Sunday 7th June, 2009
Paraku (
Lake Gregory ) Via Balgo and
Mulan20 10 53.73 127 32 11.63 Od. 206957
Michaels Black Headed Python (the wet one)
There was great excitement about the
camp this morning as just before departure, Michael J went for s stroll into a small gully running south from our plateau
campsite for a last minute leak. While standing quietly relieving himself he glanced to his right and realised he was urinating on a 7 foot snake that was not exactly happy about the warm bath.
Well Michael reckoned it stopped him in mid stream and all appendages automatically retracted into his body as he leapt backwards and headed the short few metres back
A western desert wriggle stick!
to the
campsite hollering and shouting. The culprit turned out to be a fine specimen of a black headed python. They are very similar in colour and shape to the Woma, in fact close relations but for the black head. This particular fellow was in prime condition at more than 2 metres long and as thick as a coke can in the middle. He was fairly non-plussed about the early morning sprinkle and provided some great photo and video opportunities. Still being cold he was a bit sluggish but could move
well enough when he wanted to. That was the fourth snake in two days. More than I’ve seen in the past 4 years of outback travel. Michael’s rude shock certainly adds new meaning to the old Australian euphemism of “Syphoning the python”.
The Palotine Headlands
We had roughly 50 kilometres of travel north to reach Balgo and being a Sunday we expected everything to be shut. The countryside was again wide open spinifex plains and occasional rises until we could see the Pallotine headland in the distance slightly to our west. As we drove closer, we realised that we had ever so slowly been climbing
View across the red bluffs to the Pallotine Headland
to find ourselves on a ridge line looking across a wide valley with the Pallotine Headlands on the far side. The vista was amazing. Flat topped mesa and worn
pinnacle stood out in the valley between the two promontories, and the cliffs on our side were rugged and dotted with caves. A sure footed wallaby bounded up the
rock face and away when we arrived. I was also blessed with a mob of
brumbies running across the plains below galloping into the distance. The colours were incredible added to by the mottled effect of the occasional clouds. The backdrop to our vehicles that were parked on the edge of the ridgeline was stunning. The wind was whipping about making it hard to offer commentary on the video camera.
Very Picturesque countryside
We were also shocked to find that we had Telstra 3G coverage so everyone got busy making phone calls as we bunched up and drove into Balgo. The Palotine monks had a tight grip on Balgo until the present day so you would expect it to be functioning a little better than many other communities. Outwardly it appeared as any other but being a Sunday,
Roadside water as the Hummer thunders west to Mulan
there wasn’t much movement. After getting a little bamboozled in the town and heading out to the
airstrip, we eventually found the road to
Mulan. We took morning tea by the track just west of town before heading the 38 corrugated kilometres to
Mulan. There were large tracts of water by the roadside in many
places. We reached
Mulan at 10:30 a.m. and went to the
general store where Peter fixed us up with fuel and camping permits for Paraku and Handover. Diesel was a mighty $2.80 per litre so it was very expensive taking on 103 litres.
No free killer - What's that all about?
Our local guide then showed us out to
Lake Gregory and the
camping area at Handover. Once in recent memory this might have been on the shores of the lake but over the past 5 years,
Fuelling up at Mulan - $2.80 per litre...OUCH!
the lack of rain coupled with the obvious shallow waters have caused the lake to recede several kilometres. Our intended waterside
camp was in fact a good 2 km from the the lakes current muddy shoreline. The
camp area has several shade shelters and rudimentary drop dunnies on top of which sit 44 gallon drums with a hole cut in the top (the seats having long perished in the sun). It is surrounded by grassland and white gums. No firewood and the
water tank was empty. “Yeah we’ll get that filled for you” our guide de’ campe informed us. I won’t be holding my breath. The grass and spinifex are punctuated by the ubiquitous red
termite mounds.
Heading in to the Handover campsite at Paraku
After set-up it was a lazy afternoon with a nana nap and book reading in the afternoon. A frenzy of wood gathering saw a nice supply of exceptionally dry eucalypt, the best timber we’d had in days. Dinner around the fire followed by a few tall tales and cool beverages. T’ was a full moon that rose in the early evening just as the sun was setting in the west. Both spectacular. The night silence was broken only by the wind and the occasional honking of swans in their nocturnal flights to
places unknown.
A magnificent moon at Paraku