We had done some reading on the walks at Kings Canyon. The rim walk is the most spectacular and gives the best impression of the awesomeness of the canyon. It is a 6km loop walk with the first 400m being the hardest with having to walk about 400 steps straight up to get to the top of the rim. We thought that the younger girls should be able to handle it if that was all we did that day and we did it first thing in the morning.

So we got ourselves ready and packed snacks and lunch to take in the backpacks, along with plenty of water. We left the campground just after 9am and drove the 30km to the Kings Canyon carpark. We had a look at the information boards and then started the walk.

It was about 100m to the bottom of the steps. Then climbing the steps. The girls did really well. Bethany kept telling us she has “never ending energy”. So we said we would remind her of that closer to the end of the walk. We saw quite a few other people doing the walk. It is quite popular. At the top of the steps you are rewarded with a great view straight away. Then there was a nice flat section which went past some interesting rock formations. Just after the first km we came to the first cliff edge. We were a bit surprised that there weren’t any guard rails across the cliff edge. There were warning signs but that is all. Along the walk there are many areas where you can potentially go quite close to the cliff edge, but no guard rails. This made Michael feel very uncomfortable – he was continually making sure the kids weren’t going too close to the cliff. Other walkers were going quite a bit closer, wanting good photos. After about 3km, we walked down into the gorge a little way at an area called the ‘Garden of Eden’ – this was a more lush area of the gorge. We went across a wooden bridge onto the other side. Then we started to head back towards the carpark on the other side. The views towards the opposite cliff were amazing. We stopped a few times for drink or food breaks. Eventually we saw the end of the walk in sight. The girls had done very well and not had to be carried for any of the walk – we were very proud of them and celebrated with some lollies in the car (which we had meant to take on the walk but had left in the car). The walk had taken about 3 hrs.

We drove back to the caravan park and had a rest. I actually had a nap and Michael watched a movie on his laptop while supervising the children playing quietly.

We started another fire just before dinner and toasted marshmallows again after dinner.

This was the end of our planned touring of the red centre. Tomorrow we were going to drive the 400km or so back to Alice Springs and then continue heading north towards Katherine, where my sister, Liz, lives. We are looking forward to having a break from sightseeing there.