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We woke up at 5:30am for breakfast and left at 6:30am for our three and a half hour hike through Kings Canyon in Watarrka National Park. It started with a really steep climb to the top of the canyon that the guides call Heart Attack Hill. It was quite steep but not as hard as we thought it would be, perhaps for old biddies it was. Then came the interesting part where we had to cross over broken, rocky ground near steep cliffs and deep crevices. Bron told us a bit about Kings Canyon and how it was formed. She told us it took millions of years and started off as a large crack. Wind, rain and flood waters widened and deepened the crack in the Mereenie Sandstone. It reached down to the softer Carmicheal Sandstone, which then formed the rubbly lower slopes of the canyon. As the Carmicheal Sandstone eroded, it undercut the upper sandstone. Blocks, some larger than a house, sheared away and tumbled down.
We could see huge circular rings on one side of the canyon wall. Some believe aliens created these rings but most believe they were formed by the release of stress when the Mereenie Sandstone cracked.
We continued further on our walk and passed other groups of tourists along the way. One group of old people were stood listening to their guide talk about the canyon. We didn't want to wait for them to move so we all tried to quietly walk around them. I was concentrating so much on where I put my feet that I didn't notice the large tree branch right in front of my face, Smack!!! I walked straight into it, bruising my forehead and eye brow. "f***!" I shouted out as I hit the branch and clumsily fell to my knees. The whole group saw what I did, they didn't start laughing until I I did. It was so embarrassing but funny too. I got back up and apologised for swearing. Chris was laughing hysterically at me the whole time, he didn't even check I was ok!
On our way to the other side, we climbed down some stairs that led to the Garden of Eden, hidden in the depths of the canyon. The Garden of Eden was a peaceful green area with calm water flowing through. We stopped here for a while to take in the natural beauty while enjoying some biscuits Bron had brought with her. Me and Jasmine attempted to make some cool yoga photos with a few poses. The sitting down ones looked good but the tree pose was a bit clumsy, lol.
We climbed up stairs and rocks to the top of the other side of the canyon. When we reached the top Bron pointed out a Pigmy Koala in the tree next to us. Most of us took photos of the creature and were saying how cute it was and so tiny! About five minutes later we all realised it was a fake, it was actually one of those clip on toy koalas! The guides get the tourists every time!
We saw some beautiful views and got a nice group photo together before making our way back down the canyon and into the car park. It was a really nice hike, I'm so glad I did it with Chris. There weren't any scary difficult walks along cliff edges. I think Bron exaggerated too much because she's afraid of heights. Chris did get quite close to some edges which made me and everyone else in our group feel nervous, there's no telling him though, if he wants to go stand at the edge, he will go stand at the edge!!
We were all so hungry and ready to eat lunch when we got back to camp. We stuffed our faces before being driven three hours away to meet up with our new guide and change buses. Most of us fell asleep and didn't wake up until we got there. Our new guide Shelly, introduced herself and told us she would be taking us down to Alice Springs. She was very cheerful and smiley and seemed to have a great sense of humour, she also had a squeaky Aussie voice which at first was annoying.
We waited around for two other people that were supposed to be joining us on our tour to Alice Springs. An hour and half went by and the pair never turned up so we left without them, by now it was 4:30pm.
Our first stop with Shelly was at a Shoe Tree by the side of the road. Some tourists had hung up their shoes and left them there and they were never taken down. Over time other tourists began to leave their shoes and so came the name of the tree. It wasn't the most exciting thing to see to be honest, I didn't even took a photo of it. Afterwards we stopped at the north south Australian border for some quick photos. Along the way to camp we saw a massive bush fire so quickly pulled over to have a closer look. We weren't sure if it was a controlled fire or not, most of the ground around us was burnt and black and it seemed to have travelled for miles. We stood on the side of the road and watched it for a while. The sun had set so it was very dark outside now, the fire was glowing so bright! We took a few photos and climbed back into the bus.
Like earlier most of us were half asleep. We think Shelly was too, we almost drove straight into a herd of cows crossing the road! If Chris hadn't been up talking to her and said something, we think we all could have been dead! Shelly managed to swerve out of the way just in time! That woke us all up and for a while we watched the dark road, slightly nervous!!
Finally we got to camp safe and sound. Tonight was going to be our last chance to swag outside around a campfire. We each made up our swags and laid them out around the fire, then we all sat down on fold out chairs and cooked marsh mellows in the flames. Hilsey loved the marshmallows and told us he had never tried them before. He managed to get through a whole pack by himself! He really does come from a small village!
Just as we were all snuggling into our swags, we heard a pack of Dingos start to howl in the distance. It was really cool to listen to, they sounded so close and were all around us! We laid staring up at the night sky as we got off to sleep, the milky way looked brighter than ever, it was a perfect ending to swagging.
Charlotte & Chris
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