The Long Overdue Walkabout: Day 8 – King’s Canyon
Our last day together and one more all-day hike to experience. I awoke from my swag to another cackling dying fire. I was getting quite used to this outdoor sleeping thing. We were transported hours away from Uluru to King’s Canyon. There’s not much to say about this hike that hasn’t been said before, it was hot, it was long, and there were lots of pretty sights. But here are some highlights:
Andrew told us about these trees that take hundreds of years to grow. Here is one of the older ones.
Priscilla Queen of the Desert was filmed here. There was an iconic scene in the cult movie with the drag queens in front of a V-shaped opening in the canyon walls. Yeah, so…I never saw that movie, but that's what I'm told. We took our turns posing against that gap.
At one point, we walked along the canyon's rim. Across from us was another sheer cliff dropoff. Where one would expect lines of different rock sediment from the various stages of Earth or some geological explanation like that, instead was a giant unexplained oval. Work of aliens? Aborigines? Mother nature? One may never know…
A detour from the Rim Walk took us down the canyon to the Garden of Eden, a watering hole surrounded by lush plant life. Normally, we could cool off with a nice swim, but there hadn't been any rain for days to refresh the stale and dirty lagoon. As we sat and ate our orange slices, jumping into that water was still incredibly tempting.
No safety railings.
My first koala sighting! Not really, this was just a small stuffed koala toy that someone hung onto a tree. Cool shot nonetheless.
Better than climbing Uluru.
Exploring the surroundings
Tabletop formation
Mind the gap, guys…
Another view
After a long morning and afternoon hiking around the rim, we were on our way back to sort-of civilization of Alice Springs. There was one more stop to a roadhouse that employed local aboriginals to weave and paint various artwork, carpets, and other touristy collectibles. These desert roadhouses always seemed to remind me of a different, older era.
Teehee…
Halfway on our long car ride back home, our tank pulled over into a deserted dirt road. It was a drop-off point. Half the group was going to continue on, seeing more beautiful ranges and gorges, sleeping under the stars, and not showering. A tiny army jeep pulled up alongside, the ones where the seats are more like benches along the side of the vehicle in the back. Ryan, Emma, Neil, and Jan said their goodbyes to us. Andrew did as well, we all thanked him profusely. And off my new friends packed into their new rides, looking like lost refugees in that jeep. The older Swiss-German couple were supposed to be part of that caravan, but elected to cut their trip early. “We got room now if any of you want to continue on with us.” I was almost envious enough to take him up on the offer. But I had to move on, Adriane and Southern Australia awaited the next day.
Our new driver was a genial old man, I no longer remember his name. There was plenty of room now to sprawl out and sleep, which is what everyone pretty much did.
Before we bid goodbye to Andrew, the returning folks had asked where one goes out for a drink around Alice Springs. He recommended a place called Bojangles and told us to order the tourist platter (not the actual name of the platter, but who else would order it?). We all decided we would go back, wash up, and meet at Bojangles for a celebratory night. This was exciting to me, because my 3 day Kakadu trip ended with me eating alone at a fish and chips stall and then eventually talking to a racist local.
Bojangles was a fun, rowdy saloon a few blocks from the hostel. I remember having trouble finding it at first, even with clear and simple directions from the hostel manager. The ambiance and crowd sort of reminded me of Cadillac Ranch in Bristol. Everyone came, even Kurt and Simone, the Swiss-German couple. A local radio station broadcasted out of the bar, and there was a DJ that night for a dance party full of backpackers and locals alike (but mostly young backpackers). The “tourist platter” that Andrew recommended consisted of four local grilled meats: emu, camel, croc, and kangaroo. I mean, there wasn’t an easier way to check off all the things I wanted to try while in Australia. The only note I took about Bojangles pretty much sums it up: “Got wasted last night!”
There was a lot of great discussion with Adam, Axel, and Frank, I remember. And then it got late in the night, and everyone left the table to hit on girls, and I wasn’t really seeing straight anymore. And somehow, I made it back to the hostel and went to bed. Tomorrow, another flight and a new region of Australia to explore.