Possum spotting

Kate Here:When we were camped beside Lake Tinaroo Mum saw an leaflet about a guy called “Alan” who did possom spotting at night. We all thought it would be good fun and also Mum and Dad had gone possom spotting here 18 years ago and said it was very good. I have always wanted to see wild possoms in the rain forest. So at about 4pm we all went to Nick's Swish and Italian restaurant for tea. Because we were going to get picked up in the car park there. Nick is a very jolly man with a black moustache and beard. He is very nice and he plays the acordian. So every night he gets out a basket of silly hats and goes around and gives every person who is having there meal a funny hat. Dad had a PURPLE FURRY one. Jack and I had Jesters Hats with bells on it. Mum had an elves hat. We were also all given a musical instramint. Dad had a piece of wood curved round to make a circle and a wire through it with old beer tops on it. Jack had maracas, I had cimbals and Mum had a bell shaker. That was all fun because Nick started to play the acordian and we all joined in. After that (We had had our meal before) We got picked up by Alan and we drove 2 mins out of town to the rain forest. When we got there Alan gave us all binoculars and big torches. He said to me “Try the torch” So I put the torch on and looked up into the tree and there was a Possum sitting eating a leaf not far away. It was a Coppery brush tail Possum. They are very cute possoms. Baby possoms don't go in a pouch They stay on there mums back. In the end we saw 17 Copperys, 2 Common Brushtails, 7 Green Ringtails, 2 Northen Brown Bandicoots and 1 leaf tailed gecko. A leaf tailed Gecko is probley the best camaflash animal I have ever seen in my Life! So altogether we saw 30 animals. It was great fun. We all saw possoms and other animals.
The next day we went to look for Platypus. If you want to see platypus it is early or late. We went about 5 o'clock. At first all we saw was a turtle. But when we were going on further along there was a female platypus looking for food. It was about 30cm long it was all black and so small and cute. We stayed about 5 to 10 mins and then left. Further along you had to cross the river on crossing stones. On the other side we were be side a telephone wire and I saw something walk across it so I shone the torch on it and it was a green ring tailed possom it stopped and looked at us and we took a few pictures of it. Then suddenly there was a big splash down by the water Jack and I ran down and saw a big male Platypus dive under and it was about 50cm long. It was getting dark so we went back to the camper.

Jack here
When we were in Yungaburra we went Possum spotting with Alan and we saw lots of them. Before we went Possum spotting we were in Nicks Swiss-Italian Restaurant and I had a lovely Carbonara. When we getting set up with Alan outside the Rainforest he show Kate how to work the torch and at the end of the beam there was a Possum! After he had showed us what we were looking for we went into the rainforest and the first thing we saw was a Leaf-Tailed Gecko and Alan said it had just grown its third tail. The Gecko looks the same colour as the tree and it was hard to see. We kept on walking and we saw a Coppery Brush-Tail with a joey. The next possum we saw was a Green Ring-Tail and it was carrying its joey on its back! We walked past a farm and there were lots of Copperys and a few Common Brush-Tails. We also saw some bats. On the way back we unfortunately didn't see any Tree Kangaroos but we did see 17 Coppery Brush-Tails, 7 Green Ring-Tails and 4 Common Brush-Tails!
Tree Kangaroos are kangaroos with strong fore arms and shorter noses because they eat leaves and not grass. They also have brown and black coat.
Coppery Brush-Tails have a coppery coat, a bushy tail and a pointy ears.
Green Ring-Tails have a gray-green coat and when they stop they curl up they tails!
Common Brush-Tails have a gray coat, pink noses but are mostly the same to Copperys.
We are now camped on the coast and we went kayaking round Snapper Island that has rainforest and coral beaches.

Animal Tracks

After a couple of nights in Darwin and a fix of bustling crowds at the Mindil night market - complete with host of food stalls, arts & crafts, fireworks (as the last of the season) and street entertainment, we headed back into the bush. Having found the camper a bit of a cramper for the last few weeks, we eventually invested in a couple of genuine aussie swags (complete with mossie nets) and the kids were keen to try the real outdoors. Pretty brave really considering all the nocturnal creatures around. Kate lasted one night in a campground, then 1 night out bush and decided it was time for Mum or Dad to try the experience! We did, and they are very comfortable and give you a great view of the stars from bed! Whatever the combination, at least now we have fewer bodies inside, which is a real bonus given the tropical temperatures. Over to Jack to tell you about one of our big days in Kakadu (where Crocodile Dundee was filmed).

