Rolling to the Rock: Day 7

We’re a week into our Rolling to the Rock caravanning adventure, and so far completed three terrific, thigh burning walks: the fascinating 3.5 hour, 9.4km Uluru base walk (see Day 4), spectacular three hour, 7.4km Valley of the Winds loop through the Olgas (Kata Tjuta), and the picture postcard perfect, 6km/four hour Kings Canyon Rim Walk.

All are ‘must do’ walks on any Red Centre trip, provided you have the time and reasonable fitness, although we did notice one man on crutches hobbling along the Kings Canyon walk, so anything’s possible!

While there are shorter options, the full Valley of the Winds circuit is well worth the effort, as you wind through gorges and get glimpses of many of the 36 domed rocks, including the imposing 1066m high Mt Olga.

However, if we had to make a call the Kings Canyon Rim Walk delivered the biggest wow-factor. It starts with a steep, heart-pounding climb up the rocky slope, before following the edges of the canyon, providing awesome views onto sheer cliff faces, multi-layered ripple rock and bee-hive domes formed over millions of years.

But the icing on the cake is the 600m detour to the Garden of Eden, a narrow gorge boasting amazingly diverse bird and plant life, including ferns and prehistoric cyclads, and a tranquil pool that provides the perfect backdrop for a lunch stop.

It was the ideal spot to just sit back and absorb the natural setting and enjoy the singing birds, as long as you avoid the noisy school groups barging through to their next photo opportunity!

Now semi-experienced bush walkers, our eight and ten-year old girls are coping well with the red dust and rocky terrain. Helping matters is ideal bushwalking weather: sunny but cool, with temperatures never rising much above 20 degrees, meaning we never have to carry too much water.

The unfenced, rocky paths and sharp drop-offs in Kings Canyon meant we always get them close at hand, particularly with news that a British tourist fell to her death on the same walk just days before.

Also reassuring is the excellent sign posting, drinking water taps and emergency phone and medical kits along the tracks, if something did go wrong.

However, we’ve also enjoyed a couple of terrific but less strenuous walks that also provide a taste of this wonderful countryside. These include the 2.6km return stroll to Walpa Gorge in the Olgas, which looked spectacular with the afternoon sun flooding the sheer-sided walls, and 2.5km return Kathleen Springs walk along the road to Kings Canyon.

Accessible by wheelchair, it leads to a water hole with plenty of chirpy birdlife.