They’d scented fresh blood.

And in the deathly silence of twilight as dusk fell over the moonlit plain, I could hear them coming for me.

A million manic mosquitoes, and I couldn’t move a muscle.

Actually, that’s a lie.

I COULD move – but I’d chosen not to. For 3 good reasons.

Firstly, listening for the call of the enigmatic Plains Wanderer – Australia’s first and world’s fourth most important endangered bird species according to the Zoological Society of London – required absolute stillness and quiet.

I was standing on the Hay Plain – flattest place in OZ, 200 km deep, 300 km wide AND with spring grasses as high as a Plains-Wanderer’s eye.

2 words. Needle. Haystack.

If we didn’t hear one, we’d never know where to start looking.

Secondly, the Plains Wanderer Weekend tours near Deniliquin in rural New South Wales @ $300+ per head were only run a few times each year. And often booked out months, sometimes years in advance.

This might be our only chance to see one – and the only chance for other birdos* on the tour, some from overseas.

Thirdly, in our tour group of 8, I was the only non-birdo. NO WAY was I going to be that person who spooked the Plains Wanderer and blew the REAL birdos chances of seeing it.

Even if that meant staying completely motionless and letting the mozzies** suck out every drop of my blood in a zombie-apocalypse-meets-mosquito-massacre until the dried out husk of my body fell soundlessly to the soil.

So, resisting the urge to slap the little suckers silly, I stayed stock still (in alliterative admiration).

But all I could hear was the frenzied whining of a million*** mini dentist drills. And all I could see were mosquito trails across the sunset as the swarm moved in for the kill.

If the Plains Wanderers were out there, they were lying doggo****.

Unlike the mozzies now covering the back of Pilchard’s hat.

Turns out in the absence of fresh blood, the mosquitoes make do with whatever they could find!

My descent into mosquito hell had started over 12 hours before at 6 am. We’d joined six other tour participants and two guides for a full-on tour of Deni***** birding hot spots, starting with the River Walk.

Or would have but for the simultaneous opening all 13 Hume Dam overflow gates resulting – unsurprisingly – in flooding.  The waters rose so rapidly the Edward River was already lapping at the levee banks when we’d arrived in Deni a couple of days before.

Ground-breaking water management technique – or simple cause and effect equation? YOU decide!

Weirdly, the swift and silent river flowing a few metres away didn’t bother us, even when the water level rose higher than our campsite at the excellent Deniliquin Riverside Caravan Park. But the flooding can’t have been much fun for Deni locals as roads, campgrounds, holiday shacks and the sports ground all went under.

But any photographer with a thing for reflections knows what to do when the water’s running high.

AND any birdo worth their binoculars knows that waterbirds LOVE ‘wetlands’, even if everyone else calls them ‘swamps’.

The lingo is just one of several ways birding pretenders like me can distinguish REAL birdos from everyone else.

There’s the obvious ones like surgically attached binoculars and a general inability to maintain a conversation when a bird – ANY (feathered) bird – comes into view.  Then there’s the dark side – like arguments about features and id, and the fact it’s just NOT POSSIBLE for a non-birder to see a rare or unusual bird BEFORE the real birder.

I thought I’d seen a Plains Wanderer once before on a remote Queensland roadside.

The bird was in the EXACT SAME pose as the picture of the Plains Wanderer in the bird book. Pilchard didn’t see it, but was able to state with absolute certainty it WAS NOT a Plains Wanderer. It probably wasn’t, but that confident non-id became a bit of a thing.

A higher level bit of a thing happened when we stayed at a birding reserve with a birding tour led by a well known university (read: mega-important) birder.

During the evening bird report (yes, people really DO spend the evening listing birds they’ve seen for fun), Pilchard called a not-so-common bird, listing several reasons to nail the id.

Big Birdo (as I dubbed him) loudly disagreed.

The bird had NEVER been seen in this spot.

Then another birder confirmed the sighting.

