Day 4 – Kings Outback Tour

After a good night’s sleep in our accommodation at Kings Canyon we were all ready to be taken down for our guided walk through Kings Canyon, situated in Watarrka National Park.  The really keen walkers had already been dropped off for the 3 hour steep and rugged walk to the top of the canyon, but most of us sensibly decided to take the shorter walk along the canyon floor.

Our driver guide was very informative and pointed out various plants, trees, and bush tucker as we walked along, and we also had a quick geology lesson on how the canyon was formed.  We saw many birds, including a flock of noisy wild budgies who darted here and there amongst the trees.  A tiny lizard sitting just off the path was pointed out so we stopped and admired him – if we were on our own I’m sure we wouldn’t have noticed this tiny creature.

Tiny lizard hiding in the leaf litter

The geology of Kings Canyon is an amazing red colour and we could easily see how it was formed with all the different layers showing so clearly.  This is certainly a special place and we enjoyed our morning walk, made even better as our guide had such a wealth of knowledge.

Kings Canyon

A quick stop at the ablutions before we continued on our journey, and what's this in the bathroom?  That’s not a sign I’ve ever seen before.  I turned the taps on very cautiously, and can report that not a single bee attacked me.

Watch out for bees

All aboard the coach once more, (not a bus as the driver corrected me) and we travelled down to Kings Creek Station, our stop for lunch.  Where we rather bravely sampled a Camel Burger each for lunch, washed down with a very large milk shake each.  But to tell the truth, the meat didn't taste too much different from a beef burger.  But at least we gave it a go.  The kitchen staff worked very hard to feed a coach full of tourists in the shortest possible time, so we could be on our way at the appointed time.

 

Camel burger for lunch.

Then we settled back in the coach with just a short stop later in the afternoon.  It was a long day, about 500kms the driver informed us.  As we neared Alice Springs, the sun dropped behind the horizon, and the full moon played hide and seek behind a few wispy clouds.  The moon is not really that distorted shape, blame my shaky hands on the coach.

Full moon tonight

We were soon re-booked into Double Tree Hilton for the next three nights and had a big decision to make.  Shall we have an early night, or spend and hour in the guest laundry dealing with a bag a washing?  The laundry idea won, if we deal with it tonight, we will have more free time tomorrow.

There's that laundry lady again