Leaving the caravan in Alice Springs we repacked for camping and headed out feeling more free and fancy without the van in tow.
Making our way west we stopped at the most of the various gorges and points of interest along Larapinta Drive including; Standley Chasm, Ellery Creek Big Hole, and Ormiston Gorge(site seeing was limited though as the kids slept most of the way) . We stayed overnight at Glen Helen Resort (camping) which we knew nothing of, but found it to be real gem. There is a gorge there also which we didn’t have time to explore, however we enjoyed the sunset on the gorge wall and then we were treated to a starry sky and the gorge was flood lit. The lodge was true outback… nice bar, lounge and lodgings. Our dinner was our first on the open fire for the trip and the kids loved sleeping in the tent. The kids were a bit concerned about Dingoes when a lady camping near us said some had come around early in the morning, and they mostly believed us when we said they couldn’t open our tent.
Initially we planned to continue to Kings Canyon via the Mereenie Loop however we continued to Hermannsburg and looked around the old mission then drove out to Boggy Hole along the Finke River. This meant we didn’t get to Palm Valley however Boggy Hole was a real highlight. Literally driving along the riverbed for 20kms over rocks, sand and sometimes crossing through water we found ourselves a nice spot for the night. Again, we cooked a delicious meal on the fire and the kids had a great time running around on the sand and warming themselves by the fire.
In the morning Dan checked the thermometer in the car and it was 2 degrees at 8AM – yep there was a frost! Muffins and pikelets cooked on the fire for brekkie and taking our time we were packed and on the road (sorry, ‘on the track’) by 10:30AM. Liz says she was very nervous being in the this place as beautiful as it was, as there we didn’t see many people (passed one other vehicle coming in), and there was no phone reception or no major roads for 30kms. In driving out we continued on the track for another couple of hours then another hour or so on ‘better tracks’ – its all relative! Actually, as we were getting along Dan spotted some hawks that we stopped to photograph and Aidan’s says, “I see dog over there!” We look around and sure enough there is a Dingo! With camera already in hand we could get a good photo. The remain k’s for the day were split between pretty varying conditions on the Ernest Giles road which is first unmade then sealed to Kings Canyon on the section that links back to Uluru.
Thursday night we stayed in a room at Kings Canyon Resort because we couldn’t be bothered with the tent (yes, only after two nights!) but it had been a long day of rough roads and we were all pretty tired.
In the morning we walked along the bottom of Kings Canyon, even though Aidan thought he could climb to the top of the circuit walk! (3.5hrs walk). We did let the kids climb part way up and had to coax them back down. The Canyon is a special place that we enjoyed even though we had such a short time there. The remaining part of the day was essentially driving back to Alice Springs, backtracking along Ernest Giles road all the way to Stuart Highway, then returning to the caravan park where our van was stored and re-organising our gear.