Big Birdo shook his head again. Not possible.  He’d been coming to this site for 10 years and had NEVER seen it, although he couldn’t come up with an alternative id.  Apparently, if the bird was going to show itself to anyone, it’d be Big Birdo as he had seniority.

Who says birding isn’t a contact sport?!

But I digress.

Luckily, the Plains Wanderer weekend tour wasn’t besieged by Big Birdo’s Buddies – just as well given Pilchard and I shared a car with 2 other birders and a guide for the 1½ days and 123 bird species we saw on the tour.   (Of course you will immediately recognise the Dollar Bird in the middle photo, haha)(yes, it’s the blob on the branch)(no, I’m not a bird photographer either).

But everyone was waiting for evening and the main event – hunting the wild Plains Wanderer. I managed to get a few sunset shots in between bird sightings, but as night fell, the mosquito massacre began in earnest.

Unless (unlike us) you’re very lucky, finding a Plains Wanderer requires patience and stamina. They’re (apparently) curious and if disturbed, they’ll (supposedly) stick their heads up to see what’s happening. In reality, a smallish bird – max height 19 cm (7½ inches) – sticking its head out above grass level at the  exact right moment on a plain bigger than Denmark has lower odds than winning the lottery.

My personal theory, based on the number of Plains Wanderers we didn’t see, is that they’re sitting pretty hoping like hell the big SUVs with bright lights driving slowly in circles will just go away. But what would I know. I’m SO not a twitcher******!

Happily, I don’t get car sick. But after several hours my face was freezing cold, my hands numb from mozzie bites and I was brain dead from peering out the window into the semi-darkness. I might not be a real birdo, but I wasn’t going to be the one who wasn’t looking at the critical moment.

I don’t recall who finally won ‘Twitcher of the Tour’ for first Plains Wanderer sighting at around midnight, except that it wasn’t me. But I got to see it all the same.

I stayed out of the post-sighting phone call frenzy – I just didn’t know anyone who’d be thrilled to hear about my rare bird sightings at 12 am. Perhaps I move in the wrong circles.

At around 1:00 am, 19 hours after Day 1 started, we returned to the caravan park, re-convening at 8:30 am after an all-too-short sleep break for the final half-day. Despite some interesting sightings and more mosquito hell at the ‘wetland’, nothing compared with the previous night’s thrill of seeing the rare Plains Wanderer, a true Aussie Oddity and the only representative of its family and genus.

Even for this non-birder, the Plains Wanderer Weekend tour was a BIG success. I survived the mosquitoes. I’ve been to birding hot spots not open to the public. I’ve got rare photos of the floodwaters – happily on the right side of the levee banks – some complete with scenic loos. I didn’t blow my non-birdo cover.

And I now know for sure I really HAVE seen the elusive Plains Wanderer!

Fast Facts:

Where: Deniliquin, generally on the banks of the Edward River and not in it, is 77 km north of Echuca/Moama on the NSW/Victoria border. It’s 725 kilometres (450 miles) south west of Sydney and 285 kilometres (177 miles) north of Melbourne.

What: The Plains Wanderer Weekend Tour is run by Philip and Patricia Maher of Australian Ornithological Services.  In addition to looking for the Plains Wanderer, tours cover birding sites in and around Deniliquin, including some places and habitats not open to the general public.

When: Tours are generally conducted during spring (Sept-Nov in Australia). Check the website below for tour dates and booking instructions.

Want MORE?

• Deniliquin, New South Wales
• Australian Ornithological Services (Plains Wanderer and many other Birding Tours)
• Plains Wanderer (Pedionomus torquatus)
• Deniliquin Riverside Caravan Park
• MORE Phots of Deniliquin on Flickr
• MORE Red Nomad OZ Birding Adventures

* Birdo = Birdwatcher

** Mozzies = Mosquitoes

*** Exaggerating? Well … YOU count them!

**** Lying Doggo = keeping out of sight

***** Deni = Deniliquin! But you knew that, right?!

****** Twitcher = Obsessive Birdo

The post Hunting the Wild Plains Wanderer – Deniliquin, New South Wales appeared first on Australia by Red Nomad OZ.

