04/03/2023 from Kings Canyon to Alice Springs

04/03/2023 from Kings Canyon to Alice Springs

The alarm clock goes off too early again, but if we want to hike before the national park closes the RIM trail, we have to get up now. The temperatures seem to be particularly critical here, as there are 4 emergency stations with helicopter landing pads. Impressive, but today it's not that hot at first, there's a refreshing breeze that makes hiking easier. A 3-4 hour hike is estimated for the 6 km. We start climbing steeply uphill, at 2/3 of the way I already thought that was it, but then it continues uphill and finally also sharp along the edge. Then spectacular images of honeycomb-like rocks and new views of the canyons open up, both on one side and on the other side of the RIM. We make good progress and are surprised to have only walked 2 km in an hour. At a special spot, wooden stairs have been built so that hikers can get from one side of the RIM to the other, here we can also visit the Garden of Eden, but we shouldn't swim, the national park kindly asks us to refrain from bathing in the interest of the animals and plants. We understand and continue. On the other side, there have been reports of deaths, it's called tragic. We continue hiking, climbing over many rocks until we finally go downhill after 5 km and then we are quickly back at the car. It has become quite warm in the meantime, we are happy and satisfied to have completed the hike. We have been on the road for 3 hours, but have completed the 6 km in 1.5 hours, the remaining time we spent marveling and taking photos.

We continue on the 155 km long gravel road to Hermannsburg, my old trauma from 2001. Back then, we were driving on this road with a regular car, the track was very bad and the cutlery case fell out of the compartment every 50 km. Today we are driving with a four-wheel drive car and are more or less swimming over the washboard ruts at 70 km/h. There is still some rattling and rumbling, but it is much more relaxed than the old story with the cutlery case.

We don't recognize Hermannsburg anymore, from 2001 we remember Aborigines buying cola and carrying pizza home, we have seen newly built small bungalow-style houses with the floors ripped out. Today we stop at the camping site with takeaway and see that the Aborigines are buying fish and chips as well as cola. We are not allowed to drive on the streets with the houses, not take photos and not ask questions. The few people we see are black or darkly dressed, mostly slightly overweight people who drive up in their cars and take away fast food. The properties are unkempt and it is noticeable that there are many broken cars standing around.

We continue driving, not without having seen the church and the medical center. The place does not invite us to stay. 100 km further we are in Alice Springs, buy groceries for the next few days and visit a bottle shop. In the entrance, there are policemen asking why we want to buy alcohol and where we intend to drink it. Don't give a funny answer now, otherwise the guys armed with batons won't let us in. Alcohol is extremely expensive for our standards. We find shelter at one of the campsites, jump into the pool and prepare a delicious dinner.