Kings Canyon

After our busy 4 days at Uluru and Kata Tjuta we then set off for Kings Canyon which was about a three hour drive away along the ‘Red Centre Way’ highway.  It was overcast, windy and cold when we left Yulara and by the time we reached Kings Canyon the wet weather had set in and stayed that way for the whole time we were there.  We were a bit disappointed not being able to see some beautiful sunsets/sunrises over the Canyon – particularly as we managed to jag probably the best campsite with views in the whole campground!

Our site – no 63 at Kings Canyon Resort

We made the most of our time at the resort despite the rain – we had a beer and a softdrink at the ‘Outback BBQ & Grill’ Bar one night and the kids really enjoyed the live entertainment – a band called ‘The Roadies’ played and there was lots of getting the kids up on stage to play along and sing ‘Home Among the Gum Trees’ and other aussie classics.  Matt and I even got roped in to going up too  with some other parents to be laughed at but at least we were rewarded with a free beer or wine for our embarrassment (not sharing the vidoe footage of that!

We spent the first two days catching up on washing and spending some quiet time reading/doing a bit of school work bunkered down inside the van and hoping the rain would go away.  The kids even watched the movie ‘Swiss Family Robinson’ for the first time and they loved – it was a favourite from my childhood days!  We took a few short walks around the campground and even treated the kids to a hot chocolate (it was complimentary from the Reception Area but we didn’t tell them that – gotta take some ‘nice parent’ brownie points when you can get them cheap!), but by our third day we were ready to lace up the shoes and check out the Canyon despite the rain!

A walk for hot chocolates

I had another go at some baking – this time choc chip muffins which turned out okay – at least cooked all the way through but still a little burnt on top!

The best sunrise view from our campsite that we managed to get while we were there

The Kings Canyon Rim walk was the best walk we have done so far!  Unfortunately the photos don’t really show you how beautiful and varied and high the scenery was and the rainy weather didn’t help either!  It was another long walk and probably the toughest one we have done with the kids.  It was only a 6km walk but quite steep in lots of places and lots of different terrain to walk through and a bit slippery as well due to the weather.  The cliff edges were completely open which had me constantly saying to the kids ‘get away from that edge!’ even from metres away!  It was another really amazing walk – check out the Kings Canyon Resort webpage for more information and some beautiful photos of what we saw – our photos below don’t really do it justice!!

Time to tackle the Kings Canyon Scenic Rim walk

Very steep climb to start with – this was the view about half way up!

Rest stop on rim of Canyon – eeeek – so high up!

Kings Canyon Rim

Views

Lex and I walking – getting wetter

 The green ‘Garden of Eden’ Oasis

Garden of Eden

The Garden of Eden

Selfie – kids were sick of getting their photos taken!

Rest stop for a snack in the ‘Garden of Eden’

Climb out

‘The Lost City’ – lots of domes – getting quite wet by this point

Lots of interesting walking

Kings Canyon Rim – yes those are people on the edge!

Trying to get a shot of the whole Canyon

We enjoyed our time at Kings Canyon but after spending a week in busy caravan parks we were definitely ready to move on and tackle the Mereenie Loop and find some quieter (and cheaper!) spots to camp.