Kings Canyon (Northern Territory)

Kings Canyon is part of the Watarrka National Park in Northern Territory, Australia. Sitting at the western end of the George Gill Range, it is 323 km southwest of Alice Springs and 1316 km south of Darwin. The walls of Kings Canyon are over 300 metres high, with Kings Creek at the bottom.
The 6 km (loop) and 3-4 hour Kings Canyon Rim Walk traces the top of the canyon. A steep climb at the beginning of the walk, which locals call "Heartbreak Hill" (or "Heart Attack Hill", due to its steepness), takes visitors up to the top, with spectacular views of the gorge below and of the surrounding landscape.

This has once been sea bottom. Years ago. The ripples of the seabed turned into stone and are now on top of the canyon in the middle of a desert. Fascinating!

About half way during the walk, a detour descends to Garden of Eden, a permanent waterhole surrounded by lush plant life.

See the person in the top left side of the photo? Gives you an impression of the size.

The stairs nearly killed me - they should call them the devil's staircase if they do not already do that anyway!

The last half of the walk passes through a large maze of weathered sandstone domes, reminiscent of the Bungle Bungle.

Wow - not more you can think about it!

The striking North and South Walls. you can stand right next to the brim. No rail prevent you to. The one and only moment our tour guide got really nervous. He reminded us a couple of times, that it would not fair against him to fall into the canyon. He would have to fill out all that paperwork which is quite a pain.

After enjoying a last lunch we travelled back through sand dune country and saw wild horses, camels and a couple of white wild donkeys.

Australia's striking beauty.

Back in Alice Springs our 1500km journey which took us around the Red Canter of Australia came sadly to an end.