Blogs from Palm Valley, Northern Territory, Australia, Oceania

A very, very cold night, however we were extra prepared for it and as a result slept comfortably. Two rangers checked our camping permit and we good to go! We laced up our hiking boots and walked the classed moderately difficult Mpaara trail which introduced us to the mythology of the Western Arrernte Aboriginal culture. We walked in a clockwise direction to follow the Mpaara dreaming story of the Tawny Frogmouth Man and the Pangkalanga Devil Man. The rocky track followed the base of the hills and then abruptly took us up a steep incline to the lookout where the views of the Finke River and Kalarranga area were superb. On the southern side of the lookout the track was very steep and uneven as it descended to the valley floor. We took extra care so ... read more

Tuesday 20 August Today, we are all heading off to Palm Valley in the Finke Gorge National Park, Jo and Andrew are on their way home after their holiday and despite having spent a couple of nights with us have decide to come into Palm Valley with us for a quick look before heading off. A number of people have mentioned that Palm Valley is worthy of a look so it could not be missed. We were both up early and fairly swiftly we had packed up, unfortunately Andrew could not get his Landcruiser started, the battery was flat so Andy had to give him jump start. In the meantime an elderly lady who was travelling on her own wandered over and asked Andy if he knew anything about tyres. Apart from the usual joke that ... read more

We were woken early by a chorus of brightly coloured parrots in the trees around us and, after some breakfast, jumped in the bruck to explore Palm Valley. The road that took us further into the park could barely be described as such and we had to leave the trailer behind as we bumped over the large uneven rocks. We even had to jump out and watch Ian ease the bruck over some particularly bad patches and you can see a video I took of one of them here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJEmrjcRHWI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFHqazPs5Jw Eventually, and to much relief, we reached the car park and climbed out to start our now customary early morning bush walk. Palm Valley is the only place in Central Australia where various palm trees can grow due to some semi-permanent pools in the base ... read more