Day 24 Kings Canyon

During the night we were awoken by thunder and a massive downpour once again. Therefore we were pleasantly surprised to wake up and find that the sun was actually shining! Yay, after 3 very grey days it was so welcome!

During the night the campsite had half flooded. Our neighbours got wet feet when they climbed out of their car in the morning. The rest of the campers were a bit more experienced and camped on higher ground like we did.

The drive to Kings Canyon took 3 hours. When we got there we first had lunch before starting the Kings Canyon Rim walk.

The walk goes around the rim of the canyon and takes about 3.5 hours to complete and is 6 km long. The first bit is a steep climb, followed by a more levelled track. From here you walk over and between the boulders of the rock formation until you get to the canyon. Once again a real waterfall came down the cliffs, pretty amazing!

The walk continued around the cliff and then descents into a small gorge called ‘The Garden of Eden’. This is a pretty little tropical oasis in the desert. You normally wouldn’t expect these plants in the middle of the desert.

Unfortunately it is a very touristy destination so the walk was pretty crowded, which was a bit of a bummer.  Nevertheless the walk was stunning! We both remembered a lot from when we walked here years ago as backpackers.

After the walk the first thing we did was change\ing our hiking shoes for flip-flops and have a refreshing drink before hitting the road again. From Kings Canyon our plan was to take the unsealed road to Alice Springs via The MacDonald Ranges. Unfortunately the track was closed due to the recent rain, which meant we had to go back the same way to the Lasseter Highway and then to the Stuart Highway.

On our way back we decided to camp at Salt Creek Rest Area, about 110 km from Kings Canyon. The day had been long enough and it was time for a well-deserved beer!