We made good time out of Yalara and soon pulled off the road at a free camp, just south of Kings Creek Station, nestled at the foot of the George Gills Range. It was a fantastic spot to set up for the night, sheltered, well off the road, and plenty of firewood to keep the chill out of the night air.
Ripper free camp
It didn't take long for the boomerangs to come out and practice to commence. It didn't take much longer to figure out why the Aboriginals didn't use returning boomerangs in areas with lots of trees - as ours were soon stuck and almost lost in the branches of the Mulga.
Boomerang Practice
Some of the seasoned Mulga made a fantastic cooking fire, and we soon had marinated chicken on the hotplate sizzling away. Well, Jo had the chicken sizzling away, I was supervising.
The reason for our return to Kings Canyon was that on our visit a week ago, the wind was blustery and the weather ordinary. We had wanted to hike the Rim Walk, and deemed this unsafe, particularly with the kids. This time, the weather was glorious, and thankfully not too hot when we started the climb to the northern wall.
As we climbed, the vista opening up beneath us made us appreciate every step. If we thought Kings Canyon was impressive from within the valley walls, seeing it from on top put it in a whole different perspective. It was glorious.
The next part of the walk had us meandering through ancient sand dunes. These have eroded into domes as beautiful as any in the Bungle Bungles - and were completely unexpected. Every bend opened up a new and unexpected pleasure. This was indeed worth coming all the way back to visit.
The view from the top standing on the rim is one not for the faint hearted. There are no safety barriers - just a sheer drop. People have fallen to their death here - but if you're sensible there is nothing to be afraid of. Of course we watched the kids like hawks, but kind of appreciated the Darwinism approach to natural selection - NT style.
Even those of us with a healthy 'respect' for heights had fun
Jo on the edge
The Rim walk would have to be one of our highlight walks of the trip so far. It was just the right length for the little people not to get exhausted, and it had an amazing variety of things to see on the way around. Without a doubt we were thrilled we had made the effort to come back here and complete the Rim Walk.
All we needed now was to find a camp for the night that was as good as the one we had just left. A task simpler said than done...
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