Saturday 24 July 2021: Finally after weeks of uncertainty about the border restrictions we are in the Northern Territory. We decided to spend a few days in Alice Springs before going on to Darwin to give us the 14 days in a “very low risk” COVID Jurisdiction to allow entry to Western Australia.



Alice Springs Town


The riverbed is dry but there’s water to support these thirsty Red River Gums a few meters below

Olive Pink Botanic Gardens is an interesting Australian Arid Regions Reserve in the center of Alice Springs. From the age of 72 Miss (Olive) Pink lived in a tent, then a small tin shed, working with local Walpiri gardeners to establish this place. Today the 49 acres are a unique arid zone garden.



Hermannsburg Mission
Sunday 25 July 2021: First day in Alice we took a 4WD tour to Hermannsburg and Palm Valley.
The Hermannsburg Mission was established by two Lutheran Missionaries on the banks of the Finke River in 1877 after an arduous 20 month journey from South Australia and was managed by the Lutheran Church from 1877-1982. It is 135km west from Alice Springs along the sealed Red Centre Way.



Palm Valley
From Hermannsburg turn left and follow a rough 4WD track 23 km along the Finke River, the world’s oldest waterbed, to reach Palm Valley where Red Cabbage Tree Palms grow in the river gorges.



Found only in the Finke River, there are less than 2,000 remaining



These cycads are found only in central Australia; some are more than 300 years old



Simpsons Gap
Monday 26 July 2021: We wanted to do a day tour of the West Macdonnell Ranges but there were none available (COVID border closures reduced the number of tourists). Instead we hired bikes and rode out to Simpsons Gap. It’s a 50km round trip all on sealed bike paths and mostly winding through Mulga. Our bums are still sore!

In the Arrernte Aboriginal people’s Dreamtime story, created by giant caterpillars



Further south a 160m deep bore in Roe Creek supplies 20,000 year old water to Alice Springs
