’s Canyon in a deluge (should have taken it as an omen for what was to come…). Luckily it was all starting to clear by the time we got walking.

King’s Canyon was another awe-inspiring place. The drive there deposits you right at the point where the canyon opens out into the surrounding desert (is it desert?), and from there the rusty-red walls rise on either side.

We started with the short walk along the creek through the bottom of the gorge, which (not unsurprisingly) had quite a bit of water in it. It was all cool and green and wet with the red walls above us to each side. Then we tackled the rim walk, which headed straight up (literally straight up) the side wall of the gorge. Ryan had been there before, but I was very surprised to find that once you get up the top, you are surrounded by pillars and mounds of stone marching from the canyon rim into the distance. Most of the walk actually winds between these formations – called the “Lost City” (I wonder how many places in Australia have that same name?). There were quite a few good vantage points where the walk came close to the edge for views (and more photos) across the canyon – seeing the sheer drop beneath them from the other side had us wondering if we would have ventured so close to the edge if we had have known. There was plenty of water – the pool in the Garden of Eden was brimming, and there was a reasonably substantial waterfall at the end of the canyon. Overall, it was an excellent walk in another amazing place.

We headed out of there by about 1230pm, after attempting to buy a Mereenie Loop pass and being told that they were all sold out (but to proceed anyway). The Mereenie Loop road was in a word – MUDDY. Progress ranged from 40-60km/hr, with many huge puddles to negotiate and plenty of soft, muddy slush to plow through (sometimes sideways). I may have gotten the BT just a little bit dirty…

We finally made it to Hermannsburg – where we were planning to buy a road pass and refuel before camping in Palm Valley for the night. The bridge just out of town was crowded with Aboriginal kids all playing in the creek, and as we approached, they all crowded onto the road and around the truck – jumping on the rear step and running alongside. After negotiating the bridge, Ryan had to jump out and fend them off so we could drive away without running over anyone. This was all repeated on the return trip. Unfortunately, when we next stopped to check over the BT we found that they had scratched lines and pictures into the mud coating the tailgate – most of which had scratched right through the paint. Sigh :(

We found our way into the Palm Valley campground via 6 or so water crossings (plenty of water here too) and set ourselves up for the night in very pleasant surrounds – next to the creek and rimmed in by rocky walls which glowed fiery red in the sunset. What a life!