Leave at 6:30am to Kings Canyon, where we're going to do the Canyon Rim Walk, that takes around 3 hours.
The sky is a bit cloudy, which at first seemed to be a bad thing, but in the end it's much better (the colors are not as beautiful as when the sun is shining, but it's not too hot, and more importantly, there are not too many flies - which could be a nightmare).
The walk starts with very steep stairs, named the "Heart-Attack Hill" ...
Then most of it is quite flat.
The walk is really fantastic, the views are amazing.
We get to see some places where the movie "Priscillia : Queen Of The Desert" was shot. ;-)
We then get to a place called the "Garden Of Eden" : a wild garden full of tropical plants in the middle of the canyon, with a waterhole at its centre.
It's magnificent.
After this long walk we get back to the camp for lunch.
We join the others, and eat sandwiches.
After lunch, we say goodbye to the others as we split definitively : they're going to Alice Springs, as we have one more day before going there.
We will some of them again, and we plan to meet at the bar "Ani's Place" tomorrow evening.
Today we are going to do some real 4WD'ing !
As we're going to hit the unsealed road, and after assuring everything is well attached and secured, John puts on his iPod "Highway To Hell" from AC/DC.
He couldn't have found a more appropriate music !
The road we're driving on is quite bumpy, mainly straight, with some rare turns.
The landscape is beautiful, with the Western McDonnel Ranges on our right, and endless bush on the left.
It's quite fun, as sometimes we're bouncing in the truck as we drive on big holes or rocks.
Along the road we see some dingos staring at us (real ones this time).
(unfortunately I wasn't ready with my camera and missed them)
After a while driving, we stop at Tyler Pass at a great lookout point where we have a superb 360° panoramic view.
We can see mountains all around, as well as traces of impact of a comet.
It's beautiful.
After a few pictures, we get back on the road to our next stop : Ormiston Gorge.
The site is magnificent, and we go for a swim.
The water is cold, but it's so good ...
We stay there a bit to catch the last sun rays, enjoying.
After that we go to Glen Helen Resort, where we will stay for the night.
Once again it's a camp site, it looks like the ones from the previous nights, but the scenery surrounding it is beautiful.
Before dinner, we enjoy a beer in the sun, relaxing until the sunset.
For dinner we have a spaghetti (a good one with lots of meat and vegetables), followed by a desert (fruit salad with custard).
While eating, we see loads of mice running everywhere. They're not afraid at all of us, and try to get everywhere they can find food (not too close to us though).
After that we go for a bit around the fire, talking and watching the stars. The sky is beautiful.
We then go to the camp's pub to see what is going on.
When we get there, there's a guy singing and playing guitar, with a dozen of people listening to his music, blues & country, which goes perfectly with the location and atmosphere.
After a few songs, he asks for a volunteer to help him, playing woth an "egg" to make some kind of percussions (he has an egg filled with rice grains that makes a nice "cha-cha" sound when shaked).
Tom volunteers and get on the "stage". After a song, Tom gets back to his seat, and the musician gives me second egg (I was sitting close to him).
He also asks to anyone who wants to to get a spoon and to make some noise with it.
He calls it the "Glen Helen Egg & Spoon Orchestra".
Almost everybody in the pub start making some noise along with the music.
It's really funny, and surprisingly sounds good (everybody manages to be in the rythm).
We weren't expecting much from this pub, but in the end had a really good night, with lot of fun, and somehow very typical.
After that we go back to the tents to sleep, each in a separate one.
During the night I will be woken up by a mouse trying to eat some biscuits I had left in my bag ...
The night will be incredibly calm : total silence ... Except for a few moments where we will hear some dingos screaming in the night (sounds like wolves).
(and the mouse of course - until I get the biscuits and throw them to the bin)
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