Saturday 17^th December 2016

As we were driving from Uluru to Kings Canyon we stopped to look at the Giant Toothbrush.  It is actually Mount Connor, or Attila, sometimes mistaken for Uluru from a distance, but they are very different.  Sometimes referred to as “Fool-uru”, it differs from Uluru in that it has a distinctive flat top with a visibly separate top layer.  When viewed from a distance, the long low-lying rock that extends out to the side looks like a handle, and the whole effect is one of a giant toothbrush.  No, really, it is!  Take a look at the photo:

See? Mount Connor looks like a giant toothbrush.

We didn’t visit Attila/Mount Connor.  It stands on privately-owned land and you have to book a guided tour to see it up close.  Instead we pressed on and reached Kings Canyon Resort by late afternoon.  We had an hour to spare before dinner, and the choices were either to go for a swim in the resort pool or get a nice, cold beer at the pub.  Guess what we did?  Well we didn’t need our cossies for it!

We were collected an hour later and the coach set off up a dirt road.  Now we understood why we had to be collected from the resort by coach – the campsite was quite a drive further into the bush.  Eventually we arrived at a very similar set-up to last night, only in a much more remote location.  It was a beautiful spot and after dinner we watched the changing colours in the sky as the sun gradually dipped below the horizon.  Then it was time for bed.  Although we were being allowed a lie-in, it would only be until 0430 as we had a steep hill to climb in the morning to the top of the canyon, and it would be best done while the sun was still low in the sky.