Kings Canyon & Kathleen Gorge From Yulara to Kings Canyon is a pleasant 300 km drive along the Lasseter and Luritja roads, with much of the travel through open park-like scenery. Unlike many of the Outback's newer metalled roads, this one in not a boring dead-straight, dead-flat one and undulates and curves through the low ridges of the area. Obviously mapped out by a civil engineer with romantic notions about making the drive interesting as well as practical! The reason for visiting the Kings Canyon region is, and here's a shock for you... Kings Canyon. The area also had a starring role in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert; with the helicopter shots of three drag queens hiking in heels to the raw, red summit making for a spectacular part of the film. We had decided heels would probably be too much work even if a little glamorous, but we did nevertheless enjoy our own visit to the Canyon.

The Ridge Top Walk is well worth taking, needing about 3 hours to do the 7 km. You must carry all the water you require as there are no fill-up tanks along the way. At the beginning of the walk, a steepish section takes you from the floor to the rim of the canyon (hence the name of the walk, durh). After that, the walk is mostly a comfortable stroll.   Once on the top, you travel through a complex of beehive shaped rocks, with the walk coming back to good views of the canyon as you continue along. We had another hot day, with the temperature reaching 36 degC and feeling much hotter when among the bare rocks. At least we got a gentle breeze.

"The Lost City", the distinctive the beehive domes, can be more clearly seen from the opposite side of the canyon. In local aboriginal legend, the formations represent a large number of native cats.   Blasted by sun, sparse soil and infrequent rain make for harsh conditions for plants. But many cling to life among the bare rocks, some of them of great age despite their small size. Being a bit of fan of bonsai, Grant kept running off all excited and examining the most twisted specimens -- the pine trees surviving from a time when the area was cooler and wetter.

Halfway through the walk, you arrive at and descend into the "Garden of Eden", a hidden canyon floor with permanent water that supports a profusion of large gums, cycads and birdlife. The difference to the conditions a few hundreds metres up on the canyon rim could not be more stark. Unsurprisingly, the water was a vital resource to the local tribes during drought. Regardless of the attractiveness of a swim in the pools, the area is extremely fragile and swimming is banned. The Parks Service needs to place signs in both German and Spanish because simply putting up pictures of people swimming, with a big red cross through, is obviously too unclear.

Looking from the southern side, the canyon has sheer walls that don't warrant getting too close to -- the wind can suddenly gust up and, last year, a woman got blown clear over the edge during her bid for that perfect photo. That type of thing tends to spoil the rest of the day for your walking companions. (Safety hint : if you want a photo, lay flat on your belly and then wriggle yourself up to the edge. OK, you'll get dusty; but you will also avoid a final plummet to the canyon floor.)

Walking at late afternoon (or, not that we know, early in the morning) gives an opportunity to see the bare hills at their best. Often the wildlife is beginning to stir after the heat of the day, and the rocks begin to literally glow a range of vibrant reds and oranges as the sun moves to the West and lower in the sky. This photo is near the end (or the start, depending on which way you go!) of the Ridge Top Walk.   Many say the best time to visit is early Spring (September) when the first rains cause the area to burst into wildflower.

We stayed at the Kings Canyon Resort -- a smaller and quieter, and in our minds, a more pleasant camp ground than that at Yulara. Again the price is about $25 for the first night, with additional nights about $20. For that you get a swimming pool and good views of a range of hills from your tent; a perfect spot for a late afternoon coffee. The resort also has motel-style accommodation with it's own pool and restaurant, a service centre, and a pub with some interesting photos on the walls. Because this was Spring, the arcacia trees were loaded with green seeds and we were soon enjoying the company of flocks of galahs, swooping in to peck at the pods -- the "plop, plop, plop" of the empty pods on our tent, and the cheerful chatter of the birds, was our constant companion during the 2 days/2 nights we stayed. You had to remember to place your coffee under the chair if you stood up, or you came back to find a few floating seed pods as a gift from the galahs. But, as a screeching, chattering mob, the galahs had no comparison to the 40 vacuous, private-school girls who pulled up in a large bus together with one squat and booming voiced Camp Leader ... oh good lordy woman, shut up with the "Ladies! Ladies!". The entire campground isn't on tour with you!

	Explore the rest of Grant & Dale's Outback holiday
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