Kings Canyon (Australia)
| Kings Canyon | ||
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| location | Northern Territory , Australia | |
| Waters | Kings Creek | |
| Mountains | George Gill Range | |
| Geographical location | 24 ° 15 '29 " S , 131 ° 33' 45" O | |
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| Type | Canyon | |
| rock | Sandstone | |
| climate | Generally hot and dry, in protected areas cooler and permanently moist | |
| use | Conservation, tourism | |
The Kings Canyon is part and main attraction of the Watarrka National Park in the Australian Northern Territory . It is located 245 kilometers as the crow flies southwest of Alice Springs in the Amadeus Basin and forms the westernmost part of the George Gill Range . Its imposing rock walls, some of which are over 100 meters high, and its high biodiversity thanks to a year-round water-bearing billabong make it a popular tourist destination in the Red Center .
geography
The canyon is located in the southwestern part of the Northern Territory. Alice Springs is 245 kilometers as the crow flies in a northeastern direction. The shortest approach is 330 kilometers long and leads over the Mereenie Loop , which is not paved and also requires a permit . The only continuously paved connection is via the Stuart and Lasseter Highways and then along Luritja Road . Another route is the Ernest Giles Road, which is only passable by four-wheel drive vehicles and runs parallel to the Lasseter Highway about 100 kilometers north. There are also some 4WD tracks in the area.
The George Gill Range, and thus the Kings Canyon, lies in the transition area of three major landscapes:
- In the northeast are the MacDonnell Ranges , a 644 kilometer long mountain range that runs from east to west and characterizes the area around Alice Springs.
- Sand plains of various deserts stretch to the south and west; Among other things, there is Lake Amadeus , a normally dry salt lake .
- To the south-east, the landscape is characterized by flat hills and table mountains , before it merges into the very sandy Simpson Desert .
Due to this location at the intersection of various landscapes, plants from all three areas occur in the George Gill Range that normally do not grow in one place.
description
The canyon consists of imposing rock walls, some over 100 meters high, the colors of which range from red and yellow to white. The temporarily water-bearing Kings Creek runs through the rock gorge, which forms an always moist water hole at its end. This Billabong is almost completely surrounded by high rock walls, which provide shade and thus create a microclimate in which many green plants grow, giving it the name Garden of Eden . The canyon is surrounded by a plateau that is shaped by domes and other interesting rock formations.
Hiking trails
From the Kings Canyon parking lot, three hiking trails lead through the surrounding landscape. They are of different lengths and weights, but they are all well marked.
Kings Creek Walk
The shortest route is the Kings Creek Walk, which leads along Kings Creek into the canyon. At the end there is a viewing platform that allows a good view of the steep rock walls. The same path leads back to the starting point. There and back the route is 2.6 kilometers long, for which an hour is estimated. The path ends at the platform, as the part behind is sacred to the local Aborigines; It is not allowed to go further along the creek to the pool at the end of the gorge or to climb the top of the canyon.
Kings Canyon Rim Walk
The Kings Canyon Rim Walk is a circular route that goes around the canyon in three to four hours. The 6 km long path begins with a steep ascent, then it leads along a relatively flat stretch between the domes of the surrounding plateau. Halfway down stairs lead down the canyon where a bridge spans the canyon. After crossing, an optional detour to the Garden of Eden can be made. The main path then leads back through the plateau before it descends relatively gently to the parking lot.
This path offers many viewpoints from which the various shapes of the rocks of the plateau as well as the waterhole and the steep rock walls of the canyon can be viewed. Although the path is circular and can therefore be walked in both directions, the rangers prescribe a clockwise circuit for safety reasons.
Giles track
The Kings Canyon car park is also a starting point for the Giles Track , a 22-kilometer hiking trail from Kings Canyon to Kathleen Springs . The path marked with orange arrows leads along the southern edge of the George Gill Range and crosses a wide plateau, which is characterized by narrow crevices and gorges as well as sandstone domes. To the south you can overlook the wide sand plains that extend to Lake Amadeus , 80 kilometers away .
