Thursday, June 30, 2005
King's Canyon
Soundtrack: “Greatest Hits” by Queen
Friday 24th June. Our final 5am start, though strictly, it was a 5.30am start. Ooh, half-hour lie-in. Vic drove us out to King’s Canyon, and announced that the first part of the walk was an incline named Heart-attack Hill. Screw it, I thought, bit the bullet, and dragged myself up. It was a very hard walk indeed, but even so, it was the one that I enjoyed the most, because King’s Canyon is just such an amazing place to be. The rocks look fantastic, and in some places you can see fossilised beetle footprints and ripples made by the Great Inland Sea. There’s an oasis in the middle, a reservoir of clear, fresh water surrounded by trees, ferns and palms where the duckies and froggies live – they call it Garden of Eden. It’s so lovely and peaceful there: perfectly delightful. Then there’s the Valley of the Beanies (that’s my own name – you can tell), where there are piles upon piles of rocks that looks like beanies stacked one upon the other. Marvellous stuff.
After striking camp for the final time, we made out way back up to Alice Springs. We had a quick look at Rainbow Valley – Vic didn’t leave us much time for it as she said that it wasn’t really that great. I’m inclined to agree with her. Normally, we’re meant to walk all the way into the valley, but instead we stood and looked at it from a distance for a few minutes, then went back to the bus. I’m still not sure how red rocks and blue sky and water can constitute a rainbow, though.
A couple of hours of recuperation in Alice, then dinner at Bojangles, a hideous Western-themed saloon with (literally) roadkill stuck to the walls. I just couldn’t be arsed – all I wanted to do was crash. Idiot that I was, I hung around until the DJ played “Take Me Out” (I’ve got it on CD, for wank’s sake!) for me. The fool forgot, and didn’t play it until I reminded him at 1.30am. My final goodbyes said, I fell into bed at 2.20am. And bloody Melanka’s were hosting Ministry of Sound on tour. At least I was the only person in my room.
Friday 24th June. Our final 5am start, though strictly, it was a 5.30am start. Ooh, half-hour lie-in. Vic drove us out to King’s Canyon, and announced that the first part of the walk was an incline named Heart-attack Hill. Screw it, I thought, bit the bullet, and dragged myself up. It was a very hard walk indeed, but even so, it was the one that I enjoyed the most, because King’s Canyon is just such an amazing place to be. The rocks look fantastic, and in some places you can see fossilised beetle footprints and ripples made by the Great Inland Sea. There’s an oasis in the middle, a reservoir of clear, fresh water surrounded by trees, ferns and palms where the duckies and froggies live – they call it Garden of Eden. It’s so lovely and peaceful there: perfectly delightful. Then there’s the Valley of the Beanies (that’s my own name – you can tell), where there are piles upon piles of rocks that looks like beanies stacked one upon the other. Marvellous stuff.
After striking camp for the final time, we made out way back up to Alice Springs. We had a quick look at Rainbow Valley – Vic didn’t leave us much time for it as she said that it wasn’t really that great. I’m inclined to agree with her. Normally, we’re meant to walk all the way into the valley, but instead we stood and looked at it from a distance for a few minutes, then went back to the bus. I’m still not sure how red rocks and blue sky and water can constitute a rainbow, though.
A couple of hours of recuperation in Alice, then dinner at Bojangles, a hideous Western-themed saloon with (literally) roadkill stuck to the walls. I just couldn’t be arsed – all I wanted to do was crash. Idiot that I was, I hung around until the DJ played “Take Me Out” (I’ve got it on CD, for wank’s sake!) for me. The fool forgot, and didn’t play it until I reminded him at 1.30am. My final goodbyes said, I fell into bed at 2.20am. And bloody Melanka’s were hosting Ministry of Sound on tour. At least I was the only person in my room.
