Thursday 15 April
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| A better view of the setup under the verandah |
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| One solitary puddle remained as a reminder of last night's flood! |
We set up camp and gathered what we needed for our walk, putting on sneakers, making sure we had plenty of water, hats and some snacks. Jude has been trying to find his brown akubra hat but couldn't find it anywhere. Seems we might have misplaced it somewhere along the road.
On
the dirt road out to Kalamina Gorge there were some washouts which had
warning cones to make them more visible and still quite a few large
pools of water across the road from the recent rains but that wasn't
going to stop us, in fact Matt particularly was pretty keen for us to
drive straight through them. We did go through a few of them and ended
up with a nice coating of red/orange.
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| Driving out to Kalamina Gorge |
The gorges are given different classes of difficulty and an approximate time of completion. Kalamina is a Class 4 which means there are things you may have to climb over & some water crossings but not need your hands for pulling yourself up or letting yourself down and an approx time of completion of 1-2 hours. It's about 3.1kms return so we could easily manage that. The walk was quite pleasant and the scenery is just beautiful. Photos just don't do it justice, but there's a video a bit further down.
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| We came across this cute little fella |
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| Isn't this just beautiful? |
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| Arty photo of the dirt road in Greg's glasses |
Friday 16 April
We had a few discussions about Jude's lost hat and he thinks he remembers leaving it by a river that we had stopped at for lunch along our way up to Karijini. The only thing is that it was about 3 days ago and about 300kms away. The more we discussed it the more we thought it would be possible that it still could be there.
We took the punt and decided to travel the 300kms back down for the day. We did our morning reading and listened to a few Sherlock Holmes as we travelled and the kids occuppied themselves while we chatted.
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| The long drive back to the rest stop. |
We stopped off at Newman for some diesel and some lunch and kept going.
We finally got the the rest stop around 2.30pm and Jude hopped out first to have a look at the spot where he thought he'd left it. But unfortunately it wasn't there. :( We had hoped that it would be as we didn't think many people would pull into here. But looking at the reviews on Wikicamps some others had been through and probably taken it. Bit sad as this hat has travelled most the country with us since QLD and he bought numerous hat pins from all sort of different spots we'd stopped at to attach to the band. Thankfully he hadn't added all of them on yet so he's still got a few remaining.
We all walked through the river back and forth to see if we could feel anything along the bottom if it had been blown down stream and sunk but to no avail.
After quite a while of searching we concluded it was gone and started our journey back to Karijini.
As we drive we always keep an eye out for lizards or snakes that might be warming up on the road and take them off it necessary so they don't get run over. This time we spotted a fairly large snake in the middle of the road. So we turned back and had a closer look and sure enough it was a black headed python. It looked a little injured so we thought we would get it off the road before it got even more run over by a passing car. We found the oars from the canoe were still in the boot so Jude used one of the oars to scoop it off the road. It still managed to slither ok and hiss but still seemed a bit injured.
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| A gorgeous black-headed python |
We
were going to just leave it by the side of the road but the kids,
particularly Jude who loves snakes wanted to take it back with us to see
if the Ranger could do something about its injuries. So I pulled out
one of the shopping cooly bags and he scooped it into that. I'm not a
huge fan of snakes so was a little nervous about even bringing it in the
car in case it decided it wanted to slither out of the bag.
Anyway
it seemed to be doing ok and the kids enjoyed having it sit in the bag
by their feet with a little hole so that it could get some air and they
could peek in every now and then. The next comment from Jude was I don't
mind that I don't have my hat now that we've got a snake. Cute thing.
He was pretty disappointed about his hat but at least he could see the
positive for now.
As we traveled I tried calling ahead to Newman vet to see if they had any advice about the snake and what we should do but it had closed being close to 5pm on a Friday afternoon. I also tried calling Tom Price Vet with no response either.
So we kept it with us in the car and called into Kumarina roadhouse and asked a local about what to do with the snake. The guy said we were doing all the right things but maybe just add a hot water bottle in particularly overnight so that it get so cold. So we did that and we were back on the road.
We travelled for some time listening to some more Sherlock Holmes and Just Williams we even saw a wild donkey at one point and a few emu's but I didn't get a photo of them.
