Giants, Snakes and Tiny Wallabies

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The wind was back with a vengeance this morning and it seems to be a crosswind. This caravan park is pretty basic and not the sort of place you want to hang about for long so Barry decided to chance it and head towards the next town – Aileron. It has a caravan park where we could stay if he was finding it too difficult to drive, otherwise we planned to continue on to Alice Springs.

We packed up and headed south, with the ute struggling to stay at the optimum revs when in top gear, as the crosswind was hitting us on a front corner – not as bad as a headwind but not good. It didn’t sound really happy. At least we weren’t having any trouble staying on the road. We saw a couple of the long road trains with their high-sided trailers weaving a little as they approached. Bit worrying – that. I’d hate to be driving a caravan in this wind.

We made it to Aileron and could see the feature of this stop as soon as we turned off the highway. There was a huge statue of an Aboriginal man holding a spear standing on top of the hill behind the roadhouse. Below, on the ground near the car park, were the rest of his family – a woman and young girl. The woman had speared a goanna which was rearing up in front of her. The artist, Mark Egan, had wanted to put them all on the hill but this would have broken a taboo so they were separated.

There was also a smaller tribal man next to the entrance of the roadhouse, as well as two colourful goannas sitting up on their hind legs – one with a pink bra on! Inside, we bought a snack and a large cold bottle of Lift to have while we looked around and tried to decide whether to go or stay. There was a very nice collection of paintings by Albert Namatjira and some of his family members. I’m not sure how many were prints and how many were originals as they were quite high up on the walls. Some definitely looked like originals. Either way, I enjoyed looking at them.

We then went for a walk to look at the campground. It was dusty, not good in this wind, and very basic. It didn’t appeal to either of us so Barry decided to push on to Alice Springs.

Unfortunately, the wind changed to even more on our nose so we weren’t going as fast as usual and we were gobbling up a lot more fuel. We finally made it to the Alice and made our way to the G’Day Mate Caravan Park (yes, that’s really its name). We booked in for three nights and got set up, gratefully.

The park has lots of trees and nice grassy sites, much better than Aileron for a windy day. We had a late lunch and then went to look at the town and see if the Tourist Information Centre was still open. It was, just, and was due to close in ten minutes. We got a quick rundown of the things to see and then drove up to Anzac Hill Lookout to get the panorama of the city and Macdonnell Ranges. The side overlooking the town did nothing for me but Barry liked it. I preferred the other side, with fewer buildings and more landscape.

When we’d booked in, the Caravan Park Manager had told us about a cheap roast dinner at the Heavitree Gap Outback Tavern just up the road and recommended getting there by 5.30pm as there was a Live Reptile Show and we’d need good seats to see it. It was already past that so we came back to the van and parked the ute, then walked to the Tavern. The meal was only $12.90 each and we were given three different meats, pork, lamb and beef, beautifully cooked, and lots of it. You helped yourself to the cooked vegetables so you could have as much as you wanted.

We didn’t manage to get a table near the stage, as we were later than planned, but we were lucky enough to be able to move closer soon after the show started. It was given by a very fast talking Ranger from the Alice Springs Reptile Centre. He showed us a few lizards and talked about them. One was a Blue-Tongued Lizard, but bigger and of a lighter colour than we have in Melbourne. Another was a Shingleback Lizard, with a knobbly skin and a large knob at the tail end that looked like another head. This is a deliberate strategy to confuse predators and scare them off thinking it has two heads. The illusion is enhanced by the ability it has to turn its back legs 180⁰ around so that the feet appear to be the correct way round for the back “head”. It can’t move like that but it can easily switch them back. Ain’t camouflage amazing!

We also saw a Brown Snake, more properly called a Mulga Snake, we were told, as they are rarely brown. He told us how lucky we are to live in Australia as our snakes, although some of the most venomous in the world, only have small teeth which won’t penetrate a pair of boots or pants (trousers for the Poms). They also have difficulty seeing a still animal and can’t detect body heat, unlike most other nations’ snakes, so all you have to do if you see one is stand still and quiet until it has passed. Another reason why only a couple of people die a year from snake bite in Oz is the Snake Bite Kit, developed here at great cost, which is used to swab the bite area and then can detect what type of venom it is so the correct anti-venine can be administered. Australia is evidently the only country in the world to have this kit and when I asked him later why it wasn’t in more places, he said it cost $2,000 for each kit, which is used once, and most countries couldn’t afford it. I’m not convinced by that argument – you’d think some countries could buy it.

