25/10/16 Kings Canyon Creek walk

  Time to move again , so we packed & hitched up and hit the road again , todays destination is Kings Canyon . We are a bit excited to be going here , people’s recommendations and all the hype about it !!

 The drive was interesting , when we reached the turn off Lasseters Hwy it seemed to be uphill most of the way - probably just an illusion !!! The wildflowers are still going - getting toward the end though . There’s one section where you go through a Desert Oak forest - not a very thick forest though - it was still interesting with all the younger trees and the older ones with dark trunks .

 We stopped at a rest area for some lunch and a driver change and saw our first dingo for quite some time . It was hanging around the picnic tables , lying in the shade of one table . 

 Before much longer we’d arrived at Kings Creek Station , checked in and set up , not wanting to waste any time , we headed to Kings Canyon - about 38 klms away . The road in is good , bitumen all the way to the carpark . The last section in was through lots of wildflowers - some still flowering , others just bleached white dried out specimens - it covered a very large are !!

 Reaching the carpark , we got some water , hats , & stick , and set off up the Kings Canyon Creek Walk - a 2.6 klm return walk on formed paths . There’s a water station to top up your bottles and warning signs about the Rim Walk & South Rim Walk - gates close and the walk is closed at 9am if the days temperature is going to be 36 degrees or above !!! 

 The Canyon is a V shaped valley with exposed sandstone cliffs , some smooth , some rough and weathered .

 The creek bed is a stoney affair , large chunky rocks , redgums and cycads . The walk is shaded for a good part and is an easy stroll .

 Wind eroded rocks were plentiful and revealed many patterns .

Before long we’d reached the end and turned to come back when a kangaroo bounded down some of the rocks straight towards us , we sat still and waited , it stopped and then came forward again , before finally realising we were there and turning away .

 There are plenty of Mulla Mulla flowering here at the moment , and make a contrast against the orange rock .

  2 slabs of rock were beside the path , and they almost look like woodgrain .

 Then further down on one of the rocks cemented in the path appeared to be a fossil of some creatures footprints , like we saw in Kalbari .

 These are the steps that lead up the side of the mountain at the start of the rim walk - they lead up the ridge - 100 m higher than the start !!!

 Hopefully the Rim Walk will be better than the creek walk - we were a little underwhelmed with it to be honest !! Hate to think we drove all this way to get here and will leave disappointed - that would be a cruel joke - tomorrow will tell !!

 With that we headed back home to prepare for tomorrow .

Here’s a map link :-https://drive.google.com/open?id=1vz3IZWMFUankZuYoI_KSViyFuXk&usp=sharing

24/10/16 All over the rock

  Another sunny day greeted us , we had breakfast and relaxed for a while , before heading over to the office and waiting to be picked up .
 Todays little chore was to go for a fly over Uluru , Kata Tjuta and little known Lake Amadeus . Good news for us , we were the only people flying , so we had the Cessna to ourselves . After a safety briefing , we taxied down to the runway and took off . First views were toward Uluru , but scanning the skyline , we could see Kata Tjuta and Mt Conner in the distance . Flying to the east of Yulara gave us views of the resort that is Yulara . Kata Tjuta is in the background .

 Next our pilot , Chrissy , pointed out Longitude 31 , a luxury resort that costs about $2000 a day !!!!

 Someones twin engine private jet was parked at the airport - no doubt they were in residence down there !!
 Next we flew beside Uuru , very impressive from the air , the surface definitely not smooth !!

 We then headed towards Kata Tjuta , the sandy desert below us showed off the dunes and sparse vegetation .

 Kata Tjuta was dead ahead and is just as , or more impressive as Uluru . It is higher than Uluru as well , and we got to see more of it today than we imagined the other day when we walked to the lookout and gorge .

This is Wolpa Gorge from above . Interesting - Kata Tjuta , Uluru and Mt Conner all line up !! Mt Conner is on the horizon behind Uluru and is a bit hard to see .

  From here , it was across to Lake Amadeus - a huge salt lake that stretches for 183 klms !! It hasn't been full of water since 1990 , and is too far out to be used for a commercial salt mine .

 And that was it , back to the airport for a perfect touchdown in a bit of crosswind .

  And with that we were delivered back to the campground .
Tomorrow sees us driving up the road again to Kings Canyon . We may or may not have any reception and therefore no internet , so we will be back in a few days time - stay tuned for more !!

23/10/16 Back to the rock

 After the lights last night , we decided to head back to the rock again for another ride around the base. The wind was up a bit , but we went anyway , deciding to go the opposite direction from the other day .
 Not getting here till 9am made a difference with the light for photos as well - today we have full sun and a cooler southeasterly breeze blowing .
 This is the view from the sunset viewing area - it's about 1klm long and has parking for lot's of cars . The sunset viewing area is even bigger , with room for about 60 buses !!!

 This was the view as we left around noon from a different spot .

 The ride was great , more people though , with 6 bus loads at the start of the climb - it was still closed for climbing due to strong winds at the top .
 These are the shelters for people to escape the heat under .

 The light really showed up the contours of the rock .

 We rode past a water hole and stopped on the bridge for a while to watch the zebra finches having a bath and a drink , there were 50 or 60 of them .

 We also stopped at a permanent waterhole for a while , it was nice to get it to ourselves for a while . There was water running out of the rock , when it rains the water soaks into the rock and mystically flows out slowly into this pond area .

 Here we are , just so you know we were really here .

Todays ride was much more relaxed than the other day , we managed to see more and take it in rather than being in a rush . We loaded up and headed back home for lunch .
  Managed to watch some of the V8's from the Gold Coast and the MotoGP as well , before heading back to the sunset viewing area . The carpark was pretty full when we arrived , we found a spot that wasn't too bad and parked . Next job was to decide where to take photos from - the top of the kayak up on the roof of the ute looked good .

  So , here are the results .

 That's it for today .

22/10/16 Field of Light

 Today we spent the morning washing & cleaning , before riding into Town Square . Yulara is a resort town , consisting mainly of accomodation - apartments , apartments , campground , hotel apartments and some parking  & a fuel station . There is Town Square , with a bank , supermarket , cafe's and gift shops . This is a view of town square .

After a couple of rides in & around town , we had an our main meal for lunch and showered early ready for the evening .
 We wandered down to the bus stop at 6pm - it was a good 4min walk away - to be picked up at 6:20pm . The bus arrived at 6:10 and we headed round to pick up everyone else .
 The inspiration behind the Field Of Light is the wildflowers that bloom after rain here in the desert .
Here is a photo from the other day just to give you the idea .

 Arriving at the private location , we walked up to the top of the sand dune with a view to Uluru , the sun hadn't quite set yet and you could see the light installation below us - it was enormous - it covers 49,000 square metres - nearly 7 football fields !!!!

 We indulged in canapés and a few beers as the sun disappeared , prior to going down to the field . As the sun went down , the lights started to come on .

 We had our jeans and jackets on , as the temperature wasn't really hot , but we weren't worried about that , the view was impressive .

 The field was starting to look like it was full of wildflowers , then we got to go for our stroll downhill & through the field .

 There's 380klm of fibre optic cables here and 50,000 hand made light stems !!

 They're computer controlled , and the colours change regularly . Tracks lead you through the field in loops , you find yourself all over the place and it's all worth it - the display is amazing !!!

  After wandering around for quite a while , we wandered back to the bus pickup point , jumped on and went home - an excellent night !!