We pulled back into Newman in the evening for more diesel and to get some dinner which ended up being pizza so that we could quickly eat and keep travelling. We brought the snake out of the car to have some fresh air for a while while we eat and it didn't seem to mind just staying put with the bag lid being open.
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| Ever had a Satay Chicken pizza before? Neither had we, but it was delicious! |
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| Locals on horseback in Newman |
We got back to Karijini quite late to packed ourselves off to bed pretty quickly after such a long day of driving and made up our minds we would try and chat with the Ranger in the morning about the snake and what to do with it.
The snake was still quite happy in the cooly bag with the hot water bottle inside the van. We added a piece of flywire over the top and left the zip undone so that it could have some air but made sure it secure enough so that it couldn't slither out and roam around the van during the night.
Saturday 17 April
All
was still ok with the snake this morning. We let it out to be able to
stretch out if it wanted to but it didn't seem to want to move around
much so Greg picked it up and put it back in the bag. We thought by the
size of it it looked to be about 2-2.5 metres long. He doesn't really like being disturbed and tends to hiss quite a bit, although he hasn't tried to bite us. Pythons aren't venomous if you're not aware, they kill their prey by crushing them like a boa constrictor.
We
didn't want to leave the snake in the van while we were out today so we
went to the Caretakers to ask if they could hand it over to the Rangers
and also let them know that we would be heading into Tom Price tomorrow
if they wanted us to take it to the Vet there and or anything. We would
have liked to hand it over ourselves but Rangers are busy people
sometimes out very early to check out the different Gorges to make sure
it's safe for everyone, rescuing people if necessary (which did happen
only a few days before we got there, sadly the man ended up dying from
his injuries after his fall), cleaning toilets, collect fees if
necessary, make sure people have their relevant passes for the parks,
anyway I think you get the point that Rangers are busy and hard to track
down.
The weather has turned out beautiful again so today is going to be a big day because all the Gorges are open so we hope to visit as many as we can.
First on the list being Weano as this is the furtherest away and has the hardest climb apparently (parts of it are a class 6 which means both hands and both feet).
I'll let you enjoy the video and let the beautiful scenery speak for itself.
After
our long day out visiting 3 Gorges we were all wondering what had ended
up happening to the snake. (Now named Diesel by Jude) We pulled into
the Rangers quarters to see if we could speak to anyone but couldn't
find anyone. So we headed back to the campground. On our way in we
happened to spot one of the Rangers we had seen in the park during the
day heading the other way so spun around to see if we could catch him
and chat. It took a few minutes to catch up but we eventually were able to
get him to pull over but he didn't have much to report and didn't know
where the snake was as yet. So we went back to the campground and caught
up with the Caretakers and had a lovely chat with them and much to our
surprise the snake was still with them. They said that the Ranger had
spoken to them and was quite happy for us to keep the snake and take it
with us to Tom Price if we were heading that way as it seemed quite
happy and comfortable with us. The kids were delighted (especially Jude)
to be able to have some more time up close to the snake as he's been
wanting a snake for ages and hopes to get one when we are back home.
We
got back to the van and let Diesel have a stretch again while I made
dinner. It kept trying to tuck itself into different little pockets and
hide but it only seemed to hide its head.
After
having dinner and while the kids were doing dishes Bek walked down to
the loo. (I wouldn't normally report on these things, but...) She was back
pretty soon after letting us know that she was pretty sure she had seen
another python in the toilet roof shed but a much smaller snake. So we
all wandered down there with our head torches and a chair and all piled
into the one loo and sure enough it was another python but much smaller
(must have looked awfully funny to onlookers but oh well we were having
fun). Jude hopped onto Greg's shoulders and pulled the snake down and
handed it to Bek. We all of course wanted to hold it. It was very cute
(as much as snakes can be cute) probably because of its size more than
anything.
So
back to the van with another snake. I pulled out ANOTHER shopping cooly
bag and we put it inside we now had to find something to allow air to
come in over night but also another bottle we could put warm water into.
I worked out we had a washing bag that was open weave enough for air
but not so open that it could squeeze it's way out pegged it all around
and it was all secure.
Sunday 18 April - Karijini to Tom Price
Today the Ranger came to visit us to chat about the snake and to let us know some numbers of possible snake Carers in Tom Price or some other contact details of others we may be able to get into contact with to ask what to do with the large of the pythons.
