THE GREEN SCENE

Mention the Australian outback to just about anyone and the mental picture instantly conjured is tinged a rich pindan orange. It’s an iconic vision, but the fact is there are large swathes of what is recognised as outback that are actually lush and green. Needing no introduction is the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Kakadu National Park, where the wet-season rains saturate the expansive landscape (it’s roughly half the size of Switzerland) painting it in varying shades of deep green. In the 46,000-hectare Finke Gorge National Park (pictured), two hours’ drive from Alice Springs, the verdant Palm Valley is an oasis of some 3000 adult palms and thousands of juvenile trees. Visit from April to September to beat the relentless summer heat, all the better to undertake the two-kilometre Arankaia Walk (it takes roughly one hour) or the five-kilometre Mpulungkinya Walk, both of which skirt palm-strewn valleys, and to better appreciate the landscape that famously inspired Albert Namatjira, who was born and raised in nearby Hermannsburg. Elsey National Park, another Northern Territory area big on greenery, is a must for wild swimming lovers, with the palm and tree-fringed Bitter Springs the perfect place for a dip. In Queensland, those looking for respite from the harsh outback conditions should head for the still-little-known Lawn Hill National Park, where the wide, cool waterway is lined with lush trees, and the fossil deposits of the Riversleigh World Heritage Site have been labelled one of the four most important deposits in the world by no less than Sir David Attenborough. And, in South Australia, the Australian Arid Land Botanic Garden, with its views to the Flinders Ranges, features 250 hectares of arid land populated by trees, plants and flowers – as well as birdlife and mammals - that thrive in the outback’s characteristically harsh yet compelling environment.