Australia’s rugged beauty often takes my breath away. The vastness of the landscape, the intricate and luminous shapes of the earth, the graduation, variety and depth of colour that gives this land it’s distinction and it’s beauty make me truly believe that I am encountering the Divine. It makes me stand in awe of a loving and generous Creator who infinitely loves us and desires to draw near to us. As our family embarked upon the Kings Canyon Rim walk, I was humbled. I was humbled by the majestic beauty of the canyon. I was humbled by the resilience and tenacity of my children. I was humbled by the age old indigenous culture that imbued this sacred place.

I wasn’t sure if our kids were going to manage the 6km rim walk. Tom and I however were being optimistic and weren’t going to give up easily. We had attempted a few walks earlier on in the trip with Tobias that ended up being disastrous but we were determined that ‘The Wandering Wursthorns’ were in fact going to ‘wander’.

We set our alarm for 5.30am. Sunrise is the time to begin the rim walk. Not only to avoid the heat of the day but also because this is when the canyon is at its most ‘picture perfect’. Amazingly we managed to get there before the sun greeted us. We also arrived in time to be greeted by 3 heavily laden tourist buses. It would seem we all had the same idea about an early start.

The most challenging part of the walk is the start, with about a half hour ascent up a steep cliff. Our kids nailed it. Including Tobias. If you know anything about children, particularly Tobias, it would seem the more challenging the physical activity the more determined they become.
Using ‘Spiderman’ and ‘Batman’ as inspiration we all clambored to the top overawed by the magical views and the sun rising over the horizon .

We continued on. Amelia, Isaac and Matisse never faltered. Their determination and high energy urged them on. Tobias, although tired and weary after his little sojourn, made it!! His little 3 year old legs managing to walk the 6 kms with only a few ‘piggy backs’ along the way and a few ‘this is boring’ punctuating the conversation. Tom and I were so proud of what our kids managed to achieve. It has been an absolute highlight of our trip so far.