Uluru to Kings Canyon

   The fourth leg: Uluru to Kings Canyon. Distance: 326km. You won’t find a fuller day than this.  We awoke with the crowds before dawn in order to catch the sunrise at Uluru.  It’s something that must be done on any trip here, despite the madness.  Tegan had the bright idea to have breakfast as the sun rose, so we packed up the gear and headed over to have cups of tea with a giant rock.

    We followed the signs to the viewing area, only to discover that this was where everyone goes.  Even worse, we couldn’t even park up and sit on the back of the ute without 12 million camper vans and people invading our view.  With 6 minutes to sunrise and our stress levels rising, we gunned it out of the car park, easily surpassing the 10km/hour speed limit (“don’t mind the dirty looks, just go!”).  Along the road we found a place to pull over that had a view and only one other vehicle.  We sat on Frank, eating cereal and sipping tea, while the latecomers sped by trying to catch a glimpse of the view.  After a brief close-up look at the rock, we continued on to Kings Canyon.

   The day before, we had the bright idea to drive on to the canyon and loop around to Alice Springs, rather than hightail it straight to Alice and miss some good sights.  It might burn a bit more diesel, but it’d be worth it.  Plus, in our opinion, Kings Canyon could easily surpass Uluru in terms of beauty and spectacle.  We made the drive in a few hours, then setup camp in the recently-burnt dustbowl that was the caravan park.  Later in the afternoon we hiked up to the canyon, walking the rim in about 4 hours and arriving back at the ute just after dark.  When we got back, we enjoyed a well-deserved beer...at $32 a six pack.  

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Coming up: get me off this damn road!!, mountains and gorges, and a welcome spot of grass.