Day 2 - Ninghan Station to Mount Magnet

4/3/2011

First light is around 5:30am. It's now almost 6am and the sun hasn't even crossed the horizon, but I'm already being hounded by flies. Dawn chorus is only just firing up, with the tinkle of yellow-rumped thornbills and the caroling of magpies. Most of what I'm hearing is the whine of mosquitos and the buzz of flies.

Sunrise at Ninghan Station Crappy camera doesn't capture the light properly.

Last night I discovered that even a slight wind is almost too much for the camp stove to handle. And it doesn't get anywhere near hot enough quick enough. My piece of kangaroo was still quite rare in the middle, but tough because I had to cook it for ages to even get to that stage. I think I'll wait until I can use a BBQ or camp kitchen to cook the rest. The water for my asparagus never boiled, so it was still quite crunchy - that's no big issue for me though. At least the water got hot enough that it was quite useful for washing the dishes afterwards.

( More of today's adventures - BJ gets bogged and has to take a loooong walk. )

( Today's Bird List )

See more photos from today here.

Day 2 - Ninghan Station to Mount Magnet

4/3/2011

First light is around 5:30am. It's now almost 6am and the sun hasn't even crossed the horizon, but I'm already being hounded by flies. Dawn chorus is only just firing up, with the tinkle of yellow-rumped thornbills and the caroling of magpies. Most of what I'm hearing is the whine of mosquitos and the buzz of flies.

Sunrise at Ninghan Station Crappy camera doesn't capture the light properly.

Last night I discovered that even a slight wind is almost too much for the camp stove to handle. And it doesn't get anywhere near hot enough quick enough. My piece of kangaroo was still quite rare in the middle, but tough because I had to cook it for ages to even get to that stage. I think I'll wait until I can use a BBQ or camp kitchen to cook the rest. The water for my asparagus never boiled, so it was still quite crunchy - that's no big issue for me though. At least the water got hot enough that it was quite useful for washing the dishes afterwards.

( More of today's adventures - BJ gets bogged and has to take a loooong walk. )

( Today's Bird List )

See more photos from today here.

Road Trip Day 3 - Mount Magnet to Nallan Station

5/3/2011

Oh. My. God. These flies are going to drive me absolutely insane! Repellent does nothing, and some of them bite. And soon the mozzies will be out. On the bright side, I just discovered that a family of Grey-Crowned Babblers have their communal nest just behind the toilet block.

Just north of Mount Magnet I stopped in at a place called The Granites. This is an area rock breakaways and shallow caves that were inhabited by aboriginals once, there are some artworks around on the caves. They weren't signposted though so I didn't manage to find any. Strange to think that people lived out here, thrived, in the heat and the flies. I guess the flies weren't so bad back then, before cows were brought to this country, and the food was probably more abundant. I drove around a bit in there, but it was so quiet, not a birdcall to be heard. The place kinda gave me the creeps, so I headed onwards. I stopped by a large lake, which is usually a saltpan and had a look around, only thing of interest was some Red-capped Plovers. It's a challenge to birdwatch in a place where a lot of the insects are just as big as the birds.

The Granites Aboriginals lived in this area for many years, leaving artworks and artifacts in the shallow caves.

( I have never seen this place so wet )

( Bird List for the day )

See more photos from today here.

Road Trip Day 3 - Mount Magnet to Nallan Station

5/3/2011

Oh. My. God. These flies are going to drive me absolutely insane! Repellent does nothing, and some of them bite. And soon the mozzies will be out. On the bright side, I just discovered that a family of Grey-Crowned Babblers have their communal nest just behind the toilet block.

Just north of Cue I stopped in at a place called The Granites. This is an area rock breakaways and shallow caves that were inhabited by aboriginals once, there are some artworks around on the caves. They weren't signposted though so I didn't manage to find any. Strange to think that people lived out here, thrived, in the heat and the flies. I guess the flies weren't so bad back then, before cows were brought to this country, and the food was probably more abundant. I drove around a bit in there, but it was so quiet, not a birdcall to be heard. The place kinda gave me the creeps, so I headed onwards. I stopped by a large lake, which is usually a saltpan and had a look around, only thing of interest was some Red-capped Plovers. It's a challenge to birdwatch in a place where a lot of the insects are just as big as the birds.

The Granites Aboriginals lived in this area for many years, leaving artworks and artifacts in the shallow caves.

( I have never seen this place so wet )

( Bird List for the day )

See more photos from today here.