Dear Friends,
I arrived home yesterday morning after another month in Australia's
glorious Outback. Thank goodness it's a very pleasant 25C here in
Ballarat today, so I don't have to do too much acclimatizing.
A month up north will always yield some exciting adventures and this
year was no exception. I suppose the most dramatic occurred on the
night of Friday Feb 2nd. For those of you who are unfamiliar with
Australia's climatic zones, our Northern Territory is currently in
the grip of its Wet season and consequent monsoons. How I love their
thunder storms. That night though the heavy rain started about 6:00
p.m. with very little in the way of thunder and lightning - shuts
solid walls of water cascading down. It just didn't stop and if
anything increased in volume and noise as the night progressed.
Some time before Picaninny Dawn I woke and could hear the roar of our
little Burrell Creek. Could hardly wait for daylight to see just how
much it had risen. Another couple were staying with us and her
brother was out here on holiday from Germany. He's a Warrant Officer
in the Army and at 44 yrs and 6''6" doesn't speak much English. He
was sleeping in what is commonly known as the "Guest House" - a
concrete slab with a roof, walls made from shade cloth and a doorway.
At 3:00 a.m. he rolled over and thought the roof was leaking.
However, when he put his legs over the side of the bed he could feel
the strong current of the creek up to his knees. To make matters
worse, you have to realize that this was in total darkness (no
electricity) and the house would have been crawling with snakes, cane
toads and the odd crocodile!
Somehow or other he managed to wade to the other donga where his
sister was staying and roused her along with her partner. They
grabbed torches and got back to his spot where they were just in time
to rescue his bag (containing his passport) as it floated out the
doorway! The poor bloke was naturally in shock and everything single
thing he owned was saturated. He managed to squeeze himself into a
pair of my trousers and a T shirt. At least the temperature didn't
get below 27C overnight, so coldness was not an issue. I am currently
making a Power Point of the flood and its subsequent damage.
The invasion of cane toads is now unstoppable, and whereas last year
we were catching about 2 or 3 per night, this year it was more like
13 - 20. Viv now has cages to put the night's haul in. Then next
morning I had to dong them on the head with a heavy iron mallet. You
have to ensure the toad is lying on its back when doing this or
otherwise you can easily get squirted in the eyes with their venom.
The bodies are then buried. They are hideous revolting poisonous
creatures and already many of the native species have disappeared
from Viv's block in just 15 months since their arrival. These include
Quolls (native cat); goannas, water monitors, freshwater crocodiles;
Western Chestnut mice; black footed tree-rats etc. etc. Fortunately
(or some might say unfortunately) the pythons seem to be tolerant.
You may recall that about 3 years ago I had the honour of
entertaining a 12 foot python in my bed one night. Well this year his
little grandchild made his appearance - luckily only about 5 feet
long. He's a stunner.
Of course I managed to obtain the now obligatory nude lace making
photos, with nothing untoward visible. So if anyone's interested in
seeing them or those of the flood, let me know. The flood ones will
be a large Power Point though.
Viv also has a new nightly visitor which is a Melomys Burtoni - a
little native trimmer about half way between a mouse and a rat in
size. It would spend an hour or so in the bottom of the cocky's cage
cleaning up the sunflower seeds, and was not the least bit perturbed
by a gentle pat or the flash from a camera.
It's good to be back, but will take some days to establish my old
routines again. First off, I MUST commence practising
Vaughan-Williams' "In Windsor Forest" for a concert in July.
Bye now
Love
David in Ballarat
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