Palm Valley is another location, & the highlight of the Finke River Gorge National Park.
Back in 2008 we experienced a torrential storm whilst camped at Ormiston Gorge in the West MacDonnells. The river flowed for the first time in several years, little frogs which remain underground except in wet times appeared everywhere, & the roads in & out of the gorge, plus the roads back to Alice were cut off by flood waters. We were stranded in Gorge camp area, along with a dozen others, plus rangers, for a week. It was a fantastic experience. Unfortunately for us though, it was the same river which runs from Ormiston Gorge down to Palm Valley, thus at that time making Palm Valley inaccessible. And so, on our journey west we were keen to see the natural ‘jewel in the crown’ for ourselves …….. & so we did ………… & it is special.
From the bitumen road there was no hint as to what might be close by. Gorges, by their nature are below their surrounding landscapes & cannot be seen when surveying the landscapes from afar. They are hidden gems. Gems because out here in this desert country any large rock formation, ranges, hills & especially gorges, create their own micro environments, inevitably interesting, often beautiful, & frequently containing unique flora & fauna. As the name ‘Palm Valley’ suggests, nestled away in this exceptionally pretty location are a large population of palm trees. Red cabbage palms, a species found in only a handful of places around Australia. Red because the young trees have the red stems & leaves. Cabbage because reportedly the top of the young plant can be removed & cooked, apparently tasting like cabbage. The mature palms are tall & obviously both resilient & resourceful to have survived in the place of drought, flood & intense summer heat. The taller trees are several hundred years old.
Many theories have been suggested as to how this population of palms came to be in what is a remote location with the only know other smaller populations being thousands of kilometres away. Around 20 or so years ago researchers found what they believed to be evidence that aboriginal people had brought seeds to this place back in ancient history. This remains the accepted explanation today.
The campground at Palm Valley, around 25 kms from the bitumen has a sign at it’s beginning saying 4wd only, but any 2wd vehicle driven carefully could have made it in. The 4 km drive from the campground to Palm Valley itself was however, a different story. “It’s a bit rocky” someone said. To us this conveyed a picture of driving over a stony track with the odd boulder here & there to avoid. The reality took us by surprise. The river bed here is largely solid rock, & driving in, often along the river bed, meant climbing up & down rock formations, which at times tested the vehicle’s approach & departure angles, always require 1st gear/low range & on one occasion the front axle diff lock too, to be sure of making it. We did make it, MrsTea being very complimentary about my driving, despite having urgently hung onto the grab rail on several occasions. 😀
The campground was a pleasant one, not full, but close to it on both nights we were there. Fires in communal fire pits did a good job of bringing folk together, & the solar showers did a good job of what showers do….. provided you could judge the best time to get to them. Too soon & they lacked sufficient warmth, & too late same because too many other had used them. We found 3.45pm to be ideal.
There are several marked walking trails in & around Palm Valley. We took the longest 5km one – rated at a two hour one. A reasonable amount of climbing & time to stop for photos & mini picnics saw it take us 3.5 hours. It was a pretty warm day & boy those solar showers were good after we got back ‘home’ to the Tvan & the campground.