Last Week's Adventure...

Andy the Aussie

Andy the Aussie

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Soooooo....just back from a week out in the far west of my state, I only venture out there is the warmer months every few years as I much prefer hunting (and being) there in winter. This is the same place I was about 2months ago and got stuck up to the axles. It was still wet in places and it rained again the night I arrived. I have been going here now for about 30yrs and it is probably the wettest and greenest I have seen it !!!! What that means is that the deer are bloody hard to find as they don't need to venture out of the thick scrub for food or water. Such is life.

After about 9hrs driving I got in late on Friday afternoon, unpacked, snake checked the house and pretty much went to bed !! I even managed a bit of a sleep in the following day. My oldest/longest friend was to join me on Saturday so I basically bummed around the house for the day waiting on him (he arrived about 1400hrs).

That time was mostly spent touching up a few knives...



Once he got in we got him unpacked and organised and ended up sparking up the house fire as it was quite cool. He and I are off to New Zealand hunting next year and discussed walking way out in the back blocks of this property and spending the night, just for the sake of it, we both packed accordingly and once packs were organised we settled in and promptly drank a bit much...LOL

Next day we decided to start walking about mid-morning with a view to finding one of the tanks (dams) hand drawn on a sketch map we had. It was also getting hot (as was to be a theme for most of the week). In this country water (or the lack of it) is the most dangerous thing (besides me before my first coffee). Anyway we set forth and after several hours and about 13km we found the tank we were looking for (well actually we didn't, we found a new one that was not on the map but which was in the end only 500m or so from the one we WERE looking for). At this point I realised I had maaaaybe underestimated the amount of water needed so we both did a bit of a resupply from the tank.

That's the mate crashed out in the grass...



Prettiest tanks I have ever seen out in this country...



Looking back down toward the tank we really were seeking (and into the area we spent the night)...



The fire the mate boiled up his tank water on ( I camped on a log with my little MSR Pocket Rocket) ...



Kelty pack and Sako..



So we moved a few hundred metres away from the tank (about 1/2 way between two) and picked a spot for the night to get set up, the mate promptly got a brew on...

 
Home for the night in the late afternoon sun...



We them hunted off around both tanks but other than 'Roos and Emus there was not much about...wandered back to camp and started on dinner...





Not long after dark we both called it quits, a bit sore and sorry as "we are not as young as we once were"...!!! Mosquitos were a great annoyance all bloody night and I had got a little sunburn on the neck and hands that was also a pain. It was not the most pleasant night I have spent in a sleeping bag !!!

Just after first light we were up and packing. I knew I should also have been drinking more but there was a long hot walk back yet. We took a different route back on a bearing to where we had left the truck, this one took us through some of the thickest country on the place and added considerably to the walking distance (as there is no "straight line" option !!). All told the walk back was about 5hrs and the GPS told us that the round trip had been a little over 30km. Certainly a good stretch of the legs and gave a bit of insight into some things we need to change up before next year's trip. Out of interest, I drank the last of my water (and was a spot dehydrated) as we drove back in.

Walking through the bush the mate spotted a small brown snake that I (carefully) snapped...



....I grew in confidence when I realised it was NOT a baby King Brown. (It is in fact a Burton's Legless Lizard I believe).

Once back in at camp we got a good bit of water in and started to think about a decent lunch. The mate had a small boned venison shoulder from out hunt in September so he attacked that with whatever herbs he could find and added a chopped onion and some oil then wrapped it up for a bit...



Then lit a fire under some steel plate out in the yard and added the meat to the hot metal...



And the result was delicious....

 
I will say we both turned in early slept well that night !!! We were also a bit lazy and passed on the following morning's hunt.

Instead we went to toy at the makeshift range we have. He wanted to check his .270's zero and me some loads in both the .308 and .300Win.

Oh and there was his flintlock (with a beautiful "flash in the pan" on display)...



I took the .300Win out last trip to test some loads and was really disappointed, barely held 2 inches, came home and dropped 1.5gns of powder (still a little over max load) and got this...



...so that will do !

We both went for hunts in different directions in the afternoon and I saw sweet bugger all, he saw a good number of deer and shot a sow.

