Palm Valley, within the

Finke Gorge National Park Finke Gorge National Park is a protected area in the Northern Territory of Australia located about south of the territory capital of Darwin. The national park covers an area of , and includes the impressive desert oasis Palm Valley, home to a ...

, is an east-west running valley in the Krichauff Range 123 km (138 km by road) southwest of

Alice Springs Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...

in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Palm Valley and the surrounding area is the only place in Central Australia where Red Cabbage Palms (''

Livistona mariae ''Livistona mariae'', also known as the central Australian or red cabbage palm, is a species of flowering plant in the family Arecaceae. It is found only in Australia with the best-known occurrence found in Palm Valley in Finke Gorge National ...

'') survive. The nearest specimens are 850 kilometres away in Queensland. The surrounding region is largely dry

Central Ranges xeric scrub The Central Ranges xeric scrub is a deserts and xeric shrublands ecoregion of Australia. Location and description The region consists of sandy plains with some areas of rocky highland. These plains have a dry climate but do get some rain i ...

. The average rainfall for Palm Valley is only 200 mm per year. Although the gorge usually appears dry, there are some small pockets of semi-permanent spring-fed pools that allow the unique flora in this region to survive. During significant rainfall in the region, expanses of water can be witnessed flowing through the valley gorge. During such events, a variety of aquatic life such as desert fish, shield shrimps ('' Triops australiensis''), tadpoles and frogs can flourish.

Origins of the palms

It had been assumed that the cabbage palms were remnants of a prehistoric time when the climate supported tropical rainforest in what is now the arid inland of Australia. Genetic analysis published in 2012 determined that ''

'' at Palm Valley is actually the same species as '' Livistona rigida'' from samples collected near Katherine and Mount Isa, both around away. The research by Professor David Bowman and colleagues at the

University of Tasmania The University of Tasmania (UTAS) is a public research university, primarily located in Tasmania, Australia. Founded in 1890, it is Australia's fourth oldest university. Christ College, one of the university's residential colleges, first pro ...

concluded that the populations separated only about 15,000 years ago.

Aboriginal Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to: *Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology * Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area *One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...

legend recorded in 1894 by

Carl Strehlow Carl Friedrich Theodor Strehlow (23 December 1871 – 20 October 1922) was an anthropologist, linguist and genealogist who served on two Lutheran missions in remote parts of Australia from May 1892 to October 1922. He was at Killalpaninna Missio ...

describes "gods from the north" bringing the seeds to Palm Valley.

Getting there

In early 1928, Herbert Joseph Larkin led an exploratory aerial expedition exploring the possibility of developing the Palm Valley into a resort. However, the exploration led to naught. The track to Palm Valley is still only accessible with a

four-wheel drive Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case ...

vehicle. It departs from the town of

Hermannsburg Hermannsburg is a village and a former municipality in the Celle district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Since 1 January 2015 it is part of the municipality Südheide. It has been a state-recognised resort town since 1971. It is situated on the river ...

and travels south, following the usually dry bed of the

Finke River The Finke River, or ''Larapinta'' (Arrernte), is a river in central Australia, one of four main rivers of the Lake Eyre Basin and thought to be the oldest riverbed in the world. It flows for only a few days a year and when this happens, its wate ...

. Palm Creek flows into the Finke River from the west about 15 km (by track) south of Hermannsburg. The track follows the creek to Palm Valley about 5 km west of the Finke River.

Gas field

The Palm Valley gas field is an onshore source of natural gas north of the valley itself. The gas field is part of the Amadeus Basin and supplies gas to

and beyond via the Amadeus Gas Pipeline.

References

External links

Fairfax Digital - Hermannsburg
Valleys of Australia Canyons and gorges in the Northern Territory Natural gas fields in Australia {{NorthernTerritory-geo-stub