After packing up at Uluru we headed down the road, now when l say down the road l mean 300+kms, to Kings Canyon. I had been looking forward to this for months. It was a long drive but the girls were entertained by the DVD player in the back. We booked into Kings Canyon Resort Campground for $48 per night and were looking forward to a dip in the pool to be told on arrival that it was out of order. Can you believe it! We could, however, drive up the road and sneak into the resort pool if we wanted...more effort than its worth l reckon. We still had to pay full fees which l thought was crap seeing not all facilities were on offer. Oh well, only here one night thankfully as the facilities overall aren't of high standard.
After setting up and having lunch we headed off to have a look at Kings Canyon and do the creek walk. The drive in was spectacular, a big version of looking at West Macdonald Ranges l reckon. The creek walk was short (2.6km return) and was shaded for most the way. It took us along the dried up creek up to a platformed viewing area which you can see the sheer tall reddened cliffs surrounding us. I just love the colors in the stone and the quietness of the place, well except for the two girls jabbering. It was lush with shrubs abf huge eucalyptus tress throughout the area. Stunning!
After the walk, it was nearly dinner time so we headed back to the park where the girls played on the playground. Somehow, and l can't recall how it came about, but suddenly things were ok then turned to s*** were Marty and l were having this huge argument. Everything that had frustrated us over the past six months came out and by the end of the night l didn't know if the trip was continuing. Marty wanted to pull up stumps and get a house and l wanted to keep going forward in this adventure. We fed the girls dinner, who unfortunately heard some horrible things said between their parents, and put them to bed. As it was getting late, Marty and l made it into bed without dinner and in silence, both not knowing what the future held for us tomorrow...
Next morning we woke and you could have split the air between Marty and l it was so tense. The only thing l wanted to do at Kings Canyon was the three hour rim walk. For some reason, because of the way the last 24hours had gone, Marty wasn't happy for me to go alone or led alone with the girls. Don't know of he thought l might jump off when l got to the top if l had too much time to think about stuff. So in silence we packed up and got ready for this massive walk. I had water, snacks and heaps of lollies and chewing gum to keep the girls quiet and happy.
Kings Canyon rim walk has a reputation as being a little difficult, especially at the start when you have to climb this steep hill, nicknamed 'heart attack' hill. We arrived and viewed this steep hill and with no trepidation we embarked on this 6km loop walk of Kings Canyon. We huffed and puffed our way up the steep hill, calves paining half way, but never once did anyone whinge. Meg actually loved it she reckons! When we got to the top, the view out to the horizon was spectacular. You could see for miles and our car looked like a tiny ant. We made our way around the cliffs edge to where we could see the amazing dense follaged valley floor of the Canyon. We walked thru a rocky dunes area to a reach a breathtaking view of the Canyon and over the 'Garden of Eden'. There were birds flying around everywhere and the enormity of the area was overwhelming lead alone the beauty if it. The red rocks and sheer cliffs are pictures in my head forever. On the hour walk, every step felt like a weight was lifted between Marty and l. Slowly we started talking with every minute walked, to when we got to this lookout, we had a kiss overlooking the Canyon. Maybe theres hope yet and we haven't lost as much as l'd thought. Don't get me wrong, things aren't heavenly between us, but at least it's a start at trying to mend whatever is going on between us at the moment. As we strolled off hand in hand theu "the Lost City" part of the Canyon, we watched the girls in front of us walking happily along exploring as they went, Boo leading the way of course. We arrived at the Garden of Eden, where we had to take some stairs and cross a bridge to the other side if the Canyon. Crossing the bridge we watched a huge amount of birds flying around the waterhole, and up to their nests in the cliff faces, spectacular! About half way into the walk, Meg blurts out "Amanda would be whining on this walk mum and l'm not!". If anyone knows Woodsy then they would totally crack up at that statement, and l too had a big chuckle to myself. Meg and her one liners are a total crack up... Walking on the other side of the Canyon we were stunned at the beauty that kept presenting itself to us. I can't tell you how beautiful this area of Australia is with its sheer cliffs and lush dense follage against bright red stone. After 2.5hrs we arrived out of the Canyon to the carpark. The girls had done a fantastic job and l only took to bribing them with chocolate for the last half hour of the walk. When they could see the car in the distance they were so excited! Felt like l had been torturing them with how excited they were!! Lol... Am so glad that l didn't forgo the walk due to Marty's and my argument the night before. It was one of my biggest regrets ten years ago that we didn't do the walk, glad to have ticked it off my bucket list. Amazing, totally!!!! And to have things not as bad as when the day started is even better....
We headed off to the park to hook up the Jayco and make our way further south, hopefully reaching Marla by the end of the day.....South Australia here we come!!

Bell Xxx