In Kakadu I had the best tour I've done in a long time. We had Patsy an Aboriginal guide and Sean who picked us up and told us about buffaloes and about the wildlife. After we had picked up Patsy out in the bush we went to a billabong(water hole)and fed the ducks and jaberoos. Patsy told us about catching File snakes there and when you catch them you put their head into your mouth to break their neck – disgusting! On the way to another billabong we were told about itchy bush. The bush is itchy because the caterpillars that eat it leave their hairs on the leaves and if you brush past them they land on you and they're itchy. Back at Patsy's house we picked up two Magpie Geese and a Barramundi(fish) that her husband had already caught. On the way to the next water hole we stopped to eat some green tree ants that tasted like lemons! At the billabong we went hunting for Long-necked Turtles. To find these turtles you get a metal pole and prod the ground and if you hear a clunk you dig and you will find a turtle. The long-necked turtles dig under the mud for the dry season and the first rains will bring them out because it washes away the mud. At the first billabong we did not find a turtle. After that we drove into a marshy bit to see the buffaloes and Patsy said that there were lots of turtles in the marsh but there are a lot of buffaloes as well. We drove out of the marsh and in to the bush and picked some leaves to cook with and we scraped some bark off a Paper bark tree to cover up the food when we cook it. We kept on going to a billabong to try and find some turtles but on the way we stopped to have an apple and some biscuits and look at spear heads and Patsy's music sticks. We also tried making fire but we failed. Sean and Patsy didn't, they made a fire. At the billabong we were poking around when Sean said, “I found one somewhere along that log, see if you can find it!”. I found it and dug it out with my hands and it looked like it had a snake head. Then Sean found another two and one of the Irish men dug one out and I dug the other one out from under a log. Then Patsy found one and Kate dug it out so we had four Long-Necked Turtles. We headed off again and we stopped to get fire wood and spiky palm leaves to made string with. We walked down to the billabong with Patsy and watched the birds. We licked some cob webby stuff off leaves and it was like icing sugar but it was little bugs. We were heading to the place where we would have a fire when we saw two Dingos run across the track! When we arrived we made two fires, one for the meat and one for the damper. Damper is bread made of flour, salt and water and you chuck it straight on to the fire and put ashes over the top. Then we had a go at making string and throwing spears and Dad threw his spear the furthest. Mum, Kate, the Irish men and Dad helped Patsy pluck the geese. Sean killed the turtle and pulled out its stomach by breaking its jaw and pulling its bottom jaw down. Mum held it down on its back while Sean pulled the jaw and its stomach and its intestine out without hammering through the shell. After having billy tea(Dad had three mugs of it!) we ate the goose that tasted like venison, the turtle that tasted of chewy chicken, the damper that was better that Coles(supermarket)bread and the Barramundi that tasted lovely on damper! After tidying up we went back to Patsy's place and tried to say good bye to her in her language, but we failed! Back in Cooinda we said thanks to Sean and went in to bar and had a drink with the Irish men and then I was tired and I went to bed!
Jack