While I was out I did see lots of dragons out and about, two were particularly Zen about me crawling up to them...





Unfortunately my mate got a call that evening and had to pack up and head home Wednesday morning.

In our down time we (well he) had built a Yabbie trap out of some rubbish and we tried it with NO luck on the house tank. After he left Wednesday I rode the bike out bush and set it on another tank. Still not much in the way of game about.

The following day I rode out again into the back (about 1/2 way out where we walked) and hunted back into the scrub...



...so that was the one shot I fired all week at a critter ... ;)

On the way back in I decided to check the Yabbie trap and while there was not feast provided it did prove the concept...

Trap...



Yabbie...



.... that one went back into the tank for next time... ;)

Once I finished out here it was getting HOT...so I ended up sitting in the shade back at the house and slowly started to get packed up. At one point I wondered over to the edge of the verandah and looked down, there a whole six inches lower was the front 8 or so inches of a Western Brown Snake poking out taking in the sun, he/she retreated back under the house before I could retrieve the shovel. It was just a reminder of what you already know out there, the snakes ARE there even if you are not seeing them (same weekend last year that got 4 IN the house).

And alas by 0700hrs Friday I had to start the 9hr drive home...

 
Wow looks like an amazing adventure. Awesome! Kudos to you for camping in an open tent with all those creepy crawlers about.
 
Wow, brown snakes... we have rattlers here in So Cal, but Down under you have all sorts of big bads. Great pics as always Andy! Thanks for taking us along.
 
Good stuff. When you say tank, do you mean that the water comes from an artificial source, or is it used for any water?

Although you boil the water, is there any gear out there to filter other contaminants or to test it while out in the field?

Thanks for considering these honest questions and for the report.
 
Looks awsome, thoose picture make me wanna go to Australia even more.
your backdoor contry looks great.

//Goran
 
Thanks very much all. The mate took pics while we were out and about as well, I will post those up when he gets around to sending them.

kniferMan said:
Wow looks like an amazing adventure. Awesome! Kudos to you for camping in an open tent with all those creepy crawlers about.
Click to expand...
...thanks mate, have mostly slept out like that or just in a canvas swag (if with the vehicle) so you get use to it. I am still alive an dwith my model good looks intact so it can't be too dangerous.

Aias said:
Wow, brown snakes... we have rattlers here in So Cal, but Down under you have all sorts of big bads. Great pics as always Andy! Thanks for taking us along.
Click to expand...
.... I get the Eastern Browns here around the house (they are more toxic than the King Browns - who are bigger) so I figure I can't use that as an excuse not to get outdoors.

Panthera tigris said:
Good stuff. When you say tank, do you mean that the water comes from an artificial source, or is it used for any water?

Although you boil the water, is there any gear out there to filter other contaminants or to test it while out in the field?

Thanks for considering these honest questions and for the report.
Click to expand...
... to try and answer bit by bit mate...

In the east of the state they are just called dams, in the west tanks. They are pushed into natural flow points to catch run off water, the source is all rainfall. Out here there are no permanent water sources (river, creeks, spring etc) for about 80km in any direction.

The water in this tank was as clear as you will find in stored water like this. I have a Milbag Filter I could have run it through to clear it up a little (boiled it still had a reddish tinge from the soil to it) but that would be mostly aesthetic ;). Boiling will kill any of the few nasties that may be there, but is mostly for the cow/duck/'roo/pig/emu/deer poop that will be present. We carry no kind of test gear with us (nor do I own any), if I were to do this trip again I would have taken my straw and drank up big at the tank and saved on the boiling, but I grew up drinking trapped rainwater and from creeks and dams, so far so good... ;)
 
Yeah Andy, good stuff mate!




Mmmm... Fresh pork! (Or is that one of the ones you said you don't eat?)
 
A week out in wild country with your Mate is Living Life Mate....Good on Ya...:thumbup: Thanx for sharing the photos the area resembles my dads ranch here in New Mexico.
 
Awesome write up Andy. I enjoy living vicariously.

Btw.... I can see why people think wild hogs are possessed by demons...... :Eek!:
 
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