Halfway through the Tjintjit-Tjintjit trail, the Aboriginal community Lilla can be reached, but this is not possible without a permit. Along the route several streams are (creeks) crosses, including Reedy Creek, Rocky Creek, Hill Mulga Creek, Waru Creek, Wanga Creek and Kathleen Creek. Camping is permitted anywhere between 3 and 20 miles, but it is recommended that you stay at Reedy Creek for the night.
climate
The climate of the surrounding region, like Central Australia in general, is mostly hot and dry; in summer temperatures over 40 ° C are not uncommon. As is usual in deserts, however, the landscape cools down significantly overnight due to the lack of clouds, which means that the course of the day is characterized by large temperature fluctuations. Within a day the range is often more than 15 degrees and in winter minus degrees can occur.
Kings Canyon is located in the semi-arid climatic zone. The average annual temperature is 15 ° C; the warmest month is January with an average of 31 ° C, the coldest is June with an average of 14 ° C. The highest temperature ever measured was 45.3 ° C and was recorded on December 21, 1990, the lowest of −5.1 ° C on July 2, 2002.
The mean annual rainfall is 318 mm, most of which falls in the hot months between October and March. The wettest months are November and February with 47.7 mm each, the driest month is August with only 5.7 mm.
The following table shows the average climate values from 1990 to 2011:
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Average Monthly Temperatures and Rainfall for Watarrka National Park
Source: Australian Bureau of Meteorology : Watarrka Station. Observation period: 1990–2011. Retrieved October 8, 2012.
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The extreme climatic conditions require caution when hiking. In summer (January / February) the temperatures at sunrise around 6:30 a.m. are still at a pleasant 20 to 22 ° C, but the 30 ° mark is often exceeded by 10 or 11 a.m. We strongly advise against hiking in the midday heat. In early 2003 two elderly visitors died when they did not follow this recommendation.
tourism
Kings Canyon is one of the main tourist attractions of the Australian Red Center . In 2008, about 215,000 visitors visited Watarrka National Park. Most of the multi-day Uluru tours also include Kings Canyon.
Development of visitor numbers:
| year | Visitors | source |
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| 1961 | 600 | |
| 1985 | 20,000 | |
| 1990 | 60,000 | |
| 2002 | 280,000 | |
| 2008 | 215,000 |
Due to the extremely hot climate in summer, the main season in Australian winter is between March and October. During this time the temperatures are bearable, which makes the hikes in particular more pleasant. However, tours in the midday heat are not recommended all year round and signs point out the risks explicitly, clearly and repeatedly. Visitors are encouraged to drink at least one liter of water per hour and to protect themselves from the sun.
Emergence
The Kings Canyon region consists of two different sandstones : the 400 million year old, highly weather-resistant Mereenie Sandstone and the 440 million year old, significantly less resistant Carmichael Sandstone below. The sandstone sea erupted 350 million years ago.
A particularly deep crack was eroded deeper and wider by wind, rain and flooding . When this crevice reached the softer Carmichael Sandstone, it was eroded faster than the Meerenie Sandstone above, which deprived it of its support and formed the Kings Canyon over millions of years through intermittent collapse of the upper rock layers.
From the air, the columns of the surrounding plateau running roughly in north-south and east-west directions can be clearly seen, which form a grid consisting of cube-shaped blocks. Over the past 20 million years, wind and rain have gradually eroded the sides and corners of these cubes. This is how the domes that characterize the plateau were created.
history
Aboriginal
The land around Kings Canyon is home to the Luritja Aboriginal tribe . The Kings Canyon waterhole provided them with a reliable source of water even in periods of severe drought. Luritja art, including rock paintings and paintings, has been found on the site of today's national park. However, these are not accessible to tourists, as the Luritja fear damage to this cultural asset.
In the national park there are many places of high spiritual importance for the Luritja, including the extraordinary rock formations. The local creation myth has it that during the Dreamtime (tjukurpa) adult and young Kuningka men traveled north along Kings Creek to hold a ceremony with the local tribal family at the waterhole. In the belief of the Luritja, the domes on the surrounding plateau embody the young fellow travelers.
