Hi, I'm still working up trip for November and I managed to squeeze in 2 nights in Uluru. Here's my concern though.

Pioneer is sold out lost camel is so expensive and i was wondering what the experts thought of this alternative plan:

We're arriving at 11:45 so i thought maybe we could drive straight from airport to Kings Canyon, stay overnight there for 1 night, then in morning watch sunrise and take off back to Ayers Rock to experience that for the day and possibly the Olgas (not sure how far apart they are).

The savings would be a much needed $250 and we'd get to see Kings Canyon and have a nice drive, which we would not otherwise have.

Can anyone help?

r u actually proposing to do kings canyon, uluru and the olgas in 2 days. not a good decision

i recollect its almost a half day or at least hours of driving between uluru and kings canyon. hiking the canyon and kings which i believe is the main draw takes half a day.
we spent 3 days between uluru and the olgas and barely had time to put our feet up

cheers
AndrewDavid

My thought was really not to walk it but see it at sunrise or sunset, etc. My understanding was that it's about 300 Km which would normally be no more than 3 hours drive. Is it more due to road surface?

To me it doesnt make much sense to go to Kings Canyon for what looks to be just half a day. You will not see much unless you take the time to do some of the walks, especially the one around the rim. It's not like seeing the Grand Canyon where you can drive to the lookouts and look down. At Kings Canyon, you have to hike in and climb up to get the view.

I would recommend a full day, 2 nights at King Canyon to make the effort worthwhile.

The Olgas are ~25 miles from Uluru so the two are easy to combine. They are in some ways even more interesting than their monolithic neighbor. I would work on getting 2 nights out at Uluru somehow and forget Kings Canyon unless you can add an extra couple of nights in Central Australia to your itinerary.

Ralph

It would be a complete waste of time to go to Kings Canyon and not do the canyon walk. This will take you about three hours. It's a magnificent walk and well worth every step of the way.
There is a short walk along the canyon base but nothing to compare with the walk along the top of the canyon.

Have you looked into the cabins that are for rent in the Yulara campground? We found these to be very comfortable and fun - and this would allow you to do both Ulura/Kata Tjuta as well as Watarrka at sunrise.

Thank you all for replies. I think I'll go with the concensus and stick to Uluru area. The Voyages hotel monopoly seems unfortunate. Hopefully the profits go to the aboriginal people who own the land.

ALF, I thought about cabin, but we're on our honeymoon and didn't really plan to stay in that type of accomodation. Would you recommend it regardless?

Thanks again.

The cabins are wonderful for a family, but probably not a great choice for a romantic honeymoon. Still, with the money you save, you could dine at some of the finer restaurants.