Once bitten…….
Sunday, October 22nd, 2006Our drive continued up an interior road to Cairns…
One afternoon we stopped at a picnic area for lunch (as we often do since they are so plentiful here) and we proceded to set up our regular ‘crackers and cheese’ under a shelter. Suddenly, from what appeared to be out of nowhere, there was a huge snake (between 3-4ft) travelling across the concrete floor! I noticed it first, was dumbstruck and at a loss for words, and motioned to Jim to “look!!”, and of course he was floored! The snake was moving quite slowly across the concrete floor, unable to get a good grip, so I ran to the car (the long way around the snake I might add) to get the camera. When I returned it was at the grass and was gone in a flash as it was able to manipulate much faster on familiar territory. We got a really good look at it (unfortunately my picture is when it is in the grass and it is hard to see) and upon further investigation we learned that it was none other than a brown snake….a highly venomous creature that can get quite aggressive if it so desires.
That reminds me…Jim has been bitten – not by a snake – but we aren’t sure by what. One late afternoon we were sitting on a wooden bench at a National Park when Jim felt something on the back of his thigh. He described the sensation as “a hair being pulled out” and didn’t think much of it until it started to burn a few minutes later. Upon inspection, I found a large (loonie sized), raised, red welt had developed and did not look good. We doctored it up – cleaned it and put some cooling ointment on it – and hoped for the best. Next day it didn’t look a whole lot better – we started to get concerned that he might lose his leg or something. You see, some spider bites look okay for the 1st few days, but that’s before the skin starts to slough off on day 4, and before you know it gangarene or some crazy phenomenon has set in. Anyways, we hoped with any luck that it would heal, and now on the 5th day, it looks much better. Phew! We still don’t know what bit him, likely an ant, but it reminds us of all the dangerous creatures that surround us!
The National Park that we were at was Carnarvon NP – what a great place! The road getting there was rough…about a 27km dirt/gravel road off the main track, but surprisingly there were a number of cars that had done the trek in like us. The campground really was in the bush, but it had amenities (running water, cook shelter) which was nice. During the hot afternoons there were many Eastern Grey Kangaroos lazing around the camp, dozing in and out of sleep. Right now, because of the drought in the area, there is not much for them to eat and unfortunately many of them are quite thin and scraggly looking. But, there are areas around the camp and visitor centre that are watered and thus the roos tend to hang out on this greenery and it provides them with a bit to eat. Pretty faced (or whip-tail) wallabies are also in the area, and although they are a little more skittish than the Eastern Greys we saw a number of them as well. It was also in this park that we were introduced to our first Aboriginal rock art – tracings and carvings along sandstone walls. The tracings were mostly of hands and boomerangs, but the carvings were a little more….shall I say, interesting? One carving in the area much outnumbers all the others – in fact it is all over the rock face. It reminded me of something, but I never spoke what was on my mind. Jim, however, also was reminded of something, and he immediately said, “geez, they sure look like vaginas”! Sure enough, that is exactly what they were. They are carvings of vulvas, and they are literally all over the rock. Makes you wonder what was on their minds all the time…..
Our main goal while at this park was to find a wild platypus. The afternoon we arrived we went for a walk to scope out the best place to see them. You see, platypi (plural for platypus) are out feeding only at dawn and dusk. We found a good spot that we planned on returning to the next morning. While there, Jim spotted none other than an echidna!! They are wonderful creatures – shy and so very interesting looking. We managed to get close to it, but it got scared and wedged itself under a bush, but as we sat waiting for it to come out of hiding, Jim found another and got some close up shots of it. Funny little creatures – covered in spikes intermingled with fur, egg layers, milk producers, have pouches for their young, and are monotremes (along with platypi).
Next morning we were up at 5am to go on our platypus hunt. We were the only ones up it seemed, and we quickly headed to our ‘viewing site’. We stood, waiting in silence until Jim whispered….’there’s one!’ Sure enough, one emerged from the murky water to swim on the surface for a few seconds, then plunged again into darkness. We stayed at the site for about an hour, and we watched two platypi surface, swim around the reeds, and dive. It was so peaceful there – no one else showed up for the show – we had our own private viewing! We have since told some Australians that we saw them, and they are amazed….they have never seen them in the wild!
The interior road we travelled much of the way up to Cairns we have unfortunately nicknamed – ‘kangaroo carnage road’. At times, there were 2-3 carcasses every 100meters. Travelling at dawn and dusk can be extremely risky. Hitting a kangaroo is not only a death sentence for them, but can also be quite harmful to drivers. We stopped the car for one carcass because Jim thought it was a lizard…sure enough it was a huge goanna! So, once again, our first goanna was a dead one. While in the Mission Beach area just before Cairns, we were then warned that Cassowaries cross the road, and again, drivers must take care not to hit them. We took a stroll in the rainforest to try and find one of these dinosaur-aged looking birds, but were unsuccessful. We hope to see them when we reach Daintree National Park in the next couple of days.
Currently we are in Cairns, which is quite a nice place for a city. Much smaller than Sydney, and we find it much less intimidating. Although we find it still to be quite urban, the people who live here actually get money from the government for living so far north! Upon arrival in Cairns we met up with my Uncle’s stepdaughter, Ngaire (pronounced Naree) and were welcomed to stay at her place with her flat mate Dave. We again were spoiled with our own tour guides for a couple of days, and had a wonderful bed to sleep in. It has been fabulous hanging out with them, and we hope to do so again when we pass through Cairns again in a week or so.
The weather is good – rained a bit this am, but it was short and the rest of the day was beautiful. Spent the morning in Port Douglas at a market where we bought some terrific fruit and veggies, and browsed through local arts and wares. Since coming north it has become more humid, and the temperature has increased. The breeze is nice off the ocean, and we have enjoyed our meals at Ngaire’s place on the balcony. The stingers (box jellyfish and Irukanji) are not yet in, but will likely be here in a week or so as the rains increase and they are swept/blown in from the mangrove areas. Crocs are in the area, but we have not gone looking for one yet. I’m sure we’ll see one soon – but hopefully we will be well out of ‘lunge distance’.
So now we leave our new friends Ngaire and Dave (a big thanks to them for their wonderful hospitality) to continue north – next stop Daintree National Forest.
Kristin