Our trip began with a early morning wake up call and a 6am pick up by the Rock Tour Bus. Our tour guide's name was Cooper. He introduced himself and informed us that the busride would be 7.5 hours long!! Quite a hike! He told us that he would help keep us comfortable by letting us play the music we wanted, and we took advantage of this by making throwback 90's playlists and having jam sessions on the bus! After a few stops at some essential roadhouses for snacks and gasoline, we finally reached our first destination: Watarrka or Kings Canyon. We began by walking up a very steep range of stairs named "Heart-attack hill." We stopped several times taking pictures of the view because it was absolutely breathtaking! Watarrka is made up of canyons and gorges. We learned that the difference between a canyon and a gorge is that a gorge has a stream running through it. We also learned about the Indigenous culture on the way and several of the plants that they use. One of which is the Ghost Gum tree. This is a Eucalyptus tree that is very white in color, it is used by the Indigenous people for its skin protectant abilities because it has an spf of about 15. It's name "Ghost Gum" comes from the appearance it has at night, because it appears to glow in the dark. As we walked along we had several adventures: a few students (mainly Zak) swam in a water hole, we saw beach traces of waves, and we got to jump over a canyon! (okay it was a bit small of a jump but we still did it!!). The day was warm and sunny, and a great way to begin our camping excursion! I'll tell you how the night of camping went in a bit, but for now, cheers!
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Ali Hutchinson '13
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