Heading out with the grandson (7yrs) for the July school holidays, want to give him a look around Uluru and Kings Canyon. Has anyone got any advice on whether to stay at Kings Canyon Resort or would King Creek Station be an option. Any advice would be helpful and thanks in advance.

Peter & Meta.

We were out there in 2012 and stayed at Kings Canyon Resort. We had to take a car crash victim to Kings Creek Station where the rest of her group was and to us it appeared to be a bit run down and lacking facilities. Bear in mind this is a working property and tourism comes second.

Personally I would stay at the resort caravan park – full up every day, good facilities and views of Kings Canyon without leaving van park. Dingoes do wander through the van park searching for scraps but in my experience ran away if anyone came near them

Whichever you choose bear in mind that all fuels are very expensive here. Resort fuel was slightly cheaper than Kings Creek Station. You will need to book is going ikn school holidays

Safe travels

Hi Peta and Meta

Both are nice, and different

The resort campground at King’s Canyon is a little closer for an early start on the Rim Walk and is a pleasant campground http://www.kingscanyonresort.com.au/

Kings Creek Station http://www.kingscreekstation.com.au/ has more of the outback experience and profits go towards their charity "Conways Kids" http://www.conwayskids.org.au/about-the-founders.html

We stayed at the "resort" for two nights to get an early start to the Rim Walk before it got too hot as it starts with quite a climb, and the second night to allow us to see the day area Kathleen Gorge the following morning before heading to Uluru (with a bush camp overnight along the way).

We have stayed at both. The resort is closer to Kings Canyon. Last year we stayed at Kings Creek Station but also visited the Resort for another look. If we return to the area I think I would choose the Station again. It certainly is more rustic than the Resort. Fuel is quite expensive at both so don’t buy any. Much cheaper at Erldunda and then Yulara.

The Resort is a bit too commercial. It has some TV coverage. Can’t remember about WiFi. The site layout is well structured for vans. The Station has no TV but free WiFi in many parts of the park, albeit pretty slow. The site layout is rather haphazard and virtually without signage. Even with the mud map site ID is not easy. Also the Station mains power is a bit dicky. They have 2 gen-sets but perhaps not enough capacity. We found than mains volts got too low in the hot weather to safely run the air con.

So all-in-all… if you want ‘nice’ go to the Resort. If you want ‘rustic’ and perhaps a tad more interesting go to the Station. They are the same nominal price with no discount at the Resort but 10% seniors at the Station.

Thanks for the updates OT. There was no television, phone or internet at Kings Canyon Resort at all in 2009. Staff used to go 275 kilometres to Erldunda if they needed to send or check emails.

The resort location was more convenient for us, and we were parked on the edge looking across to the George Gill Range which contains the Canyon for lovely sunset viewing. Apart from the outback experience at King’s Station, their profits benefit their charity Conways Kids, whereas the resort which is usually a little more expensive is run by a multi-national company.

MH, an update. I could have sworn the Resort had their own local TV translator but I can’t find any reference in my current TV database – so I am wrong. Surprising that they don’t.

Also according to their website they do have WiFi in their hotel area. I assume it is a subscription service. There is also a public phone.

I should have trusted my first instinct

I said I could not find any Resort TV in my current database – but then I wondered if they were analogue and they haven’t updated to digital. Sure enough in an older database version (2011) there were 2 stations listed at the Resort. IMP66 (Imparja) and ABD69 (ABC) both 10 watts. Also another pair at Mereenie Gas & Oil camp 28 kms away.

So there was TV at the Resort but they have not spent the money to upgrade to digital and now the nearest TV is Yulara. Of course they could still be transmitting analogue at the Resort…. but without a licence

In the news today …A lady fell off the top Got to be careful up there…

Just found it here, A young British tourist. I kind of expected it to be an oldie….
http://www.ntnews.com.au/news/northern- … 6955056326

An old British Tourist?