06.04.2019 # Outback, Day 1, from Alice Springs to Palm Valley

The 'Jump Inn' offers various types of rooms for travelers of all kinds. You can meet the classic, youthful work&travelers, backpackers, and well, people like us who don't fit into either category. There is also a well-stocked bar that attracts the local neighborhood in the evening. All in all, it is not a bad accommodation and also quite affordable. However, after seeing the communal kitchen, we are glad that we don't have to share a bathroom with anyone.

In the morning of departure, there is only a meager breakfast consisting of coffee and dry toast, after we have slept in again. At around 9:15 am we drive to Coles supermarket and stock up on everything we need for the five-day camper tour. So we stock up on over 40 liters of drinking water, 2 loaves of bread, noodles, sausage, cheese, coffee, eggs, instant soups, as well as a few things from the household sector. With that, we feel well equipped. The liquor store, where we still want to buy our nightcaps, doesn't open until 10:00 am, so we have to wait a few minutes. Once everything is packed in the Toyota Landcruiser, I start to feel a little anxious due to the tight space. You definitely can't play golf in it.

At just after 10:00 am, we are finally on the road. There are two ways to get to Palm Valley. In the end, I decide on the longer route via Glen Helen to Hermannsburg through the West Mac Donnell Range, because I had read that the route is supposed to be more scenic. Google Maps spit out a travel time of about four and a half hours for the approximately 280 km, so we have no hurry.

So we leave Alice Springs and follow Larapinta Drive. The drive is initially exciting because the impressions of the surroundings are still new. However, the landscape only changes very sporadically and therefore becomes monotonous over time. It also surprises me how little traffic there is here. It is not uncommon to not see another vehicle for an hour. When one does come, they wave friendly greetings.

In Glen Helen, we actually wanted to stop for refreshments and take the opportunity to visit some tourist attraction, whose name I have just forgotten. Unfortunately, I miss the exit or don't perceive it as an exit if it was there. So we try out our kitchen for the first time at a rest area. Boiling water works, so everything else shouldn't be a problem.

After a stop at Gosses Bluff Crater, we continue towards Hermannsburg until the turnoff to Finke Gorge National Park. From there, we have real off-road feeling for the first time, luckily we have a four-wheel drive. We drive about 20 km through a dried-up riverbed to the Palm Valley Campground, a small but nice campground with clean toilets, showers, and barbecue area. When we arrive, there is only one other camper there, and only one more will arrive by evening. Since we are far enough apart, we really feel like we are alone.

The overnight fee is 12 AUD and must be paid into a kind of trust box. There are blank envelopes that you have to fill out and put the money in. Unfortunately, we don't have enough coins with us at that moment. We also didn't want to leave a whole fifty there, so we simply put 10 € in the envelope and have a clear conscience.

After everything I had read in advance, there should be an easily accessible path through the beautiful Palm Valley. So we put on our hiking shoes (!) despite the heat and flies and set off.

Oh yes, the flies. The entire red center is apparently the Mecca of flies. Since we got off the plane in Alice Springs, they have been following us. No matter where you get out of the car or move around outdoors, you can't escape them. It's not like they're just there buzzing around you, as we are used to at home. No, the pests literally crawl into your nose and ears, settle behind your sunglasses, and who knows how many I accidentally swallowed. You are constantly waving your hands to get rid of them for a moment. Keeping the camera steady for a sharp photo is sometimes a mental challenge. You only have peace when you are back in the car or when night falls and the bats become active, and the plague almost instantly stops. Only to start again unrelentingly the next morning.

We don't even notice the absence of palm trees all around so much. We only realize it when we see the sign indicating that the actual Palm Valley is another 4 km away. Given the temperatures, we prefer to explore the immediate surroundings with the option of driving closer with the car the next morning.

As it gets dark, we enjoy the silence around us and the gigantic starry sky above us. The Milky Way shines as brightly as we have rarely seen before, it's marvelous. I immediately try to shoot a night lapse with the GoPro, which is a short film in which the night sky appears to move. I haven't quite succeeded yet. I probably chose too large a distance between the individual shots. So the film doesn't show a smooth movement but rather occasional jerking. Oh well, no problem, I'll just try again.

As we go to rest, I can see the stars through my window. Fantastic, just as I imagined it.