Most of the Luritja now live in the 190 kilometers northwest of the settlement of Papunya .
European discovery
On October 30, 1872, the two explorers Ernest Giles and Samuel Carmichael were the first Europeans to reach the area and hike along Kings Creek into the canyon. The local Aborigines had never seen white people or the horses they used as a means of transport. Giles named the canyon after an old friend, Fielder King. He named the mountain range , the westernmost end of which is the canyon, after his brother-in-law George Gill, who helped finance the expedition.
“The country round its foot is the best I have seen in this region; and could it be transported to any civilized land, its springs, glens, ferns, zamias and flowers would charm the eyes and hearts of toilworn men who are condemned to live and die in crowded towns. "
“The area around his foot is the best I've seen in this region; and if transported to any civilized country, their springs, valleys, ferns, zamias (a genus of cycads) and flowers would delight the eyes and hearts of those toiling people who are doomed to live and close in overcrowded cities to die."
A year later, in 1873, an expedition led to the region under William Gosse . The participants traveled with camels and camped at Kings Creek before setting off southwards. During their further journey they discovered Ayers Rock and named it after the then governor of South Australia, Sir Henry Ayers .
The next European visitors to the area in 1894 were a delegation of renowned scientists known as the Horn Expedition. Among them were experts in flora, fauna, geology and anthropology ; and they too used camels as a means of transport. They were particularly impressed by the lush nature of the area.
Development
In the late 1880s, the Tempe Downs Cattle Station was built east of the canyon. However, a few bad years immediately followed, so that in 1896 there was hardly any grass or water left and the farm with its 2500 cattle moved to the area around the Reedy Rockhole and Kathleen Springs about 25 kilometers away.
Times were tough for the Luritja too: They had to defend the very precious waterholes in this arid region against new competitors, because unlike the discoverers, the farmers had come to stay. The Luritja soon began to hunt the cattle of the white farmers with spears, to which the police responded with arrests.
Since there was no road to the canyon, only a handful of Europeans had been in the area. The beauty of the landscape was unknown to most of the people. When Arthur Little, the owner of Angas Downs Station, showed Jack Cotterill the canyon in 1960, he was very impressed by the beauty of the landscape. He wanted to open up the region for tourism and the family built the first road to the canyon in the southern hemisphere summer 1960–1961. In 1961, Cotterill opened the Wallara Ranch tourist lodge on Yowa Bore, 100 kilometers east of the canyon. To honor Cotterill's pioneering work, there has been a monument at the Canyon since 1982 with the following inscription:
"In memory of Jack Cotterill whose foresight and effort made it possible for us all to visit this wonderful place."
"In memory of Jack Cotterill, whose vision and commitment made it possible for all of us to visit this wonderful place."
nowadays
In 1983 the Tempe Downs Cattle Station gave up 1,059 square kilometers of land, on which in 1989 Watarrka National Park was officially established. The Kings Canyon Resort, a kind of base station for tourists, opened in 1992. Luritja Road was completely completed in 1995, which made the journey much easier and led to an enormous increase in visitor numbers .
In Australia, programs are currently running through which land stolen by the European settlers is to be returned to its rightful owners - the Aborigines (see also the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 ). On July 25, 2012, the Northern Territory government donated 1,052 square kilometers of Watarrka National Park to the Luritja during a ceremony at Kings Canyon. After the transfer, this area was immediately leased back to the government for 99 years; this action has no real practical, but “only” symbolic meaning.
flora
25,000 years ago, the area around Kings Canyon was significantly more humid, with large rivers and lakes. However, since these gradually shrank to sandy stream beds and salt lakes , many of the plants that were common at the time have disappeared from the region. In the gorges of the Wattarka National Park, which are better protected from drying out, some plant species have survived. Today the national park is home to more than fifty rare species that actually no longer occur in this region; some are even endemic .
