WHAT A DAY!

Every time I go out on a bush trip, I always know it’s going to be a massive day. There’s the organization that goes into even getting there; getting together food, water, first aid kits, spare tires (missed that step today, oops) cameras, hats, sunscreen, rugs, towels and possibly even the kitchen sink! Then there’s the actual travel which takes forever, but it is well worth it. And the biggest part of it all is the destination; almost always different every time. However no matter how much we can plan, most of it is left up to the universe. Essentially, we don’t know what’s going to happen during the day until it happens. Like this morning, I assumed that it was just Cassie, Leesa, Camille and myself along with the fantastic and knowledgeable Cathy just going out to the lake. But when I was picked up, I crammed myself into the troupie with those mentioned plus what seemed like a thousand kids, plus Jenny and Jim in their car behind us, turning the one vehicle trip into a convoy. We assumed we were just having kangaroo tail for lunch but ended up having a side of goanna as well! I’ve learnt to never guess what’s going to happen on these Balgo bush trips. You can dream all you want but it’s always going to be an experience you weren’t prepared for!

The convoy swung by my place at 11am (thankfully late enough to enjoy a good old Sunday sleep in) and with seven kids under ten with me in the back seat (Corryanne, Camille, Shonielle, Delwyn, Danica, Cecilia and Tegan) plus a puppy, it was set to be an entertaining ride. First the kids argued over who would use my camera (I’ve learnt if I ever want it back, not to give it out!), then over the bag of chips Delwyn had and lastly who would sit where in the troupie. But overall they were very well behaved, probably because Camille was bribing them with a lolly at the end of the day if they were. Hey, if it works, it’s all good!

Me crammed in the troupie with Danica on my lap.

We were about fifteen minutes out of Mulan when Cathy screamed to stop the car! Cassie who was driving started freaking out thinking something major had happened to the car. Cathy however told her to reverse as she had seen a goanna and believed she could catch it. I was SO pumped! I’ve heard about how they catch the goanna, but never seen it nor tasted it. Usually, the ground and all the flora is burnt, exposing all the holes in the ground that the animals could hide in. We were fortunate in the sense that Cathy had spied a goanna lazing on a rock just off the road in an area of already burnt land. She had also seen it run down a hole so we all ran out, surrounded the hole and watched as Cathy instructed Jim where to dig. Jim dug and dug and dug, exposing the hole and everything in it. He even dug up a very poisonous centipede that the kids all ran away from while Cassie and I got closer to take photos of. Yeah we’re tourists!

Jim had dug a long way down when he shifted a bit of dirt and we saw the goannas tail sticking out from a crevasse in the rock not far from the surface. As he made the hole wide enough to get the goanna out of, the reptile began digging out from the other end and as its head scraped the surface the kids pummeled it with rocks, stunning it until Cathy was able to get it out and Jim dealt it a killer blow. It was very cool and certainly an exceptional thing to witness first hand. The kids all posed for pictures while we congratulated Cathy on her amazing eyesight; none of us would have ever seen a goanna just chilling on the side of the road. We all piled into the troupie with the goanna just chilling under my seat, phantom death movements happening every now and again and freaking us out!

Jim digging.

You can just see the tail.

Cathy and the goanna.

Danica, Shonielle, Cecilia, Tegan, Corryanne, Delwyn and Camille with the Goanna.

Corryanne with the goanna, after Cathy had gutted it.

We reached Mulan and headed off on the very bumpy road to the Lake. Cathy was taking us to the Two Trees site of the lake, a place I had been previously on a very hot day but was looking forward to going back in cooler weather. The belief is that the Rainbow Snake lives in the water and therefore to swim without angering the snake one had to put mud on themselves before going into the water. The weather was a lot windier than the last time so I wasn’t planning on swimming, but was looking forward to enjoying the sun, currently lacking that summer bite!

However our plans were delayed when I heard a funny sound and realised we had a flat tire. Uh-oh! I know how to change a tire but was a bit wary about doing it on the troupie so watched and studied the way Jim placed and lifted the jack before climbing up to the roof of the car and getting the spare down. But things weren’t as simple as we had hoped. Someone had placed a flat tire up on the roof! It looked like a spare and we assumed that it wasn’t faulty but not to be! Fortunately Jim and Jenny’s ute is 110% organized and even had things to blow up the tire with! We were very lucky that despite the flat, things worked in our favor to fix up the problem.

On the rest of the road to the lake, we admired dozens of horses, some game enough to start cantering as the car approached. In some instances, we were worried that if we didn’t stop the car, the horses were going to run into us; they were galloping that fiercely. As well as horses, we spied a few cows and even a lone camel that was standing in the same spot when we passed by again three hours later!

Horses!

So desert like!

The lake was finally reached and was so beautifully blue. It reminded me like an inland ocean, fit with waves lapping quietly on the beach. Cathy wasted no time getting the kangaroo tails that we had brought ready for eating. The process was quite intricate; firstly the fire had to be made just right and then the hair of the roo tails had to be burnt and then scraped off. Then the tails were cut and wrapped in silver foil and placed in the coals of the fire, with hot coals under, over and around the meat and left like that for an hour. Cathy then took them out and let them cool down a while before they were eaten, the skin peeled off to get under to the good meat below. I love kangaroo tails and now that I’ve seen how they’re made, I’m keen on trying it out!

Lake Gregory.

Me with the Goanna, just before it got put onto the fire.

Cathy cooking.

Corryanne scrapes off the hair of the tail while Cathy looks on.

Me; 'It's kind of dead looking'.

Jenny; 'That's because it is you idiot!'

While the adults chilled in the warm sun, the kids got up enough courage to try out the water. It looked frigid and they didn’t get too wet but enjoyed splashing around and throwing water at each other. I much preferred warming myself in the sun trying to keep out of the cool wind and when lunch was ready the kids flocked out of the water and threw themselves on the ground in anticipation of the impending meal. Essentially, goanna is a white meat that tastes like white meat with a red meat aftertaste and kangaroo tail is a red meat that tastes like lamb shanks. SO YUM!

We packed up soon after the meal and headed back, stopping along the way to cut down some trees and collect firewood for Cathy. Fortunately, the drive back home was a lot easier than the drive there and a lot quieter. Everyone was so tired from the day’s events and despite how much fun it was, we were quite happy to get back home, wipe the dirt off from the day and chill out.

Today I crammed myself into a troupie with ten other people, helped to catch, cook and eat a goanna, was almost run off the road by a herd of wild horses, helped change a tire, ate a kangaroo tail, chilled by an inland ocean and chopped down enough trees to keep a fire going for a month. Yep, I’m living up the desert life!!