Resuggan Australian Adventure: West Mac's to Kings Canyon

17th June 2013

Chloe & I woke in time to watch the sunrise this morning, which was a great way to start the day again. Once the sleepy heads had woken up, we all had breakfast and packed down ready for our day ahead. As we were driving out of our camp spot, we stopped and had a chat with a young couple in one of the other camp spots and found out that Dingoes had climbed onto the bonnet of their ute and into the tray looking for food, you could see there foot prints on the bonnet, talk about keen.

Sunrise over Red Bank Gorge

We then made our way down the hill to the carpark and set off on an early morning hike to Red Bank Gorge which was 1.2kms away. The hike took us along side a dry river bed and the further we went the more rock hopping we had to do until reaching as far down the gorge as we could, where it ended at a waterhole. We could see the water continue on through a gap in the gorge wall, but we weren't set up for a swim and besides the water was freezing. So we spent some time here looking at the gorge, checking out animal tracks and the girls did a bit of rock climbing, just a sensational way to start the day.

Red Bank Gorge as the girls start to climb

The next part of our journey took us onto the end of the West Macdonnell Ranges where we stopped for lunch at Tyler Pass Lookout. What a beautiful place to stop as it overlooked the flatter plains below with the impressive mountain range of Gosse Bluff jumping up in the distance. Gosse Bluff had been created by a meteorite striking earth millions of years ago, amazing!

The girls at Tyler Pass Lookout with

Gosse Bluff in the distance

After lunch we then took on the 150km outback dirt road, the Mereenie Loop, bound for Kings Canyon. The first 50kms of this road was some of the worst we had encountered on our trip, but to be honest the scenery and wildlife we saw along the way sure made up for it. During our 3hr drive we saw Dingoes, Camels, Brumbys, Feral Donkeys and a Wedge Tailed Eagle, it really was worth it.

Once we got to the Kings Canyon Resort, we booked our site and set up the van in what was a bit of a strange feeling caravan park, but as it was only for one night we didn't mind too much. While we were checking out the best way to make the most our time and experience Kings Canyon, we saw a brochure for scenic helicopter flights which were well priced and did not require a booking.

So we went down to the office and found out that they could fit us in by 5pm this afternoon, which was only a half hour wait and what sealed it for us, was without prompting they only charged us for one of the kids, which made it that much more affordable, deal done.

So at 5pm, we set off for a 15 minute scenic flight over Kings Canyon, which I honestly don't have words to describe how sensational this was, needless to say it was both awe inspiring and breathtaking to say the least. As you can imagine the girls (all 3 of them) were unbelievably excited as it was their first time in a helicopter and one they will never forget.