King's Canyon

Off we go set for pastures new leaving Ayers Rock Resort far behind as we drive to King's Canyon. The long leisurely breakfast this morning means we leave a little later than planned and arrive for today's walk late meaning it will be conducted in full Northern territory sunshine. As Caitlin and me ponder the alternatives to the 3 hour rim walk which the signs suggest should not be attempted at midday(we arrived at 11am ) G dismisses all alternatives with a shrug of his shoulders and a " Suck it up!"
So I now have: a sulky teenager complaining of all manner of serious gi disturbances, a small child in fine fettle in front as she feels she has the moral high ground being keen to attempt the walk, a deranged commando like husband and a steep climb in 31 degrees heat. Yes it wasn't called the rim walk for nothing. The terrain is interesting and once on the rim there are some spectacular vistas even if we have drunk 1/3 of our water into the first half an hour in the mistaken belief there will be water stops on the way- well there were at other sites.

The two standout sections are: ' The Lost City', mmmm, I think they may have exaggerated somewhat but the beehive like rock formations are intriguing and ' The garden Of Eden' . Now I wasn't around in biblical times contrary to my children's views but I'm not sure the Garden of Eden would have been filled with stagnant brown water resembling an over sized farm puddle, flies and a bunch of Japanese tourists wearing white gloves...Are they all Michael Jackson fans?
It does seem eerie however to yet again be faced with an oasis of plant life in what is essentially a dry rock! Some of the plants here are found nowhere else in Oz and are prehistoric a little like my walking boots which have once again let me down resulting in, as I write, a big toe nail that looks like it is not long for this world.

After going off the beaten track a few times for extra views ( I think you can guess who suggested these detours)I finally put my foot down, yes not the one with the sore big toe, as we realise we still have a quarter of the walk to do and no frigging water. Now I become the commando and insist there's no more dawdling along , making the children feel guilty by giving them the last drops of water in the bottle and putting the fear of god in everyone on the horrors of dehydration. We finish the walk in 2 hours and 40 minutes.

So now begins the part of the holiday G is really looking forward to(are we all getting the picture) as he announces, " Buckle up , we now start the drive on the Mareenie loop" effectively an off road 150km short cut to Alice. Initially this is fun so much so that we let Caitlin drive for a quarter of an hour on the gravel only taking over when she hits 70kph passing a road train coming the other way!What then follows is G supposedly trying to avoid corrugations in the road surface by driving over the edge, and going for it big time, " Is that a ditch ahead , slow down, ..........!!!! too late " As Ciara bashes her head of the interior roof of the Nissan and believe me this is quite high. Still even he has had enough of his jollies after two hours of driving as he narrowly misses another giant lizard, this one looking like a horizontal T Rex.

Now it really feels like we are in the middle of nowhere and I start to get a little concerned in a 'Wolf Creek' like way as we begin to see things hanging from trees. I have my glasses on but it takes a little time before I realise these are not dead tourists put there to ward of other venturers but old bits of tyre and rubbish which for some reason are always hoisted into trees directly along the roadside.
Are we being told something... Like take your ....!!! rubbish back with you.

As we finish the Mareenie Loop and look forward to an upgrade , a section of unsealed road according to the map is a ======= as opposed to the------of the aforementioned Mareenie Loop, I ask myself why did they bother to write=======. Is this some impossible wish for the future? because=====is exactly the same as------and it takes another....!!!! hour of blender driving to reach the town on the map marked by *. Now you think I would be starting to learn. I mean * looks substantial doesn't it but a familiar feeling starts as we draw up to the ' town' and I see no procession of cars in and out and no beverage advertisements to speak of. "Lets drive through it anyway" says Grant . Oh yes lets !!! Well most of the towns buildings are now in a museum , no really they are! Behind a chain in between two metal poles and the derelict bunch of churches and houses look like something out of the Victorian era which they are because H was a missionary town in the middle of nowhere in !!!!!1860. Now there are few broken cars and a couple of shacks one which apparently sells beverages but after Mt Ebenazer I'm not taking any chances so we continue on to Alice.