Day 15, Halfway, May 9: Rim Walk and long drive back

Got up at ten to six, and at dawn at the parking lot for the Kings Canyon Rim Walk, one of the most famous hikes in the red heart of Australia. Only 6km long, with detours to the two main viewpoints 7km, everyone should do this hike.

Accordingly, it was already quite busy, with a group of Asians in front of us and 7 Australians behind us. We overtook the Asians, and the Australians overtook us.

It was quite cold, even I couldn't go in a short shirt. Soon we climbed up 300 meters in elevation. We reached the top before sunrise at 7:10 and were able to admire both the sunrise and the red walls of the canyon in the early morning light.

It is truly a magnificent hike, with stunning views. The steep cliffs of the gorge on one side bright red, on the other more yellow, completely smooth, as if cut by a knife. Behind the gorge, a conical red mountain range with numerous low, rounded peaks as summits. In the gorge, a beautiful green open forest with a long, dark brown waterhole; the color comes from the tannins in the leaves of the eucalyptus trees that stand scattered here. This open forest is called the 'Garden of Eden'.

After a little over 2 hours, we had completed the wonderful morning hike. Now the long driving began.

We had to drive the 140km back to the highway, turn left, and after just over 120km turn left again, back in the direction we came from. Although there is a 100km shortcut that would have saved us about 200km, it is an unpaved gravel road, which we could not drive with our camper.

So we headed back on familiar roads toward Alice Springs, where we arrived at 14:15. 25km before Alice Springs, the car suddenly slowed down, the engine faltered; it felt as if the diesel supply to the Land Rover was blocked. So we immediately went to the Apollo branch, which was open until 15:00. We expected double trouble: a broken car and then the problem with the roof, which we were supposed to be responsible for.

But at Apollo, they were very nice and helpful. They said the stuttering engine was due to the poor diesel currently available because of the Iran war, which had caused supply issues and lowered the standards. But the car would clean itself, burning the contaminants. However, during this time, about 40km, it would drive slower and stutter. And it was really bad the condition we received the car in Darwin, with a loose solar roof, and it was not our fault.

So we continued driving calmly, and indeed the engine soon ran normally again. After 200km, we drove by the Road House Ti Tree, and another 130km later, we arrived at Taylor Creek for sunset at 18:10. This is one of the free campsites in Australia where you can park your camper alongside the highway at night. Everything was clean, there were even trash cans, and there was a compost toilet. And the by far the most beautiful sunset we had seen in Australia so far, but also the most mosquitoes, which were hoping for entry by the hundreds at the window of our camper.