Bungle Bungles

Jack Here: After the five hour drive from Kununurra we arrived in The Bungle Bungles in the Purnululu National park. We arrived at the non generating campsite and set up and started up generator because the caravan had low batteries! The Bungle Bungles are big rock formations that are rounded and are black and orange stripes. White people didn't know about it until 20 years ago! The next day we set out and went to Picinnini Creek to a lookout over the Bungle Bungles then we went to a natural window and rested in the shade because it was very hot (45o). After that we went to Cathedral Gorge and at the top pool there were two Water Monitors. Water Monitors are lizards that can swim and are about two to three feet long! We dipped our feet in the water and had our lunch. We walked back to the car park and into air con in the car, phew! Back at the campsite we refilled the water bottles and had a snack then we went to Echidna Chasm and it was cool (in both ways) and the chasm was 200 metres deep! In some places it was only three feet wide. Then to completely exhaust ourselves we did Mini Palms and at the end it was a great pool with a cave at the end but it was dry. I couldn't go and explore the cave because you stood on a platform on the top of a big rock. Eventually we finished all the walks in one big day. Back at the caravan we had a bucket of cold water over us to cool us down. Then sle...Zzzzz.
On the way back to Kununurra we stopped off at Zebra Rock and had a milkshake and Kate bought an elephant that was made of stripey rock. In Kununurra we camped in Invanhoe and we had two families that we were friends with and it had a great pool. Once we were all in the pool playing piggy in the middle and it was great fun! The next night we had a barbecue at the Cassiday's and then we played hide and seek with Ethan, Anna and Jack(yes another Jack). After about ten rounds of hide and seek we knew every hiding place. Then we went inside Ethan's caravan and watched National Treasure. Then slee....Zzzz.
This is fruit growing territory and the mangoes are falling from the trees. Dad wants to get a job as a mango picker or packer.
When the camper was fixed AGAIN, we left Kununurra to go east to the Northern Territory. We had to change our clocks forward one and a half hours. We stopped in Timber Creek where volunteers go out and kill Cane Toads. It's called the great Toad Muster and the government of West Australia doesn't want the toads to spread over their border. The cane toads came from America and they are horrible and ugly. They want to kill the Cane Toads because they kill goanas, snakes and crocodiles because they are poisonous. We went up and asked if we could help but it was too dangerous for children because they go out at night and there are snakes and crocodiles. We spoke to a lady who had bent down to pick up a Cane Toad and had poked her eye on a stick – she had a big bandage on it. The muster was nearly finished and they had caught thousands of toads. They collect them in big plastic bags then they gas them. Then they count the number of male and females then put them to a disposal site.

