Watarrka National Park - Kings Canyon

After Coober Pedy we continued northwards staying overnight at Marla, crossed into Northern Territory, overnight again at Erldunda and then spending 3 nights at Petermann on the edge of Watarrka National Park - more commonly known as Kings Canyon.

Kings Canyon is aptly named because this place is majestic! Sheer red cliffs and interesting rock formations are a sight to behold. The main activity here is to do the rim walk - about 6km around the top or rim of the gorge as the name suggests. I found this walk very challenging. The first section consists of about 500 steep rocky steps to get to the top. Took me a while with numerous stops and plenty of encouragement and assistance from Brad. Around the top it was somewhat smoother but there were still steps and rocky areas to negotiate. Even coming down while it was a more gradual descent, it was taken at a slow pace. Finally reached the bottom after almost 5 hours.

So, was it worth it? Most definitely! Unfortunately looking at the photos, the camera does not capture what the eye can see. I have tried to include photos that include people to get an idea of perspective.

Am I glad I did it? Yes! Just wish I was a bit younger, a bit fitter and had longer legs. I looked on in awe at the younger people who scrambled up and down rocks like mountain goats and wondered if I was ever like that.

Would I do it again? NO WAY!! (Brad, however, would have no problem doing the hike again)

We did a couple of other much easier walks at Kathleen Springs and the Creek walk at the base of the gorge. They were very pleasant with plenty of birdlife - budgies and zebra finches.

Brad got a nice photo of the strawberry full moon rising over Kings Canyon (from the caravan park we were staying in). Very nice park - fairly new - not cheap. Fuel was $2.81/l. Also saw our first dingos in the wild and could hear them howling during the night.

Back at Erldunda overnight, then we will head to Alice Springs tomorrow for a week. We decided not to go to Uluru (Ayres Rock) because we were there just a few years ago and I guess the rock hasn't changed much in those few years.Baca lagi