It's Tuesday night and The French and I are in our cabin (Cabin 10 this time) in the Ayers Rock Resort camping ground. We arrived back here around midday after two nights at the wonderful Kings Creek Station and a day in between exploring Kings Canyon.
With no 3G / 4G coverage out that way and limited wi-fi, this is my first opportunity to upload some (a lot!) of photos from the past two days.
After a sunrise visit to Uluru on Sunday morning, in a bracing 2 degrees, we came back to our cabin, enjoyed a quick breakfast, picked up some supplies from the supermarket and headed east, then north - 300 kms to Kings Creek Station. We learned on our Mala Walk at The Rock a few days earlier that, for the local Anungu, Kings Canyon was not so far - only 60 kms or so from Uluru as the crow flies. But the 'modern' journey is east about 100 kms on the Lassetter Highway then north west for about 200 kms on the Luritja Way.
Some months ago when looking for a place to stay near Kings Canyon, Google gave me two options - Kings Canyon Resort (about 6kms on from the Canyon) or Kings Creek Station, a cattle and camel station owned and managed by Ian and Lyn Conway, about 36 kms before the Canyon. When I came across their website, I liked what I read. It seemed like a place worth visiting. And it is.
www.kingscreekstation.com.au
If you visit the site be sure to click on the Conways Kids link. Or visit:
www.conwayskids.org.au
You might remember Ian and Lyn from Australian Story in 2009 which showcased their life in this remote region and their work in educating indigenous children, Conways Kids. Ian and Lyn were NT finalists for Australians of the Year in 2010. Their story is worth reading.
Anyhoo, back to the station. We enjoyed a great two nights there in our tented cabin, with amenities block and kitchen BBQ facilities nearby. Guests are free to wander around the station including to Three Tank Lookout with its spectacular views. There are actually four tanks now but what would be the point of changing the name, when all you need do is follow the sign down the red dirt track until you come to the tanks.
Kings Creek Station has a relaxed and friendly atmosphere, run by Ian and Lyn, some long time permanent staffers, a United Nations of backpackers and a couple of grey nomads who came for a day or two and have decided to stay for a few months. Plus Charlie the cockatoo and Cattle dog bitsers Dusty, Misty and another whose name we didn't discover.
Breakfast was included in our cabin rate and we ate in the big 'shed' with the staff. The mornings we were there, three Japanese travellers were the cooks with eggs made to order, bacon, baked beans and a 'bush tomato' dish. As well as toast, cereals, tea and coffee. Lyn had advised (warned) us to get there before 8 as the first tour bus arrives around then with hungry tourists on board. Like their 'neighbours' at Curtin Springs 200 kms away, 'outback' tourism has become part and parcel of their business. Lucky for we travellers.
We spoke briefly with Lyn who was quite taken with The French! She told us that, while she loved their life at the Station, she had waited her whole life to travel and only recently had they been able to do that. And that they had been to France and loved it, and looked forward to going back.
The French and I would highly recommend a night or two at Kings Creek Station if you're out this way. What brought us here was the opportunity to walk in Kings Canyon. And that's what we did the following day.
J X
