The reason for hiring ‘the Beast’ was so that we could go on unsealed roads between Alice Springs and Kings Canyon, a total journey of around 450 kms. However, last night a couple of people tried to put us off, saying we should go on the sealed (tarmaced) road. So we were a bit nervous and unsure of what route to take when we left the motel in Alice. First stop was town to buy a new memory card for the camera. That means I’ve now taken some 700 photos on two memory cards and I don’t want to delete them as I’ve not been editing and ‘trashing’ photos as I go. I’m a bit paranoid about losing the photos from this trip and so I’m keeping one set on the memory cards, copying it to CD which I keep in the groaning suitcase, and another copy on the laptop, in a different bag, so if anything happens to one, or even two sets, I should have failsafes.
After the camera shop stop we decided to call into Alice Tourist information and take advice. I once drove a four wheel drive, on four wheel drive, in Shetland when I was a student. Sid has never driven one. The really helpful guy in Tourist Information reassured us that the 155km unsealed Mereenie Loop road was an ok road and the journey time from Alice to Kings Canyon was about five hours whichever route you took. Sealed was longer but quicker, unsealed shorter but slower, but worth doing. So that’s what we decided to do after bying a $2 Mereenie Loop Pass from him (you have to have this as you’re driving through land owned and managed by the Aboriginies and it was an agreement with them and the Northern Territory Government that allowed access along their route).
First we did the 130kms to Glen Helen Gorge, running alongside the West McDonnell mountain range and stopping at one of the few ‘water holes’ on the way, Ellery Creek Bighole.
This is what is says on the tin. A big water hole in the middle of the desert. By this point, since leaving Alice we had seen a total of nine vehicles. We were looking forward to getting to Glen Helen - the publicity promised fuel, food, a shop and a campsite. It was the major point between Alice and Kings Canyon. Well, you’ll see from the picture, they oversold it.
Very quaint but not much there. We had a drink (temperature was around 400C from the time we’d woken up – I think it drops just a couple of degrees during the night but not a problem with good air con in the room). So we had a drink and then drove on, joining the loop road. This was an amazing adventure. Red dirt road for 155kms – not allowed in anything but a 4WD.
About 20km into this section a little man appeared from nowhere in the middle of the road, holding a stop sign. We wound the window down and found out he was an Irishman from Dublin (but has lived in Oz for 30-odd years) and when he knew where we were from, asked us in all seriousness if we knew Paddy Fitzgibbon from east London. We told him we probably didn’t, had a chat – boy was he pleased to see someone - and warn them of some earthworks ahead) and moved on. So yes, the journey did take us about six hours but it was a real taste of the outback. In the final 200kms we saw four vehicles, just red road stretching ahead of us and our dust cloud in the rear view mirror. Fantastic experience.
Here at Kings Canyon resort (the only place in Kings Canyon, about 5km from the Canyon itself) now – we have a motel room and within the site there is a campsite, and backpacker lodges also. Just had a good dinner in the café, rather than the posh restaurant, and now settling down for an early night before tackling the canyon walk in the morning.Even from this distance the canyon looks incredible. More on it tomorrow.
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