Our last 4:30am start, thank goodness! Today we visited Kings Canyon and it's a three hour trip from the resort. The one good thing about these early starts is the sunrise. 
We stopped fof breakfast about two hours into the trip at a place called Kings Canyon Station. This started out as a cattle station owned by Ian and Lynne Conway. Australian Story produced a show about Ian a few years ago. Ian and Lynne decided to moved toward camel farming in order to control the wild camels roaming the Australian Outback. This has been a successful move for them and they are now in a position they have been able to create a foundation to educate indigenious youth from the area. The baby camel below is one the found that had been attacked by dingoes so the rescued him and called him Nibbles. 
When we got to Kings Canyon we had a choice of two walks, one long the rim which is about 500 steps up to the top the would take about three hours to complete in about 41° heat or a leisurely 1 km stroll through the base of the canyon. No prizes for guessing which one we chose. The other temptation for doing the riverbed walk was that there was time to do a helicopter after the walk. That was a no brainer for me. The climb below is what we chose not to do
The stroll was no disappointment. The dry creek was beautiful and looking from the bottom didn't make me regret our decision. Our guide explained the creek bed and the various plants and the types animals that could be found.
The walk was very easy as they created a path using the stone from the area. I can see why people are so attracted the the native dry creek bed gardens. The look is lovely and very peaceful.
When you get up close to the rocks, the colours and layers are stunning and you can see the formation over millions of years.
You are not able to walk all the way through although it is possible. At the end of the track there is a viewing platform that you can appreciate the height of the canyon. By the time we got to the platform the sun was really hot and I'm really pleased I didn't try the climb.
After the walk we were take to the resort where we had the opion of a helicopter flight. As I enjoyed thefirst one so much I was pretty keen to do another. Bonus was that as this was my second flight I got a discount. I still couldn't talk Terry into trying it...not even the very short eight minute flght. The views are spectacular...it is so worth it! 
From the air you can see a number of waterholes that still have water in them after the recent rains. There is one waterhole called the "Garden of Eden". It is a suspended waterhole just below the canyon edge that because of the rock type holds water all year round.
The amazing thing about this whole area is none of the rock formations are made the same. There was nothing that looked like this back at the Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park.
On our way back back we stopped at Lake Amadeus. This a salt lake but the just below the thin salt layer is a thick layer of mud the is almost impossible to cross. You can see footsteps in the salt crust where peolple have tried to get out to the island. They don't get very far. The distance to the island is quite deceptive. This was the lake that stopped the early explorations are the area.
Looking back in the opposite direction is Atila (Mount Conner) This is on private land and is no longer accessible to the general public. In the past the only rules to visiting it was to sign in on arrival and sign out when leaving. Unfortunately everyone would sign in but then not all of them would not sign out. The poor owner spent a lot of time looking for people who weren't on his property anymore. The last straw came when the owner visited his wife's grave and it had been desecrated. I cannot understand why someone would do that...it's no wonder he stopped people from entering.
We arrived back at the hotel about 5:00pm exhausted!
Well that's it, another trip over. We have had and great time and seen so much. We've discovered it's not just a rock...it's an incredible area that offers so much beauty and culture. For anyone who comes to Australia (or anyone living here for that matter) it's a must see. Although it does not typify us as a nation, it is another amazing aspect of this beautiful country we live in.
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