I don’t know if anyone ever struck it rich in the old days – or even the new days – by hitting a seam of opal while sinking a dugout dunny shaft.

But if it’s going to happen anywhere, the chances of it happening in Andamooka are better than average.

As long as the hole is at least 3 metres deep. That’s when it’ll hit the ancient and now opal-ridden seabed* lying beneath the surface of one of the driest parts of the driest state of the driest continent on earth.

But maybe that’s what makes Andamooka opal – a variety found only here – the most stable matrix opal in the world. The Queen’s Opal was found in Andamooka – a large piece cut and polished to over 200 carats, then made into several pieces of jewellery presented to Queen Elizabeth II, now part of the Crown Jewels.

Although there’s no record of whether or not the stone was found in a dunny shaft!

Every photo of Andamooka I’d ever seen before shows an arid outback landscape. But as the state’s resident rainmakers** en route to the warm and sunny northern winter, we’d arrived in Woomera the evening before in the middle of a rainstorm and steady rain that continued throughout the night.

So I’m still wondering what it’s like to be dry in one of the driest parts of the driest state of the driest continent on earth. The rain continued on and off through the uninspiring terrain along the 85+ km (53 miles) stretch of sealed road from Woomera to Roxby Downs, and then the 30 km (18.6 miles) to Andamooka where the one sealed road carried enough mud to turn it into a virtual dirt (read: mud) road!

But that’s where the exploration gene paid off. BIG time.

I noticed a familiar shape through the raindrops. Hang on – was that REALLY a dunny I saw before me?

Andamooka’s Historical Reserve preserves a number of early dwellings built – or more accurately, compiled – after discovery in 1930 of some of the finest Aussie Opal in the world. Which anyone who’s ever studied Australian history won’t need ME to tell them was also the time of the Great Depression.

Lack of money and an almost tree-free landscape made early opal miners inventive with building materials; and the summer heat – clocked at 46 degrees C (~115 degrees F) – forced many buildings – dugouts – partially underground.

But however rough and ready the structures and difficult the conditions in this remote Outback outpost nearly 600km (373 miles) north of Adelaide, Andamooka’s dunnies gave the opal fields a touch of civilisation. One dwelling built on three levels even had an outside dunny clearly visible through the window from the inside dunny! Luxury!!

Perhaps more important, however, position and placement meant the miner could keep an eye on the action while answering nature’s call.

Although Andamooka Opal was first discovered after a rare thunderstorm, tragically history didn’t repeat itself on our visit – leaving me without another precious piece of Australia’s national gem. And while I didn’t look very hard, nor did I find anything worth keeping down the dunny!

The muddy roads also nixed a visit either the opal fossicking area or the nearby (normally) dry salt lake Lake Torrens.

BUT … it’s probably appropriate that my only real tourist experience in Andamooka involved Scenic Aussie Loos!!

Yes, it’s unknown (to me, at least) whether anyone ever got rich from finding opal in a dunny shaft.

But I’d like to think that somewhere out there, never recorded in the Andamooka annals, is an opal miner who struck it lucky while digging out a dunny.

Because that’d make Andamooka’s classic Aussie Outback loo view one of the most valuable in the world!

* Much of the information in this post came from a tourist brochure about the Andamooka Opal Fields, compiled by Anne Louise Potter and Trevor Peek in November 2009

** It rains so often when we visit a new place that Pilchard & I are considering hiring ourselves out as drought-breakers! Call me!!

Want MORE?

• More about Andamooka, South Australia 
• Opal Hotspots in Australia
• More Australian Scenic Public Toilets
• MY BOOK: ‘Aussie Loos with Views!’
• More Andamooka and South Australian Outback Photos on Flickr

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The post Dugouts, Dirt and Dunnies! 3 reasons to visit Andamooka, South Australia appeared first on Australia by Red Nomad OZ.

