Kings Canyon - via Red Centre Way (formerly Mereenie Loop) - the back way to Yulara

[@agalah408]

Having watched many of your videos, I have learned that there is nowhere in all of Australia s remote places, that you can visit without being followed by that guy with a synth drum kit. Visited Kings Canyon about 30 years ago. Nice to see it again here. We arrived 2 days after some kid had wandered over the edge. The combination of big rocks and gravity was very unforgiving. The Merrinie Loop cracked a copper line in our 3-way camper fridge and dumped its coolant, so in Alice we purchased an Engel. Still going strong! My takeaway from Kings Canyon was that it was more relaxed and down-to-earth for the tourist. Having come from Ularu with the "Everything not compulsory is forbidden" vibe, and an implicit guilt trip for anyone with white skin. Another good clip!

[@DropTableAdventures]

You are right, there is a definite difference in attitude between Kings Canyon and Uluru. Initially, I'd have thought it was just visitor numbers - in recent years it's been a bit hard to define (and 2020 an outlier for obvious reasons) but reports are about 100k visitors a year for Kings Canyon, and estimates of about 3-4 times that for Uluru (though I bet for Uluru, most don't do the walk round the base, and for Kata Tjuta, that number's significantly lower). Actually, that somewhat surprised me, because I did think that the difference was much greater. Part of it may also be Parks Australia (the federal government) being in charge Uluru/Kata Tjuta, vs the NT government being in charge of Kings Canyon. Also, part of it could be that Uluru is seen as more of an object or an icon, rather than so much a place like Kings Canyon. Thanks for the comment, and glad you like the videos.

[@agalah408]

@@DropTableAdventures I must admit that what I'm enjoying about your video style and editing is that it is very much a Point-Of-View experience. To watch is to see it as you saw it, including the dash-cam footage that you use in measured doses. It provides a sense of distance that is usually missing in other people's work. I prefer your minimalist narration to the common 'talk to the camera' presentations. The key element of Australian tourism is that the process of getting there is a very important part of the experience. This is different to the European style of 'get off the bus - take some pics -then back on the bus'. The result at the end of these videos is that I feel like I went to these places, even though I still have my fluffy moccasins on. I suspect this is your aim.

[@DropTableAdventures]

I think you've hit the nail on the head there about the video style - that is definitely what I'm aiming for. While a lot of it may consist of driving footage - so does the actual trip. I keep the "talking to the camera" bit in the travel videos to only where it's actually needed, because I'm trying to make a video about the place being travelled to - not so much "me and my trip to the place", and I'm glad that point is coming across.