Kings Canyon: A Photo Essay From Australia’s Red Centre

Into Kings Canyon

After a long drive from Ayers Rock, we stopped at Kings Creek Station for breakfast, filled up with three liters of water each, and naturally spent some time with the camels before continuing toward the canyon.

There were only ten of us doing the longer Rim Walk, with ages ranging from around twenty to sixty. The small group meant we quickly got to know one another. We began with the steep climb that took us up onto the canyon rim.

Carrying three liters of water up those stairs under the scorching sun wasn't particularly pleasant, although after hiking in the Himalayas, I couldn't complain too much. :)

Kings Canyon immediately felt different from Uluru and Kata Tjuta. Instead of one enormous mass of rock, the landscape was fractured into cliffs, domes, crevices, and layers stretching across the desert.

From the rim, the scale of the surrounding desert finally became clear.

Aurelie and I developed a habit of staying at the back of the group so we could photograph the canyon without everyone in the frame. It worked for the photos. It was less successful at keeping us on time.

Under that huge blue sky, the landscape felt even more isolated.

Our guide had warned us about jumping around on the rocks, so naturally I had to find another way to make a ridiculous photo.

I sat near the rim for a while with my feet hanging out, looking down into the canyon below.

At one point, Aurelie, another traveler, and I were tasked with dismantling little piles of stones people had stacked around the landscape. I used the opportunity to climb higher and photograph the rest of our group from afar.

The Garden of Eden

Eventually, the trail began dropping toward the Garden of Eden, a surprisingly green pocket hidden deep inside the canyon.

When we reached it, something unusual happened: everybody stopped talking. No one had to ask. We simply spread out, sat down, and listened to the wind and birds for more than ten minutes. After days of moving constantly through the Outback, the silence felt incredible.

Everyone found their own little corner and enjoyed the solitude.

Supersymmetry.

As the shade disappeared and the midday sun moved overhead, it was time to leave the Garden of Eden and continue around the canyon.

Across the Canyon

Leaving the Garden of Eden meant climbing back through the rocks and crossing gaps between sections of the canyon.

This became one of my favorite perspectives of Kings Canyon. And yes, that's Aurelie doing what she seemed to do best: walking far too close to the edge. :)

As we made our way back toward the trailhead, I started to understand just how enormous the canyon really was. Even here, I was still standing high above the desert floor.

By noon, the hike was over. We stopped for lunch before beginning the long drive back toward Ayers Rock, with a few roadside stops and stupid photos along the way.

Including this sign, which obviously caught my attention immediately. :D

One Last Evening in the Outback

After hours on the road, all I wanted was to rest. Unfortunately, past-me had decided that booking a camel ride for the same evening was a brilliant idea, so almost as soon as we returned, I was off again.

The first thing I learned was that camels are much taller than they look. When mine stood up, I was suddenly thrown high into the air and became very aware of how unpleasant falling off would be.

The route gave us distant views of both Kata Tjuta and Uluru. With the trip almost over, I spent much of the slow ride simply looking at the landscape and trying to memorize it.

I'm glad I spent that time appreciating what I was doing in the present.

This was Jack, my camel companion for the evening. He wasn't particularly fast, but he behaved himself.

Our guide was also patient enough to tolerate my stupid poses. :)

The sun slowly dropped behind Kata Tjuta.

I don't usually take selfies, but apparently riding a camel through the Australian desert at sunset was enough to make an exception.

Goodbye, Uluru and the Australian Outback. The flies had been annoying, the heat had occasionally been unbearable, but I had loved the experience.

Saying Goodbye

On my sixth day in Australia, it was finally time to leave the Red Centre. Saying goodbye to the desert was one thing. Saying goodbye to the people I had met along the way was harder.

Aurelie, Laura, Nicole, Yoko, Caroline, and many others had become part of the story almost by accident. That's one of the strange things about solo travel: you arrive alone, meet people intensely for a few days, and then suddenly everyone disappears in different directions again.

I flew out of Ayers Rock, returned to Sydney, and then continued overnight back to Bangkok. And just like that, my Australian backpacking trip, and the seventh entry in my old Solo Traveler's Journal, was over.

Looking back, Kings Canyon was a fitting place to finish it. After Sydney's city streets and the enormous open landscapes around Uluru and Kata Tjuta, I ended the trip walking along a canyon rim, sitting quietly in the Garden of Eden, and watching one final sunset from the back of a camel.

Great trips don't last forever. Maybe that's part of what makes them great.