Saturday 28 April
Up at the crack of dawn again and had
to put on a jacket, it as so cold. I'd even worn a singlet and long
PJs last night.
After breakfast I started my day of
data entry for Simon Clulow for his frog research. He is the only one
to have taken me up on my offer to do so. Ian, Simon Cherriman and
Clark were left back at camp as well and as the day warmed we sat
around each doing our own work, listening to music and chatting. Most
of the morning I had a black-headed python on the table next to me.
Quite an incongruous juxtaposition of computers, cameras, field
guides, live snake and lizards in bags and my workstation on the
dining room table! By lunch time I had finished more than half my
data entry. As the computer seemed to be overheating I unplugged it
and gave it a bit of a rest while I chatted to others as they
returned from their tasks.
During the afternoon I finished the
data entry with Kerrie's help reading out strings of numbers. Then it
was time to enjoy all the animals that had been brought in and
stories as they were told. I also spent a little time in daylight
organising clothes I had washed – a one-hour drying time in this
weather makes the task easy.
In the late afternoon I went up to
Saddleback Lookout with Simon Cherriman, Clark, Rebecca and Ian to
photograph the sunset for AG. While there we found a beautiful
red/white Callitrix in flower. We also found the other Callitrix that
Geoff and I had found earlier in the week but this time with small
creamy flowers.
A few groups came and went before
sunset. Then just after sunset the building workers from the next
camp arrived very disappointed about missing the show. We chatted
about the science we were doing, the animals, birds, plants and
stars. They were very keen to find out about things they did not
know. We drove back down the steep drive and over the river crossing
in the dark, an interesting experience for us all!
After dinner Simon Cherriman gave a
talk about Wedgetailed Eagles and followed this with his movie “A
Wedged Tale”. Again I was so tired I was in bed by 8pm and sound
asleep by 8:05pm.
Sunday 29 April
Surrey's Birthday
I am having a great time with my new
camera! It does fabulous close-ups as well as excellent happy snaps.
After breakfast the bird watchers set
out only to return in a very short time with an injured Agile
Wallaby. Vicky (a volunteer but also a vet) was consulted and Simon
had the unenviable job of ending its life as there were no euthanasia
drugs on site.
Once everyone had left camp and I had
begun writing diary Wayne came back into camp and asked what I was
doing for the next half hour. When I said nothing particular he said
there was a seat on the helicopter with his wife Renee and to go and
have a ride. It turned out there was a weight limit per person.
With much trepidation I buckled in,
warned the pilot of my tendency to motion sickness, had the safety
briefing then took off, camera securely fastened around my neck as
there were no doors.
What a magnificent experience! The
worst thing that happened was that I lost both hair combs and Renee
lost her sunglasses out the open door area. I didn't even get white
or green!
We flew upstream along the Pentecost to
Pentecost Falls, came back towards Champagne Springs and Emerald
Pools, then up the ridge parallel with the Chamberlain River.
Back down the Chamberlain to Branco's
Lookout then on to Pigeonhouse Lookout. We returned to fly over the
Homestead then circled Saddleback Lookout where I had been last night
at sunset. We then left there quickly on seeing a wedgie as
apparently they are known to attack the tail rotor on helicopters and
can cause damage and/or accidents.
We returned to the helipad after about
half an hour and I was absolutely gobsmacked by the whole experience.
Thank you so much Wayne and Renee!
At lunch time we grabbed our lunch bags
and headed out to Zebidee Springs (a thermal system of pools). The
water was delightful and as there were only about 5 of us for a while
we were able to explore and try out all the pools. We were then
joined by some of the others returning from their activities.
After one and a half hours of wallowing
in the warm water we returned to the camp and chatted watching and
listening for stories as other groups returned. We all enjoyed our
last dinner together before heading out again en masse to Emma Gorge
for our toad-busting evening. I chose to do the gorge (or at least
the lower third of the walk). While I was with the group we found one
toad but there were four more found higher up the gorge after I had
returned to the cars. I did a good search of the gardens but did not
find any.
I opted out of the frog search that
followed as I was very tired and it could have gone till midnight. So
it was only 9:30pm to bed but that was certainly later than we had
been experiencing. I think Surrey would have approved of the way I
spent his birthday, especially with the helicopter ride.
Monday 30 April
Woke as early as ever this morning so I
had time to have breakfast then go on a bird watching walk with Simon
Cherriman and others. We went along the Saddleback track to look
specifically for Gouldian Finches. I saw none but did find tracks of
Bush Curlew, large frog (or toad or hopping mouse), dingo, and
kangaroo or wallaby.
When the mammal trapping team returned
they brought back the bonus of the whole trip – a Scaly-tailed
Possum. One of the very few ever seen. They had been captured on
night cam in 2010 and only recorded a few times before from this
area. We all spent time oo-ing and ahh-ing and taking photos of the
possum and group photos before leaving for Kununurra.
Ian, Di and I had lunch at the
Kimberley Cafe then Ian dropped Di at her caravan park and me at the
airport ready for the next part of our journeys. I arrived to check
in at the airport to find that my plane was delayed by an hour. I was
soon joined by Rebecca and Leigha who had lunch at the airport cafe
while we waited.
Garry picked me up at Darwin airport
and I enjoyed dinner with the family before another earlyish night.
Tuesday 1 May
A quick family breakfast before
everyone left for school and work. Alice was unwell so was allowed to
stay at home today. She spent most of the day listening to CDs of
Narnia stories and I guess dozing on an off. I booked a cab to give
me time to check in for my 3:25pm flight home.
In all a magnificent working holiday!
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