On 31st May, we rejoined Adventure Tours on a new six day tour from Alice Springs to Adelaide. Since reaching Alice, the temperature had made a notable decline and it was back to wearing trousers and jumpers. It might seem strange, but the desert is a place of extremes and this was winter; 20C during the day, 2C at night.
For the first two days of our new tour, a two-day and our six-day group were combined, so we had a full bus as we drove south out of Alice Springs in the early hours of the morning. King's Canyon is part of the Watarrka National Park and was several hours away so we got there at about 8:30am.
Two walks were available at the Canyon, but almost all of us chose to do the 6km rim walk, taking us all the way around in a loop. King's Canyon is actually far more dangerous than the Uluru climb - over 30 people have died on the walk - but since it was winter we were perfectly safe unless we walked too close to the edge! The first part of the hike is an ascent up 'Heart Attack Hill', so called because it's the hardest part of the walk and claims the most casualties. We got up there without much hassle and from there you begin to appreciate how stunning the Canyon really is. Sheer cliffs rise from a inconceivably placed forest called 'The Garden of Eden' rich in plants and animals that seem so out of place in the desert.
The walk was excellent and we were introduced to the area's geological past as well as its stunning views. The was once an inland sea in Australia and you can still see fossilised ripples in sand at King's Canyon. After our hike, we had lunch at the campsite in King's Canyon Resort, then headed south to Uluru that afternoon. After a lengthy drive, we arrived at Yulara (the Ayer's Rock Resort town) after sunset and stayed the night at the campsite there, sleeping around the camp fire under the stars in swags.
