Well I was surprised too . . .
Not by the cooking but by the arrival of one of the “Wayoutback” tour trucks firstly and then by a couple of 4wd vehicles soon after. The tour bus was privately chartered by a group with about 6 kids (at least two of whom I had begun to consider throwing over the edge before noon the following day, but I get ahead of myself). The guides/drivers were very pleasant and in fact so were all the adults. The kids soon settled down as they had walked Kings Canyon that day and were “pooped”. So by 8 o’clock everyone was bedded down and asleep.
Dawn over Palm Valley
Just a bank of cloud over the hills and a lovely clear blue sky.
It was 4km into the heart of the valley and I didn’t feel like packing up the truck to get in further and I didn’t want to walk in 4km before starting the valley walks themselves so down with the bike for the first time, of course all to an appreciative audience, except for two of the aforementioned children whose chorus of “I wanna ride!” guaranteed they weren’t going to.
Off I went . . . back three minutes later . . . no way I was going to attempt some of those creek crossings on a bike! Fortunately when asked why I had returned and I had explained it was not possible to walk it either I was invited along with the tour people. Great!
This is the one which stopped me on the bike . . .
4 km . . . 30 minutes in low 4wd . . . and 30 sec’s into it . . . “I’m bored!”
“Why?”
“The battery in my iPhone is dead and I can’t play games!”
OK.
The tour guides say they have never seen it so wet but they can take their trucks up to 1metre deep so we’re OK.
There were even 3 or 4 Landcruisers not willing to cross.
Am I glad I didn’t try and bring my truck in here! It’s not so much the water which I am becoming used to but the lurching which occurs with some of the rock climbing required.
The only vehicles in today are the specially outfitted tour trucks.
Isuzu and Mitsubishi 4wd only.
Of course everyone now just routinely photographs the info. board to help them remember where they have been. . .
Then off on the walk . . . to the ideal spot from which to throw a child!
Should land about down here somewhere and get washed away . . . just kidding.
The guides did say however that the only way they take children in the truck/buses is with these specially chartered tours. None on regular tours.
[Update]
A look around 180 degrees of the main valley area. Nobody goes much further than here as it just disappears back out into the desert.
[End Update]
Then back for lunch and everyone is packing up to go in different directions. The tour people are going the opposite way around the Mereenie loop to me and they pack and head off while I am deciding what to do. There isn’t really a lot more I can do at Palm Valley with everything covered in water other than rim walk and that probably isn’t a good idea given my reaction to heights . . .total fear!
So I packed up too and headed out for Kings Canyon.
Fortunately a new big Isuzu FSS800 tour truck, newer bigger brother to mine, is headed out with a load of 90+ year olds so I can follow them as they go gently avoiding problems caused by osteoporosis and big bumps. This is a benefit to me as some of the water crossings are a bit difficult trying to pick the correct path and exit point when they are about 200metres across but these guys do it every week so no problems.
About 90 mins in 1st and 2nd gear only . . . I learned a few things watching on the way in this morning.
Then unfortunately I have to retrace a nasty little bit of 43 kms back to the Kings Canyon turn off and then 140km of the Mereenie Loop which turns out, apart from a really nice piece of 20km, to be every bit as nasty.
It’s difficult to photograph but this is the nicest country to drive through on the whole trip so far. There are a couple of videos I’ll try and get up soon. The only animals, apart from one scrawny dingo waiting to cross the road, and a mob of camels out at the Olgas, that I have seen are a small mob of wild horses crossing the road. Not a single kangaroo, snake, wombat or drop bear to be seen.
The going is quite slow and I had one interesting moment climbing out of steep dip in the road which was very muddy when things went a bit sideways, fortunately only at 2kph but I thought I might be there for a while 4wd and all.
By the time the sun went down I still had 30km to go and it was too dangerous to continue when another of those nice little parking spots on a hill appeared so that’s enough driving for today. Now I can go and fix those trashed kitchen drawers laying on the floor (again, as the rubber stoppers didn't work) and get some dinner and a hot shower.
Kings Canyon tomorrow.
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