Day 15, Saturday 26 June 21
Today was all about the cabbage. The Red Cabbage Palm (Livistona Mariae) that thrives in Palm Valley, NT. The weird thing about these palms is the nearest other cluster is over 1,000 km away. Various theories , none definitive, abound about how this happened. Favourable conditions remaining in the valley after wider climate change ( discredited), Indigenous cultivation ( possible, but unlikely) and Pelican transmission ( a strong contender) are all mooted.
We had a ‘sleep in’ until 7, coffee and a muesli bar, then packed up Bernie. Left the camper behind because it was a 45 minute 4WD crawl to the start of the Mpulyungkinya walk we planned to do at Palm Valley proper . The Amarok scraped a few times on a few rock jump ups , but nothing to worry about . At least it was being used as a 4WD, unlike many of its type … though it did have Mark boring Ness with musing about a 2 inch lift … for the truck.
The walk itself was stunning. Up a ridge , across a dry plateau, then back along the ancient riverbed through the gorge with all the palms.
After the hike it was another 4wd rock crawl back to the campsite, hitched up Bernie and headed out . Once clear of the Finke it was a lovely 90 minute drive into Alice Springs via the Larapinta Drive and Namatjira Drive ( great views of the Western MacDonnell range to the north).
Setting up tonight we found the Anderson plug powering the BMS / Battery in the camper was ripped out on the Finke. Repair task ( among a few others) tomorrow!
Ness’ and Mark’s Wandering 