Feb 2007

Woke up this morning covered in bites. All over my back, bum and back of my legs. I slept on my back so must have been something in the bed with me. They looked like sandfly bites but I didn't see anything so I can't be sure. There were so many, and they were so itchy, I spent the next few days munching antihistermines.

This morning we continued along the Matilda Highway, passing the township of Normanton. Normanton's claim to fame is one of it's residence caught the biggest croc ever caught at 28 feet in length. A replica and plaque stands proud on the main road. Apart from that, it has a petrol station and 5 or 6 shops along one road.

The next stop was to collect firewood from the side of the road for tonight's campfire. Back to the bus with hundreds of km's to go... we saw Brolga birds and an Ergo bird, which are really rare (they are the only indigenous stalk in Oz).

We also stopped at the Burke & Wills roadhouse for a quick drink with locals before setting up a bbq at the picturesque Gregory River. We had a quick swim there before making our way to Lawn Hill National Park(Boodjamulla). Here we hired canoes. It was awsome, we canoed through a gorge with 60 metre sheer sandstone cliffs on either side and crystal clear green water with tropical plants. After a leisurely 30 minute canoe we came to a dead end, and waterfall. Everyone parked their canoes and went swimming under the waterfall, it was like a jacuzzi and the water was so warm. We looked out for snakes and fresh water crocs which live there but didn't see any.

Tonights accommodation was at Adels Grove, a camping ground in the middle of nowhere. After dinner, pre-prepared for us in the bar we set up our campfire. There's no light pollution this far out so the stars were so bright. Alan walked us to the nearby airstrip (all 'stations' have their own small airstrips, basically a small strip of land that they must keep clear by keeping the grass down or repairing holes in concrete etc incase the flying doctor is needed). We all layed on our backs and Alan taught us how to spot the Southern Cross and find South from the stars. We watched the sky in silence and saw shooting stars and satalites moving about. I love it!

Dodging the hundreds of cane toads on the walk back to the campfire, some of the guys pestered Alan to take them croc hunting. So we all walked down to the nearby river with a few torches between us. Morgan spotted a snake, which turned out to be a Taipan - the most poisonous snake in the world. We all had a good look and carried on to the river. We shone the torches at the opposite bank of the river hoping to find 2 orange eyes reflecting back at us, but nothing and after 20 minutes we followed Alan back to the campfire.

Alan was tired and although he had a dormitory bed chose to sleep outside next to the fire in his swag. He fell asleep and we carried on chatting for a bit longer before hitting the sack ourselves.

In my canoe