Gorge-ous!

NB Ive put up more photos... they can be seen on THIS site itself! Go to the photos section! Enjoy!

Arrived back in Alice Springs yesterday evening after spending most of the day exploring Kings Canyon. The previous evening I had driven up to the canyon from my former base in the "generous" staff carpark facility of Ayers Rock Resort. I came up to watch the sunset show for Kings Canyon (it seems each of these places has a "sunset show" of some kind) but wasnt overly impressed with the uninspiring display of low-lying rocks... "is this what they call a canyon?" I thought to myself... needless to say, yesterdays expedition proved there was a whole lot I did NOT see... On my way out of the canyon I cheekily stole a spot in the hotel carpark of Kings Canyon Resort (yep they even have one of those here too!) and crashed there for the night.

Kings Canyon is, indeed, a canyon and a beautiful (although mostly red) one it is too. Taking the long 5 hour "rim walk" path I passed by amazing gorges, took careful steps towards the edges of sheer 100m drops, saw beautiful views of the valley, and saw "The Garden of Eden"... In the middle of the canyon, about 2 hours into the walk, you turn around a rock outcrop to see an awesome valley full of flora and fauna. It looked like something out of Jurassic Park, or the Flintstones, this fertile valley surviving amidst dry red rocks stretching as far as the eye can see. Even the birds started singing, whereas before I turned the rock, I couldnt hear them.. remaining true to the cinematic feel of the sight.

Well I must have taken about 120 photos... my card is practically full again so Ill be processing the latest photos in Alice Springs while I also wait around to get the van serviced before heading off north again...

Something occured to me while I was driving the lengthy trip from Kings Canyon to Alice (these long drives are always good times for contemplation... just as long as I have good music to keep me from drowsing off too!! *hugs mp3 player*). Gary also mentioned this to me in an email (I think). When I was younger (about 6, I think) I had a small toy "Hot Wheels" car... a van with a bed in it (plus a plastic dog for good measure) and I called it "my dream van". Even then I wanted to travel as Im doing now...and, come to think of it, Ive ALWAYS wanted to travel like this ever since. Finally, it dawned on me, Im finally "living the dream". Cool eh?

Im also thinking of putting those valuable hours spent driving to more constructive use and will try to invest in some Spanish language tapes while Im in Alice so that I can learn to "parla Espanol" before I head off to Central America (my next major destination after New Zealand... depending on how much moola Ive got left over of course!)

Im in the library in Alice Springs right now using the Internet FOR FREE! Hence I get to take my time in writing this particular diary entry and thats why the grammer/vocab is somewhat better than my usual rushed entries