Free and unforgettable

One of our favourite travel books is Absolutely Faking It by Tiana Templeman. Tiana and her husband are experienced and committed backpackers, who love to travel on a budget. On a whim she entered and won a competition in Vogue magazine to stay at the 13 most exclusive 5 star hotels in the world. What followed was a 6 month world backpacking adventure interspersed with three day stays at some of the world’s most famous hotels. The inspiration we gained from the book, is to intersperse stays in backpacker hostels with occasional splurges in upmarket hotels.

So, after staying at Sails in the Desert at Yulara (20kms from Uluru) on a low season Wotif deal, we head further into the mulga to stay at the Kings Canyon Resort (aka caravan park and backpacker lodge). We chose a standard backpacker double room, which could at best be described as humble. However, the hostel had very effective evaporative cooling, basic communal kitchen facilities and a shower and toilet block less than 50 metres away. It was great!

The highlights of Kings Canyon are the walks. We brave a short walk up the canyon, late in the afternoon on our first day. The temperature is a touch over 40 degrees. The hour long walk takes us along the floor of the canyon, which is beautiful with its ghost gums, lush greenery and palms. The ragged and stony walls of the canyon somehow remind us of an American western movie. A high rock ledge above seems the obvious place for cowboys to exchange gunfire with the sheriff and his posse in hot pursuit.

The Rim Walk is the most popular walk around Kings Canyon and cannot be attempted after 0900 during the summer months. So at 0600 we set off just as the sun is beginning to rise. It is already 30 degrees. A steep climb of about 500 steps to the top of the canyon is challenging. But the rest of the 6km walk, essentially around the top of the canyon, is breathtaking. With virtually no vegetation on top of the mountain the canyon is fully exposed with it’s glorious red sedimentary rocks reflecting the morning sunshine. Thankfully a slight breeze cools our progress and surprisingly the flies seem to have slept in.

Kings Canyon, even on a budget, is not cheap with petrol at $2.30 a litre, milk $4 a litre and a small jar of Vegemite is $7. However the walks in the National Park, the star studded evening sky and the glorious sunrises and sunsets, are free and unforgettable.