Experiences

Stretching our limits

Now, I love driving and having spent time in the top end and regional areas I'm not new to being off-road. We've also got a 50mm lift and full under car protection.

So, as we neared Mt Elizabeth station we looked into visiting Bachsten camp via the Munja Track. We were advised not to take the camper trailer and instead booked in to stay in one of the camps cabins. 'It's 7-8 hrs' we were told.
So we set off, allowing 8 - 9 hrs of daylight. After stopping to view some rock art, and to find and recover the Go-pro after it's mount snapped and it fell off, we soon realised that we were way behind schedule.
And then we met the first of three jump ups.

Returning up the Magpie jump up on the Munja Track

Returning up the Magpie jump up on the Munja Track

For the uninitiated, essentially a jump up is a steep, rocky incline/ascent into or out of a gully area. The three on the Munja track were about 3-5 kms from entry to exit. Now I can honestly say that had I known just how rough they were I probably would not have ventured forth. Certainly as we're approached the Magpie jump up the words 'Steph, I'm not sure this was such a good idea!' passed my lips. And of course it was foremost in our minds that we also had to return!

So with sweat on our brows and fear in our hearts we lurched forward metre by metre, often with one person directing via radio from in front of the car. Amazingly we got there and back relatively unscathed. 

The trip over ended up taking us 10 hrs  to cover the 140km and Steph bravely 'soldiered' on in the dark with me hanging a torch out the side window to be able to see around sharp corners. Coming back we managed 8.5 hrs! (The owner takes 6 hrs btw).

Was it worth it you ask? Absolutely!

 

Synchronous fishing

Yesterday we visited Parrys Lagoon up near Wyndham, a wonderful wetland teaming with birdlife.

Apart from a few loners, the pelicans spent the entire time fishing together as a group, swimming in one direction until one put its head under and the rest followed, then swimming back as a group in another direction. Very funny to watch. Almost like a training exercise.

Pelicans fishing

Pelicans fishing

Stowaways

Living in a confined space for an extended length of time has it's challenges, but one we didn't really count on was sharing it with other critters.

Early on in the trip, while traveling with Kathie, we managed to pick up some ants that decided the folds of canvas might make a good nest. Thankfully we dealt with them fairly easily and quickly..

Some time after leaving Broome we noticed a bag of bread rolls had been chewed into. The following night in the same location Steph put out his infrared camera which revealed a mouse. The way it looked and moved suggested a run of the mill town mouse. And we moved on. A day or two later I lifted the bed to access clothes and there it was, up in the battery compartment but with easy access to our clothes for a cosy nest. Not much we could do being out of town but a visit to the hardware in Fitzroy Crossing soon fixed the problem. Poor little guy.

About this time I started smelling more thing bad under the bed and assumed it was the mouse. When it continued to worsen after catching the mouse I though it may have left babies somewhere (heaven forbid).

The next day I set about locating the source. It didn't take long to track it to Steph's undies/socks box where treasures are also carefully packed. A black plastic parcel had a chewed spot in it; it looked like the mouse had tried to access what ever was inside (which I couldn't remember at that point).

it turned out not to be something trying to get in, but something trying to get out! Up at One Arm Point on the Dampier Peninsular we had visited a trochus hatchery where the son of our camp hosts worked.  We bought 2 beautiful polished shells there.

Polished trochus shell

Polished trochus shell

Now at this point I know you think it was the shellfish and that they had sold us a live shell, but no. As I unwrapped the parcel I found a shriveled up hermit crab that somehow had taken up residence, stayed hidden on their table of sale items, and then got wrapped up on purchase and had sadly died under our bed!