Kings Canyon
We arrived at Kings Canyon Resort in the mid afternoon from Uluru and set up camp. As the temperatures were in the 30’s we decided to have a lazy afternoon and then made an early start the next day. We drove the few kilometers down the road into Watarraka National Park to hike the 6km Kings Canyon rim walk . The start of the hike is a steep but easy climb for about 700m straight up some well appointed steps made from the natural rock. There are some little rest stops on the way up, with some lovely views across the valley. The real wow factor starts when you climb through the gap! The beehive domes were amazing with the dramatic drops into the canyon on our right hand side.
We took the Cotterills bridge across a huge narrow cravass. Here you get fantastic 360 views and are standing on top of one of these incredible structures.
The path then heads down steps into the canyon and down to the Garden of Eden. This is a men’s area and apparently the stories are too sacred to repeat!!!! There is a permanent water hole here and it’s beautiful and cool. 
We retraced our steps back up the 300m from the water hole and climbed back up the wooden steps. Up here we got magical views of the domes and then walked along the top and back down to the car park, where there is free government wifi in the shelter, toilets and water facilities.
There were all sorts of abilities of hikers on the track, the track closes at 9am on days which are forecasted to be hotter than 36 degrees. Even if it’s not that hot, walking in the morning is always much more pleasant. The hike took 2hrs 15m (recommended 3-4hrs)
From here we drove about 20km east and did the short 2.6km walk along a bitchmen track to Kathleen springs, Its a permanent spring fed waterhole and the flowers and bird life here were beautiful. There were lots of information boards along the track which told us stories of Aboriginal culture and the cattle industry. There were still remnants of fencing too.
You could easily do both these walks in the morning and then head back to Alice Springs for the evening. We decided to spend the afternoon relaxing, I think we are still on a go slow from the Larapinta hike! Back at the resort we headed into the bistro cafe, it is a little like a road house cafe. The bar had a much nicer feel with a few comfortable sofas. They offer a BBQ dinner, with long share tables, but we didn’t eat here as it seemed a little expensive when you can get meals in the restaurant over the road for about the same price. The ala-carte restaurant looked great, with big windows and white table cloths. The resort also has a dinner under the moon event. The campsite has great views of the range for sunrise and sunset. They have built a lovely viewing platform and for the sunset a small bar is set up selling miniature bottles of wine and beer!
You need to watch your camping gear and don’t leave even a scrap of food lying around. There is a dingo on site that is into everything and certainly isn’t afraid of humans
Next stop the Bungle Bungles via the Tanami road …..
Sarah x.
