6^th October

Palm Valley

We headed straight for Palm Valley after our brekkie.  The drive from Wallace Rockhole was around 50km back to Hermannsburg where the Palm Valley turn off is located.  The drive into Palm Valley is around 23km, but it’s slow going.  The road is rough and at times in the sandy river.  After the campsite one drives the last couple of kms across the creek beds that are quite rocky.  At the end is a visitor car park on the rock of the creek.  Palm Valley is unique in this area.  In this dry location there are around 17,000 red cabbage palms growing.  That is quite unusual as the nearest red cabbage palms growing are in Queensland, around 850km away in the tropical climate!  That means Palm Valley is a dinosaur in many ways. 

We lowered our tyre pressures just to be more comfortable and reduce the risk of punctures.  Then we headed in and went all the way to the visitor car park.  There we donned our gear and did the 2km walk along the rim and then back via the valley.  The view across the narrow valley from the rim is pretty scenic.  The walk up to the rim was quite easy and once there it was pretty level.  One just had to be mindful of not stepping too far off the edge!  Back on the valley floor the walk back is just below the rim.  There is no chance of walking amongst the palms.  That was my biggest disappointment.  I had envisioned a thick lush palm forest and walking in the shadow of the palms along the valley floor, trying to ensure the dinosaur Rex didn’t find me!  No, that was not the case.  The palms are very fragile and therefore it’s not in their best interest to have a horde of human mammals tramping all over them! 

After the walk we stopped in the picnic area and had our lunch in the shade.  One of the tour bus guides suddenly popped up and insisted we have his unfinished Arnott’s cream biscuit pack.  We dutifully complied!  

Boggy Hole

We then headed back to the main road and decided to head further into Finke National Park and go to Boggy Hole.  This is around a 33km track along the Ellery Creek bed until it joined the Finke River.  Thus a lot of the track was in the sandy bed.  Once we got to the Boggy Hole it was pretty small.  The water evaporates during winter and is not replenished until the next rainy season.  To make things worse, there had been a bush fire that flamed through a lot of the areas where people camp at Boggy Hole.  We enjoyed the scenery and the challenge of driving in and out of there.  We then headed back to the main road and then back to camp at Wallace Rockhole.

Dropping the tyre pressures on the way to Palm Valley.

It is amazing to see how some flowers thrive in the dry!

Heading into Palm Valley along some sandy tracks.

Rock hopping into Palm Valley.

Driving into Palm Valley.

The visitor car park in Palm Valley.

The Palms in Palm Valley.

Looking over the beginning of Palm Valley from the Rim Walk.

Heading back on the Valley floor, or should I say Rock!

View up Palm Valley.

The only water crossing on the way to Boggy Hole.

Boggy Hole was pretty small, but not completely dry.

The bush fire had done it's fair share of reducing the number of campsites.

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