On Saturday morning we joined the two-hour Mala Walk, which is led by an Ayers Rock Ranger every day departing at 8.00am. The Ranger gave us a real insight into the plants and animals supported by the rock and the importance of such a spiritual place in the Aboriginal survival and culture. Taking photos is forbidden at certain points along the walk, as this would be very disrespectful.

Then it was a quick stop back at the apartment to repack the car before heading off on the three-hour drive to Kings Canyon.

The Canyon is so remote that there is just one place to stop, which caters for campers; backpackers and we had booked a hotel room for the one night. There was also a petrol station on the site, which is the only place to top up for hundreds of kilometers.

Ben and Lauren were up at dawn on Sunday to tackle the rim walk before the heat of the day set in. This is supposed to take 3 - 4 hours but they were back in 2 hours and had also found time to take some great photographs of the wonderful views.

We opted to undertake the short track walk into the floor of the Canyon; this is shady and cool and only takes an hour.

Then it was time to get on the road again for the five-hour drive back to Alice Springs. By the time we got home Dave and Ben had driven 1,600k between them. Roads are straight and in good condition even in the remote areas. Other traffic is so slight that an hour can pass without seeing another vehicle and drivers wave to each other in passing. Oncoming road trains can be up to four trailers long and on narrow roads it is advisable to slow down and pull to the side to allow them room to power on by.

We had such a wonderful weekend, full of great memories of experiences shared with Ben and Lauren to take home with us.