We moved on from Yulara on Sunday morning and headed for another icon of the Territory, King’s Canyon (Watarrka). In the afternoon we took an easy walk along King’s Creek, a mostly dry creek bed lined with large stones and very picturesque pools of water dotted with river red gums, before returning to the campground to witness the sun setting over the bluff.
On Monday we made an early start for our walk around the rim of the canyon. It took us about 3¼ hours to do the 7.2km walk, which begins with a steep climb to the top of the canyon. The canyon is surrounded by a maze of weathered red sandstone domes, and the route includes a lookout with views 270m down to the floor of the canyon. The Garden of Eden, a permanent waterhole surrounded by cycads, is accessed by steep stairways and was a wonderful place to stop and rest awhile. The walk was very tiring but we feel we did well considering that we’re 14 years older than the last time we did it! And it was certainly well worth the effort for the magnificent scenery and the sense of achievement. If we ever return to King’s Canyon though, the helicopter ride over the canyon might be the preferred option!
While stopped for lunch on Tuesday we saw police and ambulance speeding eastwards on Lasseter Highway with lights and sirens going. Not far before we stopped just short of Stuart Highway for the night, we came across a Landcruiser and Jayco Sterling which had rolled, the vehicle sitting on its roof and the caravan on its side. It was a very upsetting sight, and we were reminded of how a moment’s inattention can be so devastating.
We camped at Stuart’s Well and in the afternoon de-aired the tyres, put the ute into 4WD and rattled our way over 22km of corrugated dirt road to Rainbow Valley (Wurru). There we took a walk to view the dry salt pan and multi-coloured sandstone cliffs, which range from iron-rich red through yellow to white. Unfortunately the sun only peeped out briefly, but the cliffs were a magnificent spectacle nonetheless.
Today we arrived in Alice Springs where we plan to stay for a week. We’re not in a hurry to move any further north as winter is slow in coming this year. On our 2002 trip we experienced overnight temperatures which dropped to minus 6 degrees, but last night was a balmy 15 degrees! We heard on the radio that mangoes are expected to be in short supply this year, as they need five nights under 20 degrees to set their flowers. And the Greens have promised to restore the dry if they’re elected!
Rod and Julie on the road 