River red gums ( Eucalyptus camaldulensis ) grow on the permanently water-bearing billabongs of the George Gill Range .
The plateau surrounding the canyon is a natural barrier for bushfires, which is why many fire-sensitive plants have settled on it, including the white cypress (Callitris glaucophylla) . With their small, scale-shaped leaves that minimize water loss, these have adapted to life in the dry conditions. Their termite-resistant wood was often used for fences in the early days of European settlement.
Small groups of Hill Mulga (Acacia macdonneliensis) cling to the steep and dry rock walls of the canyon, who manage with the small amounts of liquid in the small, temporary waterfalls.
Around the Kings Canyon there are more than 400 year old specimens of the very slowly growing MacDonnel Ranges Cycad ( Macrozamia macdonnellii ) .
The stunted trees of the surrounding plateau grow mainly along the crevices, which leads to a linear distribution. Their long roots reach deep into the sandstone to get to the little water and the scarce nutrients.
fauna
There are three main habitats around Kings Canyon : the wet gorges, the dry plateau and the sandy bed of Kings Creek.
The most common mammal in the canyon area is the mountain kangaroo (Macropus robustus) . This species can get by with little water and mostly inhabits rocky regions. The somewhat smaller black paw rock kangaroo (Petrogale lateralis) is also common .
The water hole in the Garden of Eden offers a year-round reliable water supply, which is essential for the survival of many animal species in the region and which attracts them from far away. You can often see animals drinking, especially in the morning and evening hours.
swell
- Information boards at the Kings Canyon car park and along the Kings Canyon Rim Walk
- Leon Bagas / Northern Territory Geological Survey: Geology of Kings Canyon National Park . Government Printer of the Northern Territory, Darwin 1988, ISBN 0-7245-1315-9 ( Trove entry ).
Web links
- Portrait, data and facts as well as tourism information at australien-info.de
- Short article on the Northern Territory Tourism Board website
- Website Kings Canyon resorts (English)
- Information and many pictures on outback-australia-travel-secrets.com
Individual evidence
- ↑ Calculation at luftlinie.org , accessed on November 2, 2012.
- ↑ Northern Territory Government: Watarrka National Park (English). In: Parks and reserves . Retrieved August 11, 2016.
- ^ A b c Parks & Wildlife Commission of the Northern Territory: Walking Tracks of Watarrka National Park. ( Memento of the original from April 26, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Accessed on February 24, 2014 (PDF; 1.4 MB, English)
- ^ Photo of the sign on the viewing platform, accessed on February 24, 2014.
- ^ Parks & Wildlife Commission of the Northern Territory: The Giles Track. ( Memento of the original from May 14, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Accessed February 24, 2014 (PDF; 1.1 MB, English)
- ↑ Newsletter from australien-info.de, issue 05/2003
- ^ A b c Parks and Wildlife Service of the Northern Territory: Watarrka National Park - Draft Joint Management Plan. Department of Natural Resources, Environment, The Arts and Sport des Northern Territory, Alice Springs 2009, ISBN 9781921519376 , p. 7. ( PDF; 3.32 MB ( Memento of the original from March 27, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this note. )
- ^ A b Central Land Council: Watarrka hand back will provide meaningful partnerships in joint management. July 25, 2012. Retrieved November 2, 2012.
- ↑ a b c wilmap.com.au: The Cotterill Family - Tourism Pioneers.Retrieved November 19, 2012.
- ^ A b c d Pascal Tremblay, Dean Carson: Tourism and the economic valuation of parks and protected areas - Watarrka National Park, Northern Territory . CRC for Sustainable Tourism Pty Ltd, Gold Coast 2007, ISBN 9781920965129 . ( PDF; 1.33 MB ( Memento of the original from September 16, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this note. )
- ↑ Some sources also give the first name with Fieldon instead of Fielder - which variant is correct is not exactly clear.
- ^ Monument Australia: Jack Cotterill. Retrieved November 19, 2012.
- ↑ ABC News: Traditional owners to take back Watarrka park. July 25, 2012. Retrieved November 2, 2012.
