Uluru, The Olgas & Kings Canyon

Uluru Continued 21/05/12

It was another bad start to the day, with Aaron and Di sick. Braydon was feeling fine. Di stayed in bed all day, so Craig took Braydon to do kids Aboriginal art at the resort in the morning. Then in the afternoon they hopped on the resort bus and went to see the camels and the rest of the resort. Let’s hope everyone is well enough tomorrow to go to The Olgas.

22/05/12

The Olgas 23/05/12

Finally, everyone woke up this morning feeling well. After doing 3 loads of washing to get rid of all the germs, we made our way out to The Olgas (Kata Tjuta). It was very frustrating wasting 3 days doing nothing as we were all so sick, so it was great to get out and see something again. It was excellent to see The Olgas up close, and we went on the Walpa Gorge Walk which was 2.6kms. We would have loved to do another walk (to the first lookout of the Valley of the Winds Walk), but Di was still not 100%, so we did not want to push it too much. The highest point of The Olgas is 546m (200m higher than Uluru). We then called in to the Cultural Centre at Uluru and had a good look around. Then Di dropped Craig and Braydon back at the town centre as Braydon wanted to show Dad the Cultural Dancers show, while Di disinfected the whole caravan. It was so lucky we purchased an annual pass into the National Park, as if we had bought the 3 day pass we would have had to buy another one. Craig filled up the car with diesel at $2.17/L - it is very expensive, but we are in the middle of nowhere. We hope to go to Kings Canyon tomorrow.

Kings Canyon  24/05/12

Fortunately, everyone has woken up today feeling well again. So we headed off to Kings Canyon. We left Yulara at 9.30am & arrived at Kings Canyon at 2.30pm. It was a beautiful, fine but cold day today, mainly due to the wind (Max. temp. 15 deg). Uluru would have been closed for sure today. We are staying at Kings Canyon Resort Campground & Caravan Park, costing $42 a night. Braydon had a play in the playground. We were thinking about going to the restaurant for tea tonight, but the menu didn’t appeal to us, & it was very expensive. So we had pie & home cooked chips. Today we travelled 301km.

25/05/12

It is another fine but cold day today – the wind goes right through you. We drove into Kings Canyon this morning & did the Kings Canyon Creek Walk (2.6km.), which goes right up in to the canyon. We then drove to Katherine Springs & walked in to the waterhole (2.2km.).  It was a nice easy day warming up for our big rim walk around the canyon tomorrow. We have been so lucky with the weather so far, with beautiful blue skies the whole trip, except for one day that was cloudy and we got a few spots of rain on the windscreen.

26/05/12 Rim Walk

A little bit of an early start this morning arriving at the walk at 9.30am. Before we started we did a deal with Braydon that if he did the whole walk and steps, we would buy him an iceblock when we got back to the campground. It is a 6.5km circuit walk that was classified as difficult, with a recommended walking time of between 3.5 – 4 hours. The start of the walk is climbing about 500 steep stairs straight up. Braydon led the way, keen to prove he could make it all the way. The stairs actually looked a lot worse than they were to climb. We had one rest stop on the way up, but then just kept pushing on. Once up the top, the walk flattened out and the scenery was spectacular. You look down the cliff face into the canyon, but also at the top you have got the lost city which is amazing rocks in various shapes. We held Braydons hand very tight in certain areas of the walk where there is just a huge cliff edge to the canyon below, but he did not seem concerned about the height. We made our way to the optional lookout track that takes you over a bridge that you look straight down the cliff face. We continued to the top of the first rock, to where you get a fantastic view, but then decided not to continue, as I didn’t really feel safe with Braydon climbing rocks with no edge protection even when holding my hand. Once back to the main track we kept on going to the “Garden of Eden”. There are a number of timber steps built on the side of the cliff to get across a bridge where you look down into the garden. We then took the second optional walk to go down to the actual garden and rock pool. After a bit of morning tea and a well deserved rest, we headed back up yet more stairs, & continued making our way around the rim of the canyon. We were feeling pretty good when we came across the direction marker that said 2km. We thought great, 2km to go, and continued on walking until the next marker with writing that said 3km. It then dawned on us we had just passed halfway, and there was a long way to get back to the car. Everyone along the track was commenting on how well Braydon was going walking all this way, and in Braydons normal style, talked nearly all the way. By the end he started to say he was getting tired, but both of us were also exhausted. My back was really starting to get uncomfortable from carrying Aaron in the backpack, but we finally made it back to the car. What a truly magnificent walk; we both agree it is the best bush walk we have ever done. Unfortunately I’m sure that the photos will not do justice to the scenery we saw. Once back at camp, which was only 12km away, we had lunch and everyone had a rest. Braydon of course won his deal, so he had a yummy iceblock. A pesky dingo was into some campsites scavenging for food and could not be shooed away. Craig and Braydon went up to the resort restaurant after tea, as the entertainment lady came around to the sites to promote the night, and said that they do a kids song at the beginning and get the kids up on stage to play some instruments.  It ended up that Braydon was the only kid up on stage along with other adults, and he had such a great time playing the Drums and Didgeridoo. The lead lady wanted him to play more songs with them, but it was already well & truly past his bedtime. She thoroughly spoilt him by giving him lots of lollypops, balloons & play money, & then even bought him a drink and a packet of chips. He got lots of cheers from the crowd.  

Alice Springs  27/05/12

This morning we packed up camp and left Kings Canyon at 9.15am, & headed back to Alice Springs. We stopped at Erldunda for fuel and lunch before arriving back at the Alice Springs Big 4 at 4.30pm. Braydon was happy to be back, & jumped on the jumping pillows before tea.

28/05/12

We took it fairly easy today. Dianne caught up on washing, & Craig took Braydon over to the jumping pillows. In the afternoon we went grocery shopping, & Braydon had a haircut. We went out for tea to the tavern down the road – it was quite nice.

29/05/12

We were going to head off today, but we decided to stay 1 more day so that Dianne could catch up on paperwork, & Craig could do some work on the caravan & wash the car.

There is still sickness in the camp, with Craig now in bed for the whole day. Di took Braydon to see the Cultural Dancers show, which he loved.