John_Johnny
Long Timer
We pitched our little dome tent in Kings Canyon caravan park. Little Andy Pandy is amazing!
Uluru to Kings Canyon 304km
About halfway between Ayers Rock and Erldunda there's a turn off heading North to Kings Canyon. Other than returning the stones to Ayers Rock, there was no plan, no timetable, just making it up as we go along, so the locals at Yulara tell me that Kings Canyon is Australia's version of the Grand Canyon.
The road there is all sealed and like most roads I've encountered in NT, in excellent condition and NO speed limit! Whoo Hoo! A couple of hours into the trip I was ramping the speed up as there were no cars and the road was wide and straight but then we came to an unsigned left curve. It was only slight so I kept the speed on (and it was right up there) but the long sweeping bend just kept getting tighter. It caught me by surprise and at some point the lean on the bike passed that 'comfortable' stage to something where I feared the slightest twitch by Andy Pandy, or a few loose stones and we were gone. With my heart in my mouth, I stuck it out but boy oh boy I shat myself. Andy didn't know how close that was, but then again, maybe it was just me. For all I know, we could have been well within limits but it sure felt like we were gone. The Kings Canyon resort has various levels of accommodation from 5 star downwards. The camping area was beautiful so we set up our tent. This was one of the best camping/caravan parks I've ever seen.
Beautiful green grass, trees, great toilet/shower blocks.
See this link showing a site map... http://www.kingscanyonresort.com.au/Resort-Map.aspx
There was a kiosk at the entrance selling all the standard hamburgers, chips and stuff as well as groceries. When I walked in, blow me down, there was my arch enemy. A bloke I'd crossed swords with a few years back. We looked at each other, thought for a moment, then shook hands. There is something magical about this remote land. All was forgiven and we chatted for quite a while. He was now a teacher here, with mainly indigenous students. The aboriginal population here is high with lots of jobs in the tourism industry and the kids are all clean cut, well dressed and cheerful. Most pleasant. A stark contrast to that disgraceful Halls Creek and Fitzroy Crossing. We wandered all around the resort until bedtime. The upmarket 5 star accommodation was empty, but all the rooms were unlocked and open, with fully stocked mini bars there for the taking. Obviously Kings Canyon has honest residents or this stuff would walk. Andrew had his eyes on all the Mars Bars and Snickers sitting in the wicker baskets, but it was look, don't touch, besides, those mini bar prices are ridiculous. In the morning we're off to the Canyon. You can walk all the way around it and we plan to find the secret swimming holes at the bottom of the many waterfalls. I've heard there's a lot of back-to-nature skinny dipping going on there.