Australian Country Towns don’t come much smaller than some of these! But each town on my A-Z list within my Aussie ABC punches above its weight with attractions you probably won’t find anywhere else. My list of HOT Aussie Towns from N-Z here in Part 2 have attractions so COOL you’ll want to see them all.

And if you missed my selection of Australian Country Towns from A – M, then take a look at Part 1 of T is for Towns HERE!

Nimbin, New South Wales

This vibrant village in the heart of Northern New South Wales’ Rainbow Region is a alternative lifestyle magnet – think communes, cannabis and colourful creativity – amidst a spectacular natural rainforest.

Which is still there thanks to a sustained – and successful – protest against logging that reached a head at nearby Terania Creek, now known as Protestors Falls, in 1979.

Orroroo, South Australia

Near the Goyder Line – surveyed to determine the point at which agriculture in South OZ isn’t viable – Orroroo is a stepping off point for the Flinders Ranges.

But detour to nearby Magnetic Hill, described by Wikipedia as a gravity hill optical illusion! It’s not unique to Australia – but the bizarre sensation of rolling uphill on a downhill slope makes it a tourist magnet, haha!

Portland, Victoria

Non-birdos might not find the prospect of seeing the only mainland Australian Gannet colony at Point Danger near Portland – oldest European settlement in Victoria – so thrilling.

Luckily, the other attractions – like the Petrified Forest and Blowholes at Cape Bridgewater; and Enchanted Forest, Yellow Rock and Lighthouse at Cape Nelson – have more universal appeal. And how could anyone resits the Bonney Upwelling Festival?

Quobba, Western Australia

More of a locality than a town, Quobba makes up for its lack of infrastructure with a stunning coastal landscape complete with campground, beach, lighthouse, whales, blowholes (both the rocky AND whale types), wildflowers, monster waves – and one of the best Aussie dunnies anywhere EVER!

Yes, it’s in MY BOOK: Aussie Loos with Views!

Richmond, Tasmania

Nearly every Aussie state has a town, suburb or locality called Richmond. The Tasmanian Richmond boasts Australia’s oldest bridge built in 1823. Between Hobart and World Heritage site Port Arthur, picturesque and historic Richmond makes a perfect base from which to explore.  Especially when you consider its fine collection of eateries!

Besides, everyone’s already got the shot of Australia’s MOST photographed bridge!

Swan Reach, South Australia

One of the first South OZ river ports, Swan Reach marks where Goyder’s Line crosses the Murray River.  It’s 30 km below the first of the 13 completed locks along the biggest river system in OZ.

Explorer Edward John Eyre made his home here, and nearby Big Bend (can you guess why it’s called that?) has the highest cliffs on the Murray!

Tully, Queensland

Tully’s Golden Gumboot shows the height of its annual rainfall. But it doesn’t show the rivalry between Tully, Babinda and Innisfail.  Each year they vied for the ‘honour’ of being Australia’s wettest town and scoring the ‘Golden Gumboot’ award!

With average annual falls of 4000 mm (160 inches) AND highest recorded annual rainfall in a populated area (7900 mm in 1950) sugar town Tully claims the title!

For now …

Useless Loop, Western Australia

Unless you get a job mining the purest salt in the world, you won’t see the Useless Loop township because no tourists are allowed in this closed community, westernmost town in Australia.  But it’s still my favourite Australian Country Towns name!

You CAN access the Shark Bay World Heritage area surrounding the town from closest town Denham.  It’s also the official westernmost town with Australia’s westernmost caravan park!

Victoria River Roadhouse, Northern Territory

A fully self-contained roadhouse with fuel, food, accomodation is what passes for a town in parts of the Northern Territory. With a scenic campground setting below the Stokes Range right next to Australia’s WILDEST river, the roadhouse is worth a stopover.

The Victoria River Roadhouse is a chance to experience wild Outback Australia at its best if you like your scenery full of staggering views and your landscapes with a rugged edge.

