Kings Canyon

Saturday 11^th June

The drive from YULARA RESORT to KINGS CANYON was the first stage of our return journey of just over 1000 km back to TENNANT CREEK, before heading north over new ground towards DARWIN.  About 140 km from YULARA we turned north towards KINGS CANYON 170 km away.

KINGS CANYON is a National Park enclosing a huge canyon with spectacular rock formations.  We checked in to the Camp Ground, and while we were setting up camp, Cameron went off and introduced himself to some of the neighbours.  After setting up the van, we drove to the Canyon itself, about 10 km away.  There are two walks available at the Canyon.  One along the canyon floor, which takes about an hour, and the other around the rim of the canyon, which takes about three and a half hours.

We decided to do the floor walk, leaving the longer rim walk for tomorrow.  It was quite a spectacular walk along the floor of the canyon with the late afternoon sun hitting the canyon walls. 

Back at camp Cameron quickly disappeared to talk to the neighbours who had a couple of dogs which he liked playing with.  We had been told that wild dingoes were frequent visitors to the camp, and in fact one or two were seen on most nights.  Cameron was most impressed with this information and kept a constant dingo lookout.  During our stay, he was lucky enough to see four as they came skulking around the camp.  Unfortunately Christel and I didn’t manage to see any.

Sunday 12^th June

Happy Birthday, Joe.  Crikey 83, and you don’t look a day older than 72. 

The rim walk started with a 100 metre climb up to the top of the canyon. 

Once on top it was a relatively easy walk through some magnificent rock formations with several lookouts down into the canyon itself.  Breathtaking stuff.   Some of the shapes created by millions of years of erosion by the elements were amazing. 

In one place there were wave patterns worn into the rock surface, the remains of an inland sea from hundreds of millions of years ago.

While we had to contend with a cold wind, we could imagine how hot it must get in the summer time, with the sun reflecting off the bare rock.  How plants and trees manage to survive in those harsh conditions is amazing.

One tree, the Red River Gum, has an amazing trick to help it survive.  While conditions are good, it grows like a normal tree, but when a drought occurs, it cuts off the supply of water and nutrients to some of its branches, which then die off allowing the tree to concentrate what water it can get, to the rest of its structure.  The harsher the drought, the more branches it will kill off.  And who says plants can’t think?  And just in case you think I am pulling your leg, here are a couple of photos of branches this tree has decided to kill off, in order to survive. 

Other trees have developed in Bonsai form in order to survive.  Isn’t nature clever?

For me, this was one of the most amazing walks I had ever done.

Back at camp, Cameron joined the neighbours while they took their dogs for a walk and we never saw him again until it got dark.  While we were cooking tea, a lady called at the van saying she was part of a travelling show, and that we were invited to join them at the camp barbeque room after tea.  She promised it would be good fun and to bring our booze and cameras.

Having nothing better to do we wandered along and found about 50 other campers there as well.  The show was just the lady and her husband, and started off pretty slow with them singing a few songs.  We were debating about going back to the caravan where it was warmer, when, during a spell from singing, the lady came and saw us, and asked Cameron if he wanted to go up on stage with some of the other kids, and be part of the band.  He didn’t have to be asked twice.

First he had to bang some sticks together to keep time, then, he had to play a rattle stick, which was a long pole with rattles on it, which he had to bang on the ground in time to their singing. 

After that, they sat him down in front of the stage and gave him a didgeridoo about 2 meters long, stuck a microphone on the end of it, and told everyone that Cameron was now going to demonstrate a special talent that not even his mum and dad knew about.

Then they started singing Waltzing Matilda, and every now and then they would stop and the didgeridoo would emit these rather loud horrible farting sounds.  Everyone was in stitches.  Of course Cameron was just sitting there holding the thing.  It was all pre recorded, but the effect was bloody funny. We got the didgeridoo bit on our video, but it’s too long to post on the blog.

Then they announced that the children would now be getting their fathers up to help the band.  The photos speak for themselves. 

Then of course I had to go and get Christel up for her bit.  She became a member of the ‘LICE GIRLS’, because the lady doing the show said they hadn’t managed to wash the wigs the girls were wearing, and they were full of lice.

So, after a rather slow start, we ended up having a very enjoyable evening.  We were all rewarded for our participation, with ‘diplomas’ and lollies.  What a great day we’d had, and what a great way to celebrate Joe’s Birthday.