Friday September 24th: Another ‘four am in the morning’ to be on the road by five. Four hours through more desert to get to Kings Canyon. Desert is not barren, anything but. It is more like dried up clay than seaside sand, and once it gets rain it springs to life. We stopped at Kings Creek Station for breakfast. I can confirm that bacon and egg taste even better in the desert.
Rob’s story.
Met him in the food shed. He is from Belfast. He is the helicopter pilot at the station, but he still has to wash the dishes in the restaurant when he is not flying. Some of his flights are tourist trips and some are camel catching.
Camel Catching
The station was a small one only consisting of 800,000 acres so they supplement their income rounding up some of the many wild camels. They herd them into pens using helicopters and sell them to the Moroccan Army. They pick the best and kill the rest for food. Apparently the Aussie camel has better genetics, disease free bloodline and is hardier than their Moroccan cousins. It costs about $200 to get them penned in the station and more to export them. So, they are not cheap.
Water exam: we were not allowed to get back on the bus without having at least one litre of water each. Made to go back to the shop and get some.
We arrived at the canyon shortly after leaving the station. I had a choice of walking through the canyon for about an hour or doing the Rim Tour which takes about three hours. Thanks to The Shining Light Fit For The Job Challenge, I went for the latter.
Rob’s story.
Met him in the food shed. He is from Belfast. He is the helicopter pilot at the station, but he still has to wash the dishes in the restaurant when he is not flying. Some of his flights are tourist trips and some are camel catching.
Camel Catching
The station was a small one only consisting of 800,000 acres so they supplement their income rounding up some of the many wild camels. They herd them into pens using helicopters and sell them to the Moroccan Army. They pick the best and kill the rest for food. Apparently the Aussie camel has better genetics, disease free bloodline and is hardier than their Moroccan cousins. It costs about $200 to get them penned in the station and more to export them. So, they are not cheap.
Water exam: we were not allowed to get back on the bus without having at least one litre of water each. Made to go back to the shop and get some.
We arrived at the canyon shortly after leaving the station. I had a choice of walking through the canyon for about an hour or doing the Rim Tour which takes about three hours. Thanks to The Shining Light Fit For The Job Challenge, I went for the latter.
It was tough especially the five hundred vertical steps to begin with. Being able to do 14 sit-ups in 45 seconds or 34 push-ups in two minutes was no real help! I had a laptop, two bottles of water, two cameras, food and other valuables in the back pack and felt like I was on an army manoeuvre. I struggled to take video footage, take stills and was wondering why the tour guide had done a water check when she did not give us enough time to drink the water! At the very top we went into the Garden of Eden and sat by the poolside to admire this little oasis (and to finally drink some water). The journey down was much easier and in fairness, I had climbed Croagh Patrick last November, which was a lot tougher.
Louelle’s Story: She was the bus driver and not to be tampered with. I wandered off at one of the stops and she pulled off as I got to the bus. She must have been a sergeant major in another life. She is also a Collingwood supporter.
Louelle’s Story: She was the bus driver and not to be tampered with. I wandered off at one of the stops and she pulled off as I got to the bus. She must have been a sergeant major in another life. She is also a Collingwood supporter.
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