Tuesday, 3 July 2012

30 June - Uluru to King's Canyon (304km)

Another glorious day - not a cloud in the sky!  We left Yulara just before 10am.  After numerous kilometres of "sameness", we noticed wooded hills ahead.  The road began to wind & the terrain became more undulating.  At first, we saw no wildlife at all, apart from the occasional magnificent eagle, hovering & swooping above us.  However, roadside droppings suggested animals in the area (probably kangaroos).  Finally, we encountered a group of wild horses.

Frequent "Floodway" signs appeared, making us glad we'd come in the dry season.  The route became more scenic & gum trees became prevalent among the bushes.

We climbed, with a massive escarpment on our right, which developed into a vast panorama stretching far into the distance.

At King's Creek Station, we took the last powered site - it had electricity, but no hook-ups for water (only free-standing taps).  We settled in, had lunch, then set off for the Canyon., which was 38km further on.  Wild melons (known locally as "paddy-melons") grew along the roadside, but we learned that they were inedible.


10km from the Canyon, we saw towering escarpments, reminiscent of many we'd seen in Arizona.  The King's Canyon environment was very picturesque - massive walls of rock, huge boulders, sunlight on leaves, the trunks of gums gleaming white, bright orange rock against intense blue sky & birds darting amongst foliage, the tiny honey-eaters feeding off orange holly leaf grevillea flowers.  A truly beautiful place - only wish I'd been fit enough to climb the ridge & look down into the canyon below.



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