Kings Canyon

20 May 2012

April 30th

We pack up quickly and drive back to Yulara to take part in a bush tucker tour. Bush tucker means all the bush provides as food. The Anangu guide shows us the various seeds that were gathered to make flour for damper, the couple of fruits such as bush tomatoes, bush apple and bush coconut, but the best tucker were the honey ants. Imagine an ant, about the size of any other ant, roughly 3milimetres long, but with its abdomen the size of a small grape. You then squeeze the ant by its head and thorax, and then bite the abdomen off. Your mouth is then filled with nectar, as sweet as anything! Just the best candy I’ve ever tasted.

Time to go already, we leave Uluru and the Kata Tjutas behind, with their mysteries and secrets, and drive off East, to Kings Canyon.

The road takes us past Mount Connor,

where Claire meets her first emu, and then we set off camp some 100k south of Kings Canyon. This morning I taught Claire how to prepare damper, so tonight, we build up a fire, which she has to light with the flint (a flint is THE ultimate survivor tool, it’s a stick about 10cm long and 0.5cm thick, which you scrape off with the blade of your knife or any other metallic part, to create sparks which then light up any dry grass or wood. It even works wet, and it costs about five bucks). So anyways, after the fire is lit, the damper is then cooked on hot ambers and half an hour later, we have warm bread, with a thick crust and an ashy taste. Eat it when still warm, with butter and jam, and, oh my, you’re in heaven. Well done Luv.

Distance today: 375km, total: 15678km.

May 01st.

Happy birthday Mum.
Today, we did nothing. Well I mean we didn’t drive at all. We just spent the day in the tent, sorting out our pictures and videos for the website, napped a lot, enjoyed the bush, and cooked dinner on the fire, as the gas bottle ran out.

PS: the damper was great, we ate it all.

Distance today: 0km, total: 15678km.

May 02nd.

Out of the bush, into Kings Canyon, well Kings Creek in fact, which is a small homestead 30km south of the canyon. It’s a few bucks cheaper and a lot more “authentic” as the resort at the base of the canyon. We refill the gas bottle, cook lunch and drive down the canyon for the “base walk”, which isn’t much really. Still, it’s a nice view down here, along the riverbed and under the shade. We miss sunset by a minute and watch the Canyon brighten with red and amber and orange.

I have a special feeling about this place, it’s always been my favourite spot in Australia, much more than anywhere else I’ve been to. There’s a certain eerie feeling about it. It’s hard to describe, but I just love Kings Canyon.

Back to the campsite, another damper on the way, and off to bed, tomorrow is going to be challenging.

Distance today: 170km, total: 15848km.

May 03rd

We woke up at 4AM today, in the freezing morning, while the night is still black and thick with silence. In just under an hour, the sun will be up. No time to waste. We drive off to the base of the canyon, and start our ascent with the stars and the moon (and our flashlights) to light our way.

It’s hard yakka, I tell you that much. The ice cold air is burning our lungs, but by the time we’re at the top of the canyon, the first rays of the sun brighten up the place, and slowly warm us up. Time for a break. In the backpack, we have hot coffee, warm damper, butter and jam. Now, tell me this, what is better than breakfast on top of a 300m canyon, overlooking the desert, with the sun rising up in your back? Nothing mate, nothing beats this. And though it’s bloody freezing still, it’s well worth the effort climbing up the place.

We push on down to the “Garden of Eden”, a large pond right in the heart of the Canyon, then Claire continues her walk to Kathleen Gorge while I walk down to get the car.
Her walk is 22km on the crest of the ridge, and she’ll make a better job describing it.

So while she’s off walking her ten hours hike, I go “home”, take a shower, have a nap, cook yet some more bread (I fail miserably this one), relax and pick her up at 5PM, right on time for dinner.

Distance today: 90km, total: 15938km.