The Ranger told us that 20,000 people die every year from snake bite in Sri-Lanka (almost as many as we have living in our country – 23,000) and 50,000 die yearly in India. He said the World Health Organisation has now classified snake bite as an epidemic disease so that it qualifies to receive funds to help combat the problem. If he’s correct, those figures are horrendous. As he said, we’re lucky we live in Oz.

The last part of his show was introducing us to Tom, the 9 year old Olive Python (they can live to 40 years, so he’s young). He talked about Tom’s 80 sharp, but small teeth that could still give a nasty bite even though not venomous, and about what he eats. The python can separate his lower jaw bones and has very flexible skin covering it so it stretches to fit large animals, like a possum, in his mouth. Once the food is down in his throat and clear of his mouth, he yawns which reconnects the two parts of the lower jaw. He also explained that snakes don’t like their heads touched and should always be handled on an open hand so they can back out if they want to. A squeeze will prompt a retaliation.

At the end of the show, he had all the kids (who wanted to) line up from shortest to tallest and then he put Tom’s head onto the shoulder of the shortest and encouraged him to move across from person to person up the line (Tom doesn’t like going downhill). As he reached the last child he asked if any adults wanted to join the line. I’d been taking photos and was quite close to the end of the line. A man behind me pushed me forward and said, “She will”. When I turned around to see who’d pushed me, he laughed and said, “Only kidding.” I replied that I like snakes and would happily be first in the adult queue and stood next to the tall lad. Tom came across my shoulder and his head came down a bit further as he investigated my blue camera in my hand. He then moved on to another man (not the brave soul who’d pushed me forward!) and across several other adults. This meant that I now had the heavy end on my shoulders. He was certainly muscly and, when I stroked him, lovely and soft and warm, as I knew he would be.

Barry then came up to join the line and was the last. There were four people with him draped around them but the Ranger had disappeared to supervise the kids who wanted to touch the lizards. He was gone at least 10 minutes, by which time the four Tom-holders were getting tired of standing there. Tom seemed to have fallen asleep as he wasn’t moving and was enjoying the warm bodies under him. The Ranger eventually returned and took Tom to his thermal box.

While he was packing up, he mentioned the Rock Wallabies nearby and told us that we could see them in the Caravan Park attached to the Tavern and even buy food to give them from the reception. We thanked him and headed straight to the hill he’d told us about.

We were a bit late arriving as it was completely dark and everyone had already left. We could see the Rock Wallabies, though, picking away at something on the ground between the rocks and even on the edge of the car park. They blended in very well in the dark, despite the area being lit, and were really small, cute and pretty. We watched them for a while and I tried to take a few photos without the flash, most no good. Barry went to see what they were eating and found pellets, like chicken feed. They were very dry but the wallabies obviously loved them. We decided to leave them to it once the mosquitoes started on me. We’ll have to come back earlier tomorrow and see them in better light and maybe feed them.

Oh yes, and the wind has finally dropped!

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Photos

The Aboriginal Sculptures at Aileron
The man is just as tall as his wife but is far away up the hill. Mark Egan, the artist, wanted all the figures to be together up there but was told they couldn't stand with him for cultural reasons so she and her daughter have hunted the goanna at ground level.

Aileron's Outback Camels
This mother wandered across the paddock to get her young one who had been drinking from the water trough below the windmill.

Wonderful Wattles
These lovely wattle trees kept appearing along the Stuart Highway in patches and then there would be none for a while. There are several different species here. You can also see the Davenport Ranges (I think) in the background.

The Desert Blooms ...
and it hasn't even rained! I have always wanted to see the desert bloom and was very surprised at how many plants and shrubs were flowering as we cam along Stuart Highway. The flowers tend to be small and a bit spread out, but they're there if you look carefully.

The MacDonnell Ranges
These mountains were a lovely pink colour as we approached Alice Springs. It made a change from the usual red soil.

Tom Snoozing on Some Warm Shoulders
Barry (head end) and three others were the end of a long line that this Olive Python had crawled across. His thick body is quite heavy and his skin is lovely and warm and soft. The Ranger left him too long and he fell asleep.

Rock Wallabies at Heavitree Gap
These pretty and well camouflaged wallabies were finishing off any pellets they could find from what people had fed them earlier. They come down from the hill each dusk to be fed.