Red Center Way - Part II
Glen Helen Gorge to Kings Canyon
Saturday, we left Glen Helen Gorge and made our way to Kings Canyon. On the way, we made a stop at Tnorala (Gosse Bluff), a 12-mile crater created 140 million years ago from a comet. The area is a sacred site for the Aboriginal people who believe the crater was formed when a woman dropped a baby while dancing across the Milky Way.
This area is so much more green here than I pictured and what I have seen online. I did ask about this to one of the staff members at our hotel and she mentioned she has lived in the area for seven years and has never seen it so green. She went on to say the Outback has received a lot more rain than they usually do, and this has caused the area to be so green.
The drive to Kings Canyon takes you on the Mereenie Loop Road, part of Aboriginal Country. Because of this, it is a requirement you purchase an AU$6.00 permit. We were told when we bought the permit if you were caught without one, the fine is $4,000! Well worth the initial six bucks I should say! The road is unsealed but, overall, we did not find it too rough. The GPS on Google Maps said it would take 8 hours to drive the Mereenie Loop, but I am not sure how this was calculated as it only took us about 2 ½ hours! While driving, we only saw three other cars the entire time on the loop. One highlight along this route was seeing several groups of wild horses!
Termite Mound (over 3-feet tall!)
Once we arrived in Kings Canyon, we spent some time bumming around the resort, eating lunch and doing some reading. At sunset, we walked to the viewing platform and watched the sun set against Kings Canyon. It was quite beautiful.
Sunday morning, we woke early (5:15am!), got ready, ate breakfast and drove to Kings Canyon to complete the Kings Canyon Rim Walk. We arrived around 6:30am and thought we would be the only ones there at the early hour. Much to my surprise, there were already several large tour buses and multiple cars in the parking lot! It seems everyone is a morning-person here when it gets hot so early in the day! The walk is a 3.5-mile circuit around the canyon. The first part of the walk is the most difficult as there are 500-steep steps to climb. The hike took us about 3 hours and provided some pretty spectacular scenery.
Steep steps to start!
Garden of Eden