El Questro and Digger's Rest

Gary reporting. Arrived El Questro at a slow trot, crossing the Pentecost River - one of the few still with water in them at the end of the dry season. El Questro is a 1,000,000 acre station which has been developed for tourists to roam free in 4x4s up to lookout points and gorges. It has great gorge walks up the river bed(dry season) climbing over huge rocks, wading through 5' of water to continue the climb upwards. At the top there are some superb pools which you can swim in as reward, just as well too as it is humid here and always around 38o. There are fewer swimming opportunities all the time as we are in deepest croc country. Another plus point for El Questro was no flies or clegs which have been biting all the way along Gibb River.
Kate and I had a run to town one day(200kms return) as she required to see a doctor as she had sore, peeling feet. We were advised to go to the aboriginal surgery, which we did, and she was seen within ten mins. She had three doctors attending and one then phoned the state (WA) dermatologist who advised on the spot and prescribed. A terrific service for £20. The feet are getting better with icy bathing twice a day and some steroid cream. While waiting for Kate's result I enquired of a doctor about a lump on my arm, he then enquired of another doctor who prescribed the knife. Okay says I, what day? 'Now' was the reply, so onto the slab and out with the machete. 10 mins later he was dangling the cyst before my eyes. I had a great laugh in there and I am due back today to get the stitches removed. I asked if he could get the stitches set to look like a croc bite.
Back to El Q. We stayed four nights as there was no rush as we had to wait for the camper parts arriving. Met up with fellow tinks whom we had seen at the other end of Gibb River road and we managed to swap tales over a few beers and coffee. People either travel east or west so you do keep bumping into the same folk. It is a good thing as there's always a lot of advice on where to visit or avoid. I personally like to bump into Brad and Fleur as they are the proud owners of a fine espresso machine. They haven't appreciated yet that I tagged their caravan with a tracker. We aren't short of socials on our tour, no change there say the Comrie-ites.
As you might have been reading in the UK press Southern Australia is suffering from its 7th year with no rain. In sharp contrast to our expectations, up north here there's water a plenty, even at the end of 6 months of no rain in the dry season. Sprinklers run daily and there's no rush to get out of the shower. All this water is good as you sweat so easily you need to get hosed down.
Jen here to finish catch-up:
After our comfortable stay at El Q. and some great gorge walks and swims, we had to work out where to base ourselves without the camper while it was in for repair for a couple of nights. It was due to be in the workshop (100kms of rough track distant) by 7am Monday, so it seemed only right that we should book ourselves into a nice air-con room in the nearby Emma Gorge resort (still part of the vast El Q and another great natural pool spot) and the Janitor should drive the camper in while the rest of the school stayed put and made use of the facilities - the kids of course weren't so keen on the schoolwork before pool aspect! G returned by late morning and we headed cross country to Diggers Rest – a small 5k acre horse/ cattle ranch where we had booked in for a sunset ride, camp out in swags followed by a morning ride. It was roasting hot when we arrived and thought too hot for swags, so we opted for the bunkhouse (ceiling fan 1: stargazing nil).
The evening ride was glorious with the sun setting on the Cockburn ranges and such vast open spaces to aim at. Wallabies were boinging around and the horses were really frisky. The saddles were Aus. stock design with big leather lugs at the front of your thighs so you could stand up in the saddle and fling your lassoo!
The place is run by Roderick ( a leathery faced Aussie) and Alida ( an American who just called in for a couple of days riding 10 years ago – while waiting for vehicle repairs – and is still there!). We couldn't decide if the state of the kitchen and living area was the result of 10 years of 'woman's touch' on the previous, or whether Alida had gradually been worn down to these standards. Certainly I know a good number of people who would have gone hungry rather than eat anything out of the kitchen or the pans that the goats have been fed out of – environmental health meltdown! However the food was great! The following morning we were ready by 5am for the cattle muster. We decided that our horsemanship was not quite up to this so we went in the bullcatcher with Roderick. This is an ancient Landcruiser with the top taken off and a roll bar put on, plus old tyres attached to the front for 'nudging' the beasts. This was real wild west stuff as R raced round the ranch over incredibly rocky ground, over the top of termite mounds and small trees, narrowly avoiding larger trees, with the kids in the front seat and us adults 'riding' in the back, standing holding onto the rollbar and ducking and diving as appropriate. It took about 1.5 hours to round up the last of the wayward cows while the bulk of the herd had been gathered by Alida and Poppy (aboriginal help) on horseback. Back for breakfast, then the girls went for a ride while the boys went to help at the stockyard. I next saw G. splattered head to foot in blood (bulls'), as his job had been to release the gate once the horns had been cut off – (health & safety/ risk assessment meltdown!) We gave ourselves the afternoon off to go into 'town' (Wyndham – the most northerly in WA) and amazingly, in the one shop, found just the kind of shoes Kate needed for her sore feet! Don't tell the police, but the kids had a ball driving on the mud flats which are part of the dry season shortcut. Back to the ranch for another ride for the girls ( Kate had a bit of a fall but got back on), while the boys went to the billabong with Poppy and his mates for some barramundi fishing – didn't quite get enough to feed us all 'tho! Would have been easy to adjust to this way of life for a bit longer but we had to get back to civilisation and pick up the camper!!
Kate Here: Hi we went to a place a few kms out of Wyndham. It was called Diggers Rest. It is really just a old farm but there are bunk houses which you can stay in. Alida and Roderick who own the farm have 70 horses, 220 goats, 60 cows, 1 dog, 15 chickens and a frill necked lizard. If you want, Alida will take you out on a horse ride through the trees and scrub and she lets you do trots and canter. Mum was on Brownie, Dad was on Cat, Jack was on Tails, I was on Johnny and Alida was on Buddy. Johnny was a very good horse but he didn't really like another horse getting to close to his bum. It was fun going out because we could see the sun go down and the sunset was lovely and pink. Jack I don't think really liked it, well the trotting and cantering anyway. It was dark when we got back and we had a lovely tea. The next day we all got up at five because Roderick was going out to muster the new cattle he bought a few week ago (So that he could put a tag in their ear)He used an old land rover with the top ripped off. There were two tyres stuck on he front of the bull bars. He would drive at about 60 mph through trees over termite hills and knock some baby trees down. He is doing that because he is chasing his cattle towards Alida and Poppy (His helper but Poppy is a boy)Who were on horses helping. Eventually all the cattle were caught. Some of the cows had to get their horns sawn off. Dad and Jack went to help Roderick and Poppy do that and Mum and I went on a horse ride with Alida. Johnny wasn't in a very good mood that day so when we were cantering Johnny cantered over to Buddy and kicked him I couldn't stop him so then he dodged away from Buddy thinking that Buddy might kick him back and somehow, I don't know why, but I fell off and landed on my back and it got bruised so that I couldn't bend down or sit properly. Its better now though. There lots of goats and some of the baby ones played around the outdoor lounge area. They were so cute! I have some photos of them. Jack and I were allowed to feed them (Give them their milk). My favourite one was Biddy and was only 1 month old. Her mum and brother had died and Alida now looks after her.