Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
I don't quite know where to start for todays blog...?
It's been one of those days that's almost impossible to describe, but makes you really happy you're alive to experience it. It's been an impossibly perfect day, one that we'll remember forever, one of those days that we'd hoped for when we started this trip... And it came at just the right time...
We started early this morning, because we thought we'd try the rim walk around Kings Canyon, but on a spur of the moment decision, I wanted to try for Palm Valley instead. Palm Valley was one of the original destinations of this trip, and one of the reasons why we knew we needed a 4wd when we came. I'd written it off as unachieveable when we had car problems, and that was really depressing, but when we got it back so quickly, and decided to do the Mereenie Loop from Kings Canyon to Glen Helen Gorge, it started playing in the back of my mind that we might still be able to get there. I still had concerns about Pixie's reliability at this point, but there were no indications of any ongoing reliability issues during yesterdays drive, and the road we wanted to use was popular enough that we should be able to get assistance if something did go wrong. So instead of walking the rim walk, we opted for Palm Valley... And we'll be forever grateful we did...
So, we left Kings Canyon Resort early, filled up with fuel ($2.30 per litre), purchased our permit for the Mereenie Loop, and set off on our journey. The road wasn't at all what I'd imagined. It was a large, wide (5 lanes), smooth dirt road, in better condition than most of our highways in NSW. We made incredible time, in places at 110kph, but most of the trip between 90-100... There were a few landmarks along the way of notable mention, a washing machine, 44 Gallon drums telling us to slow down, and an underwear tree... Yes, you heard right, an underwear tree! (See photos for a complete description). The scenery is spectacular, and although you don't really need a 4wd, it is advisable, and it truly is a worthwhile trip if you can fit it in. The crags, the rocks and the gullies, and that deep deep red colour is simply superb...
We made it to the Palm Valley turn off at 10.30am, and the sign there warned us of the 'extreme 4wd' conditions ahead, and to allow a minimum of three hours for a return trip. Apparently, we were going to be traversing deep soft sandy sections, sharp rocky outcrops, and some deep water river crossings... Also, we should have left details of our travel with the NT Parks and Wildlife Service, or the local Police station at Hermannsberg nearby. This track is suitable for high clearance 4wd vehicles and experienced drivers only, and you should be fully prepared with a minimum of spare tyre, jack, shovel and winch... We'd done none of that, had none of that, and certainly weren't experienced. I honestly would have turned around there and then, if I wasn't so determined to see this particular valley. You see, this is the only spot, the ONLY spot in the world where you can see these palms in their natural habitat. It's a 2km stretch of valley that provides just the right conditions for these palms, of which, about 12000 survive... And I wanted to see this lush oasis, in the middle of this vast australian outback desert!! What a trip!! Nothing else we've done so far in our 4wd (with the exception of one particular track on Fraser Island), compares with this... Not difficult at all, very straight forward driving along a dry river bed, no water crossings to speak of, and only a few rocky sections to be careful at. But the scenery was absolutely spectacular. Just a beautiful landscape on a beautiful day... Then we reached Palm Valley, and nothing else mattered or existed. I can't describe it to you, and the photos won't do it justice, but this place leaves Kings Canyon for dead. I've tried all the superlatives I can think of, and none of them feel right...
The Red Cabbage Palm grows out of the Finke River bed, and stretches towards the sky between huge canyon walls of red rock and other vegetation. It's very lush, not like rainforest, but remnant vegetation from the age of dinosaurs, when the whole planet was more tropical. It's simply gorgeous!! Palm Valley is timeless, the way the rock is timeless, and it's magical like the rock at sunset... But unlike the rock, there weren't crowds of people or buses or kiosks or souveniers for sale. There were no tours or fights for the carpark. This was a place you could only get to if you made the effort, and it's not on everyone's radar yet. Kings Canyon is booming with tourists and backpackers, like at Uluru, but it has none of the 'presence' of Palm Valley... There's no doubt for me, this excursion has been the highlight of our trip so far, I totally loved it, and so glad we came. And of course, Pixie performed perfectly, and we had no incidents to speak of... Did we Jo? No! None at all...
Reluctantly, we had to leave. We still had a long drive to Glen Helen Resort, and needed to be there before nightfall. Along the way, we made a stop at Tylers Pass Lookout, to take in the surrounding view... WOW!! What a view! Off in the distance, we could see a perfect ring of craggy rocky mountains rising above the plains, called Gosse Bluff. It turns out that 142 million years ago, a comet measuring 200m wide, collided with the Earth. The impact fractured the layers of rock 5.5km deep at that point, and punched a hole into it, making all the rock stand vertically in a circle. The shockwave from the impact fractured the landscape, radiating outwards for miles. It's stunning to see, and we drove right past without even noticing. It's the oldest and most significant meteor impact site on the planet! And you can drive inside it... Next time...
Finally, before arriving at Glen Helen, we did the short walk inside Redbank Gorge. It was nice, and a very pleasant afternoon walk along a dry river bed, but it couldn't compete with the main event of the day. I don't know how any of the other sights are going to compare with Palm Valley, we'll just have to wait and see?
When we got to Glen Helen Resort, which it isn't (a resort, I mean), it was 4.30 in the afternoon. We received a very warm welcome, and a brief tour of the resort (brief because there's not much of it), and were shown to our room. The lady's exact words were: "Now, we've had numerous snakes in the last couple of days, so stay to the paths, and keep the boys off the grass, and they'll be fine. If you see a snake, leave it alone, and come and tell us, and we'll get rid of it for you" (What? In our room? Did she mean in our room?) She went on: "Here you go. You're in room 20. Just so you know, there's a couple of Stimsons Pythons living in the door jam, and they poke their heads out every now and then... See, that little gap there... They won't hurt you, and they don't go inside, we have a deal... Just don't try and play with them..." (No friggin way! Is she kidding?) But she wasn't kidding, she was serious as a heart attack, which Jo is suffering by now. This little place has nothing going for it, other than it's location, it's scenery, it's history and oodles and oodles of character!! We had a better meal here than at Kings Canyon restaurant, for a fraction of the price... We walked down to Glen Helen Gorge, which the Finke River flows through, simply by stepping out our front door. No, it's not deluxe, or 5 star, or grand or impressive, but it's a bed at the end of one of the best days we've had in a streak of average days, and it's all we need...
Until tomorrow good people, good night!!
- comments