FREEZE! AND I'LL SHOOT!: A 3,200km Journey!

After Erldunda, it was another 270km drive to Watarrka National Park (aka King's Canyon). It was an easy drive, very straight road. The usual activity on-board the campervan was gambling (Big Two and Black Jack) and snacking (Tim Tams, Squirms and Red Rock Deli chips and grain waves!)!

Standard fare on the trip... Gambling and snacks!

Just before we reach our caravan park at Kings Canyon Resort, we were greeted by Kings Canyon on our right. After check in, we parked into our designated slot and it was just nice timing that it was sunset! Our campervan was parked in a slot with a clear front view of Kings Canyon! The sun behind Kings Canyon gave us a spectacle of how beautiful nature can be... I am still missing the sunset... Loving it! Makes me wonder how much more beautiful nature can get elsewhere in this world.

Kings Canyon on the right!

Beautiful!

Watarrka National Park, where Kings Canyon is...

Brilliant;y-colored sunset...

The group photo in front of our campervan before diner!

After sunset, it is time for diner! As we have stocked up plenty of instant noodles, it was time for a Indomie party! Nothing fanciful, just Indomie, baked beans and eggs! I guess we were all pretty worn out by the gambling, snacking and laughter that we hit the hay pretty early that night.

Master Chefs

My job is to peel the eggs!

Awaiting our diner!

Chef at work!

The happy bunch with their Indomie noodle and baked beans diner!

Ready to sleep!

The next morning, Arfann and I woke up to catch the sunrise. The rest of the guys were still in bed, refusing to budge out of their comfy sleeping bags/blankets. As the saying goes, "The early bird catches the worm". I got rewarded by Mother Nature with an awesome shot of the morning break, with Kings Canyon in the foreground, sun behind and the moon and North Star above! This has to be my favourite shot during the trip! The rest of the guys did wake up eventually, but not before the sun is already out. Nonetheless, we still managed to grab a group shot in the freezing morning!

Sleepy bug!

Refusing to get out of the sleeping bag!

One of my favorite shot during the trip! The crescent moon on the left, North star in the middle and Kings Canyon at the bottom!

Sun is rising!

These guys, after taking a few pictures of the sunrise, went straight back under the blanket!

After breakfast, we headed straight to Kings Canyon for the rim walk. This is a 7 km loop walk around the canyon. The walk was filled with amazing views of the canyon and how millions of years of erosion have shaped this land. The wavy patterns on the ground at certain points indicated that this place was once a lake and the patterns were evidence of the bed sediment of the lake bottom. Interesting! The formation of air bubble-like structures in the rocks were due to the deposition and loosening of the sand (before it becomes rock) during the winding season. For a moment, I thought those were air bubbles trapped in the sand when this place was a lake. Hahaha!

We went for the Kings Canyon Walk (6km)

One group shot before the walk!

Only like 10 minutes into the walk!

The bubble-like structures in the rock

Look at the layers of rock and some of the wavy patterns on the ground

Arfann very near the edge of the cliff

Magnificent view!

Proceeding on, we reached the cliff areas. It was a breath-taking sight! The sides of the cliff were very smooth with straight lines across. I would have believe that they were made by aliens using a laser cutter and slicing through these grounds to shape the area. Hahaha! I seriously believe so! OK, enough of my nonsense. The sight of this beautiful nature is something to be marvelled at. At certain points, we were like overhanging over the cliff, which we realised only after we have reached the other side of the cliff... Scary! After the ascend, we descended into a waterhole called the Garden of Eden. It's a befitting name to the waterhole! Imagine back in the days where only animals roamed this land, this waterhole would be a perfect place for birds and small animals to come and seek shelter from the bigger animals. Until today, birds were still seen flying happily in and out of this waterhole. I would have liked to stay longer for our lunch there... A very calming and cooling place. Kathleen Spring was another waterhole about 10 minutes drive away. It was an easy 1.5 km loop walk. This waterhole is nothing spectacular, but did provide an alternative drinking place other than the Garden of Eden.