We
thought he would come quite early but he obviously had jobs to do so
while we waited we packed up the van and enjoyed having holds of the
little python (named Diana), and also even let it slither through our hair. It's such
an unusual feeling.
Jude also let Diesel out onto his bed in the morning sun for him to warm
up. (We aren't sure if its a male or not but he's named it Diesel
anyway.) He let Jude get quite close and didn't hiss at him after a while and just relaxed. Jude was in his element.
Diesel even had a bit of a slither around once he'd warmed up enough and also we needed to pack up the end of the van that he was lying in. So he discovered that he could wrap himself around one of the curtain rods and rest his head on Matt soft blanket. Jude was getting quite comfortable with him by now so wanted to have a quick hold before putting him back in the bag before the Ranger came.
The Ranger ended up coming close to 9.30am and we chatted with him for a while about the condition of the snake and what he thought might have attacked the snake and what would be the best course of action. We had originally thought it might have been run over but it didn't seem squashed in any way but the Ranger said he thought maybe a dingo or a hawk had had a go at it which seemed a lot more plauseable. He seemed to think it would have a good chance of surviving and suggested if we were happy to take it with us to Tom Price he was happy to let us do so and gave us some numbers of people to contact when we got there.
As far as the little snake, he said it was a Stimson's python, which is great because it's exactly the type of snake Jude wants to get when he's back. Diana's temperament is very different to Diesel's, and it was amazing how quickly the big black-headed python ceased to be the celebrity when friendly Diana turned up! Everyone wanted a hold and she'd just explore around quite placidly, whereas Diesel behaved like a cranky old man who didn't want to be disturbed!
Diana was released back at the toilet block.
Once
we'd finished with the Ranger we wanted to visit Dales Gorge again to
have a swim at Fern Pool as this spot was just beautiful.
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| Isn't this just beautiful? |
As
you sit on the platfrom to hop into the water heaps of little fish come
and nibble at your toes it's such a weird ticklish sensation. Funnily
enough they don't seem to come near you when you swim out further it's
just around the platform area where you get in and out.
Jude found another lizard that he wanted to catch and hold but this little fella was way to quick. It fell down that hole just behind it in a split second of Jude's hand moving closer.
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| I just love all the different rock layers |
After some time chatting with other fellow travellers at Fern Pool, we had lunch and made our way to Tom Price where I did some food shopping and we contacted some snake carers and found a man who said we could drop it to him pretty well straightaway. So after putting away all the shopping we headed around to his house and he took a quick look at the snake and said he was happy to take it and look after it and then release it back into the wild once he thought it was all better. It seemed such a sudden end to our snake adventures to just have someone else take over the care of the snake now but it was best as we don't have a snake license or a proper terrarium for it with heat lamps.
We made our
way to get some diesel in the industrial area because this was where
cheaper fuel was. We've used this sorts of self serve places before but
not with such grand mountains behind with an awesome setting sun.
We drove towards the setting sun for a while as we were hoping to go along a road that would cut of a considerable amount of time across to Coral Bay but when we got there the road was totally blocked off so we had to go all the way back into Tom Price and then down towards Paraburdoo.
But firstly because it was getting quite late we got some dinner quickly from the local Chicken Treat store. I could see it on google maps but when we go to where it was meant to be we found it was just a van but it didn't matter it still provided us with dinner.
As we drove out we quickly popped into the Shell service station in Tom Price to grab some nice cold drinks as it had been a warm day and our fridge was having trouble keeping its temperature down.
As the kids and I were waiting in the car we watched a truck pull out. It was B-triple. As he moved out I saw that he had bumped into a post that was fairly close to one of the fuel pumps and he had braked. I thought he was going to reverse and then come back so he had enough room to get around but he just kept driving and smashed into the post more I then held our horn down but he just continued to keep driving and pulled part of the pump apart and drove off. We couldn't quite believe this was happening so I ran up to the window to alert the Service station man who promptly pushed the emergency stop button just in case. I wish we had the foresight to have got his number plate but in the stress and disbelief of the moment it passed all to quickly and he was gone. I think its the first time the kids have witnessed something like that also so it was chatted about for a while in the car after that.
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| The damaged fuel pumps from a careless B-triple driver |
There ends our adventures in and around Karijini and surrounding areas!
--- Greg & Mim
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