Wycheproof, Victoria

It’s not such a long way to the top of Mt Wycheproof, a “metamorphic boss”.  At 43 metres above the plain (237 m above sea level) it is also the world’s (self-proclaimed) smallest mountain!

Visible from Broadway below in the township, the mini-mount is a tourist drawcard.  Especially when coupled with endemic flower Correa Glabra, unique mountain quartz Wycheproofite AND a cool scenic loo.  YES, it’s in my BOOK!

eXmouth, Western Australia

I can’t tell you why there aren’t many OZ towns beginning with X.  But I blame an unimaginative language that fails to use the letter X to its full potential!

That doesn’t mean Exmouth on the tip of North West Cape isn’t worth seeing.  It’s between the ocean and the outback with Ningaloo Reef on one side (guess which!) and Cape Range National Park on the other!

Yowah, Queensland

This remote opal mining town shares its name with the Yowah Nut, a geode-like nut shaped rock with an opal core found nowhere else on earth.

They’ve got matrix opal too.

Come for the opal festival and find yourself a Yowah Nut either on the opal field or at one of the many opal outlets.  Or just experience the awesome Aussie outback at its best!

FitZroy Crossing, Western Australia

Visit during the dry season and you’d never guess that the Fitzroy River has the highest volume of water in Australia. That’s when it’s in flood with an estimated 30,000 cubic metres per second flowing along a 15 km wide flood plain.

When it’s not being flooded out, visit Fitzroy Crossing for the awesome Geikie Gorge, the closest mainland Australia has by way of icebergs!

Well, that’s just a tiny town teaser! With thousands of small Australian Country Towns there are a LOT more to discover out there.

And if you want to discover them for yourself, take a look at some cheap flights to get you started!

Want MORE?

• T for Towns Part 1 A-M
• Australian Towns, Wikipedia
• MORE Photos of Australian Towns on Flickr
• MORE Aussie ABC 

The post Aussie ABC: T is for Towns Part 2 appeared first on Australia by Red Nomad OZ.

STOP PRESS!  2020 Farina Bakery Update:  Due to COVID-19 the Farina Bakery South Australia will NOT be operating in 2020.  However, the Farina historic township and Farina campground will be open and can be visited in line with South Australian state government border closures and travel restrictions. 

The sign shimmered through the haze of dust and heat like a mirage. Or the product of too much wishful thinking. Or the BEST kind of fantasy …

Whichever it was, the Bakery Baking Today sign at the turn-off to the Farina Historic Township in the middle of the South Australian Outback just HAD to be too good to be true.

Where is Farina?

Because over 600 km (370+ miles) north of Adelaide, we were on the last stretch of continuous bitumen for several hundred kilometres.  Which kind of put us in the middle of nowhere!

We’d already passed Lyndhurst, a roadhouse and small settlement at the beginning of the tyre-shredding Strzelecki track.  That notorious stretch of dirt through the Strzelecki desert connects Lyndhurst with Innamincka, 469 km (291 miles) to the north east.  We’d driven a short distance along the track, but pulled out before all four tyres became punctured.

From Marree, there were only two ways out.  East along the Oodnadatta track, a 607 km (377 miles) dirt track through the remote Outback that joined the Stuart Highway at Marla.  Or the fabled Birdsville track to – you guessed it – Birdsville, 519 km (322 miles) further north.

Yes, we were on the outskirts of Australia’s Boys Own Adventureland.  A 4WD and/or motorcyclists’ paradise traversed by groups of three (WHY ALWAYS THREE???) blokes.  And on this day, we would, for the first time, visit the start of each of these iconic tracks.

Now, en route to Marree, we’d heard about Farina, a ghost town full of ruins.

Wasn’t it??

A Bakery in a Ghost Town

The white marquee rising incongruously above the partially restored stonework of the Farina ruins in the distance suggested otherwise.

As did the banner indicating South Aussie icon Laucke Flour’s personal interest in this little bakery in the middle of nowhere.

