Hard to believe we are, once again, close to the end of our
time at Nairana – only seven days and we will say farewell to our little piece
of paradise for another year.
Since our return from our annual sojourn to Townsville I
have been very slack in my journal and blog writing. It was so quick and easy
to access the internet and post to the blog whilst in Townsville that I was
very reluctant to get onto the dial-up donkey again and put it off for a couple
of days. Then things got really busy for
us around the Park with the decision by the Government to open some of the NPs
to cattle from the drought areas of western Queensland, and my blog posting was
forgotten. We have also had a couple of
visitors for two days (Auntie Lyn and Uncle Geoff), and I, unfortunately, had a
severe allergic reaction to a weed in the Park which I am still trying to fight
four days later. No excuses I know, but some valid reasons on my part.
Anyway – all that said, I thought I should give a bit of a
run-down on our activities at Nairana over the past month. Moving on from my
first entry after our arrival on the 1st May we have certainly been
busy this year.
Setting pig-traps was a new experience for us. Previous years we have been involved with the
“pre-feed” program but not the trap setting.
Pre-feed encourages the wild pigs into the traps and once we established
that pigs were visiting the traps regularly we set the trap. Our first attempt was uneventful as we used
some fishing wire that the previous caretakers had purchased for the task and
it was too strong to set the trap off. So the OGO found some string in Eric’s
Shed (that’s the garden shed at the Homestead) and some bulldog clips in the
School Room (the Homestead office) and off we went in the Kubota armed with pig-feed
(very smelly) and the appropriate equipment to set the trap. If a pig is trapped, the caretakers call the
Ranger’s office and a Ranger comes out from Clermont to shoot and dispose of
said pig. It means the traps are set in
the afternoon and the OGO goes out to check them at 6am. In the first two weeks there were four pigs
trapped (including one that trapped itself).
Travelling around the Park has been made a great deal easier
with the Kubota. One of the Park Rangers,
Matt, has been out on four occasions to slash a number of new areas which we
now have access to. This is a 42,000
acre park so there are a great number of areas that we have not yet explored.
However, our main tasks since returning from Townsville,
have been to check fences in the main paddocks surrounding the dams and
photographing the water levels and any surrounding infrastructure such as
windmills and troughs, and to record their condition. This has taken us to some
areas we haven’t been into since our first time here four years ago. It has
also allowed us to trek along some of the newly slashed tracks – great fun
until we find ourselves looking into some very deep wash aways and creek beds!
The OGO has become very adept at tackling these sticky moments.
I mention sticky moments because the day before we went to
Townsville we decided to go out in the Park for a leisurely Sunday drive to
look for a waterhole that we have searched for every year and never found. Matt
had armed the OGO with directions and we headed off at about 9am with coffee,
morning tea, lunch and energy snacks.
Little did I know that we would be glad of the extra snacks as our
leisurely drive would turn into a full day adventure.
Thanks to Matt’s directions we found the elusive waterhole
and after a morning tea break we headed off again intending to return along a
different track back to the Old
Highway to get home. Not to be! The Mrs OGO convinced her loving
companion that it would be interesting to check out the eastern boundary of
this section of the Park.
So we happily trekked along the boundary fence noting the
condition of said fence and recording all the different birds we observed and
suddenly the Kubota found itself in a bog hole.
Now how did that happen said the OGO as he cursed a little under his
bushy beard. Looks like a winch job says
the lovely lady sitting high and dry, and you’ve always wanted to try the
winch, so now is your chance. Mutter,
mutter, mutter – as the OGO does quite regularly these days. Out came the
rescue gear – and the video camera, of course – hooked up to the ‘Bota and a
fence post (thank goodness ‘Disney’ owners have good solid fences) and after a
few more mutterings and a little grunting from the ‘Bota, we were out of a
sticky situation and on our way again.
All was looking good for about an hour and we struck another
sticky moment when the OGO thought he had cleared the ‘black s***** stuff” and
came to a halt to change out of 4WD – you know that funny pedal on the floor
that has to be ‘engaged’ or married or something. Anyway, the ‘Bota said sorry mate too damn
sticky for my tread to grip so we’ll just dig in here for awhile! More mutterings from the OGO as he grumpily
handed out instructions to his clean-so-far assistant – yeah, not so clean
after this little sticky moment!
On our way again the OGO kept muttering there should have
been another turn-off along here before now, did you miss it. Nope, no quick exit here. Another mutter, If
this ends up at Corduroy Crossing we are cooked. Trust me says the expert navigator, no sticky
Crossing at the end of this track. Then a reprieve for Mrs OGO – a mass of
flowering wild grevillea trees full of beautiful honey-eaters we had not seen
before. Any time photographing birds and wildflowers has got to be soothing to
a soul in turmoil. Yep, it worked – 45
minutes later we re-commenced our trek and Mrs OGO sighed with relief when the long
overdue exit track appeared and the OGO says at last he knows where he is.
On a safe non-sticky track we stopped for a reviving coffee
and energy snacks before heading home along a familiar track in
semi-darkness. Yep – sure was a great
leisurely Sunday drive.
With two family visits, a trip to Townsville, the occasional
wet day (makes for exciting driving on the tracks), pig-trapping, cattle
observation, and fencing tasks, our time here has gone very quickly. In the past month we have recorded more than
100 individual species of birds around the Park, and recorded nearly 1000
sightings in our treks around the tracks.
We have caught huge red-claw and spotted perch; seen dingoes, red
kangaroos, eagles, owls, Jabirus, and brolgas; observed birds nesting, and
young ‘roos sparring with older ‘roos; and watched magnificent sunsets and
moon-rises around the Homestead. Our
days for most of the month have been warm and dry, with a wonderful balance of
enjoyable work and times to relax.
At the end of next week we will leave Nairana and travel to
Sarina before heading home to Toowoomba for five days. We will then begin another travel adventure
with nine weeks in Tasmania
(no ‘donkey dial-up’ there!!!). So until
then, we hope you have enjoyed joining us on this little sojourn into the
Outback and wilderness, and invite you to join us again when we begin our next
journey.
A very special thank you to our hosts at the Pera
Hilton. As always the accommodation,
food and light entertainment was first class.
Our hosts met our every request as always. This is always a special part of our travels
to Nairana. See you again next year.
May 5th
ANGELS
The Angels came to me last night
they wanted me to play
Not tonight, I said
as they sat on my bed,
I think you have the wrong day.
You see, I said
as they sat on my bed,
I have things to see, and things to do
before I can go to Heaven with you.
My place in Heaven will have to wait
until another day
May 6th
MORE ANGELS
The Angels came again last night.
Hello, they said,
as they danced on my bed.
We’ve come once more
and opened the door
on the pathway leading to Heaven.
The littlest Angel had eyes that twinkled
and a smile that made her look wise.
Hello, she said,
as she danced on my bed.
In this beautiful place you can be pain free
you can dance and have fun, just like me.
Now wouldn’t that be paradise?
and you have a choice said this little voice
somewhere deep inside
Oh no, I said
as they danced on my bed.
So much to see, so much to do
before I can go to Heaven with you.
The pain will go in a little while
and my heart once again will begin to smile.
My place on earth is where I’ll stay,
I’ll join you in Heaven another day.
Tears I shed
as I lay in my bed
and wonder why they came.
The pain gets bad
and makes me sad,
but we deal with it each day.
A visit from Angels has made me strong
may be the reason they came along.
No comments:
Post a Comment
We hope you are enjoying our Adventures and would love to receive your feedback.