We were now in Australia’s Northern Territory ready for exploring the Red Center – as part of a group tour. We began with Kings Canyon on the first day, and continued with Kata Tjuta and Uluru on the second.

Day 33, Tuesday, October 8: Ayers Rock Resort

In the morning, the Emu Run Experience travel company’s bus transported us from Alice Springs to the Ayers Rock Resort. It was a long drive, 5 hours.

On the way there, we stopped at a local Roadhouse where a sign marked the closest point to “the true center” of Australia.

Later, in the distance, we viewed the flat-topped Atila (Mount Conner) that many people first mistake for Uluru.

After our arrival at the Ayers Rock Resort, we had to wait for almost 3 hours until the 3 pm check in time. (It seemed to us there was no need to start the day at 7 am). While waiting, we enjoyed the Aboriginal art displayed on the walls around the restaurant where we had our lunch, and walked a little around the resort.

After settling into our room at the Desert Garden Hotel, we relaxed in the afternoon, and went to bed early. The next day’s adventure was scheduled to start at 4:15 am!

Day 34, Wednesday, October 9: Kings Canyon

Getting up at 3:45 am was a little bit brutal. But we slept a little on the AATKings tour company bus that was taking us to Kings Canyon.

We purchased a 3-day park pass that we kept on Steve’s phone. We had to show it only to the tour guide when boarding the bus (not in the actual park).

After almost 3 hours of driving, which included sunrise from the bus, we stopped for breakfast at Kings Creek Station (the usual combination of scrambled eggs, bacon, beans, sausages, and toast).

Kings Canyon with its red rocks is the main attraction of Watarrka National Park. The canyon is a huge cut in the desert, and in the bottom of it runs Kings creek.

Upon arrival around 8:30, the 36 people on the tour had two options. First: make the rocky climb to the rim of the canyon and hike for 3 hours, 6 kilometers around the rim in the 35-degree Celsius weather with no shade half of the way. Second: take the shorter (2-kilometer-long) and easy Kings Creek Walk. Together with 15 fellow travelers, Steve and I voted for the second option.

We enjoyed the scenery, the diverse range of plants, taking a break at the lookout.

We were back at the resort around 5 pm. We liked Kings Canyon, but we expected more from the long day. There was more down time for us than what we liked. We had to wait for the others who took the longer hike or went for a helicopter ride. We wasted a good two and a half hours on this day trip. It was a great example why we don’t like big group tours.