Clearly, further investigation was required, so I turned to Pilchard – but the car had already swerved towards the turn-off. No bakery-seeking-sensor required in THIS car!!

As we drew closer to the knot of vehicles gathered around the cluster of old buildings surrounding the marquee, the smell of freshly baking bread gave the game away.

Yes, there really WAS a fully functional bakery in this remote ruin. And judging by the roaring trade being done with the constant arrival of incredulous visitors from both north and south, a Back-of-Beyond Bakery was just what the doctor ordered.

A VERY Civilised Restoration!

In a masterstroke so civilised it should be made mandatory, the underground Bakery was the first building to be restored to full working order by the Farina Restoration Group Inc (FRG).

Ironic, given that Farina is, of course, the Latin word for flour. And the town was so named in expectation of it becoming the ‘Granary of the North’. Sadly, the unpredictable climate, remote location and lack of water ultimately meant its decline, despite its one-time position as the railway head for all northern lines.

But in one of those undeniably symmetric coincidences, Farina is finally living up to its name.  Now the Underground Bakery opens for a few weeks every year in the Australian winter months.  It’s become a focus for fund-raising, publicity and – of course – a completely unexpected opportunity for an excellent Back-of-Beyond Bakery pig-out.

This was one of those times that sacrificing myself for the sake of my blog became not just a duty, but a pleasure!

Farina Bakery Volunteers

Bron and Syd, volunteers from FRG that keeps the Bakery operational for a few weeks in May, June and July, expertly fielded queries, served customers and – in my case – mopped up the coffee I overturned in the excitement of finding this bizarre bakery.

All while posing for photos!

The FRG, now about five years old, was founded by Tom Harding.  Along with current station owners Kevin and Anne Dawes,he saw Farina’s potential as an historic site and set about restoring it as a tourist attraction.

Apart from partnerships with various organisations and professional stonemasonry, all work on site is done by volunteers – to volunteer in 2021, use the online registration form HERE.

Those who are planning a similar venture should not underestimate the effectiveness of having a Bakery drawcard!  Word of mouth has already worked its magic at Farina – as winter’s onset signals the start of the Outback Adventure season and all sensible travellers head north for warmth.

Judging by the number of vehicles out the front, most of them stop at the bakery, spending up big on baked goods and souvenirs.

Stay at Farina Station Campground

Of course it helps that Farina station has also set up the excellent Farina campground with barbecues, fire pits, toilets (look out for one of them in MY BOOK!) and hot showers.  All this luxury can be yours for just $AUD5 per person per night. It’s an excellent staging post en route to the rough stuff of the tracks further north. But it’s a destination in its own right with walks along the river and along the disused railway tracks.  The story boards along the way detail the history of the town’s rise, fall and restoration.

The Group’s volunteers stay on site in the campground for the annual restoration activities while the bakery is operating.  Some are reportedly the bakery’s best customers, and they work on a roster system to ensure the bakery stays open.

I almost joined up on the spot!

What’s on Offer?

Of course it also helps that the Bakery goods are absolutely top shelf.  The old Scotch oven in the underground kitchen turns out an astonishing array of sweet, savoury and plain breads and rolls; pies; sausage rolls; and pasties.  Oh, and the best cream buns I’ve ever had the privilege of tasting.

Martin, the baker du jour, dexterously whipped trays of superbly baked goods out of the oven while telling us he’d co-opted a few of his baker buddies to volunteer for a stint at Farina.

‘Well, they USED to be my friends,’ he laughed, while proving – at least to MY satisfaction – that 80 years of disuse didn’t seem to have affected the oven’s effectiveness.

The oven’s underground location probably also helped to preserve it.   One of the many storyboards around the ruins mentions the destruction of outside dunnies in violent storms.  And that, my friends, means no Scenic Public Toilet pic from the Farina ruins.

However, there IS an awesome dunny in the picnic area down in the campground to be found in my book Aussie Loos with Views!

But I digress …

One of the Driest Places on Earth!

This arid part of the South Australian Outback is the driest part of the driest state in the driest continent on earth.  As we drove to and from Farina, it was easy to see the hardships faced by the early settlers in these outback towns. After a long, hot and dry summer, today’s green and fertile pastoral country could be tomorrow’s dust bowl.

But the FRG’s hardy bunch of volunteers are putting Farina back on the map by offering their unique Bakery at the Back-of-Beyond experience!

And that puts it well and truly on the map for THIS Aussie traveller!

STOP PRESS:  The Farina Underground bakery will NOT be open in 2020 due to COVID-19.  However the historic township of Farina and the Farina campground will be open in line with South Australian border closures and travel restrictions.

Want MORE?

• Farina Restoration Group Official Website
• Copley things to see and do, Outback South Australia
• Lyndhurst things to see and do, Outback South Australia
• Strzelecki Track
• Oodnadatta Track
• Birdsville Track

* PLEASE NOTE:  The Bakery is only open for a few weeks in May/June/July.
** Oscar Wilde said it first, and best

The post The Bizarre Back-of-Beyond Bakery – Farina, South Australia appeared first on Australia by Red Nomad OZ.

The pairing of Australians and Cane Toads works well. Almost as well the pairing of pavlova with pepperoni!  Although, come to think of it, while the Cane toad is an introduced species, so are its colonial counterparts … but I digress!

77 years after ‘experts’ deliberately introduced the Cane Toad (Bufo Marinus) into the wild, this alien animal has infested nearly every habitat in the country. From a gene pool of just 102 toads in first release, numbers are estimated at above 200 million. It has no natural predators.

So what do you do?

Panic? Call in the National Guard?? Stop watching the B-Grade Horror movie???

NO! Because the pairing of Australins and Cane Toad RACING actually DOES work!!

Downunder here in OZ, the toxic toad has become an Australian ‘cultural’ icon. And along with the ‘unique’ (yes, that’s a euphemism for ‘tasteless’) novelty gift items and a bizarre, cult-status documentary about the sad story of their arrival, they’re an obvious choice for a day at the races!

Because the thrilling unpredictability of racing the arguably unintelligent, ungainly and UGLY Cane Toad is at least as logical as racing, say, horses. Or dogs. Or even camels! And for race organiser and caller ‘Fats Thommo’, of ‘Thommo’s Toad Races’, it’s a whole new industry!!

A chance chain of coincidence and we had ring-side seats for Thommo’s virtuoso performance as Cane Toad race organiser AND caller at the July 2012 Kununurra Agricultural Show. Where, ashamed to call myself an Australian without ever having attended this most prestigious of Australian sporting events, I lost my Cane Toad Race virginity!

I’m sure the high gained from bufotenin, the chemical classified as a Class 1 drug secreted by the poisonous pest, is at least partly offset by the revulsion one would feel from ingesting it via toad-licking.

That probably means instances of bufotenin addiction are so rare, they may soon appear in TV shows featuring hospitals or emergency rooms. And I’m sure bufotenin ingestion played no part in Thommo’s crowd pleasing antic AND fabulous photo opportunity (see top photo)!

Cane Toad racing isn’t just about the race. Getting the venemous villains to the starting barrel is a lengthy process, starting with the auction. Auction?

With an cry of ‘C’mon, you tight-a**ed tourists’ (and perhaps a nod to a previous profession?), Thommo launched the crowd into a bidding frenzy. Where strangely, purchasing your very own noxious nuisance for an average of $AUD50 seemed not just normal, but highly desirable! Having thus raised over $AUD500 for the Kununurra Wildlife Rescue, the poisonous predators were ready to ‘line up’.

Because the concept of racing doesn’t come naturally to untrained Cane Toads, a few modifications to the standard racing format are required. There’s no point setting Start and Finish lines, gates or racing lanes; and a starting pistol would be about as useful as a sandbox in the desert.

For Cane Toad racing, the ‘track’ becomes a well-defined circle and the ‘starting gate’ a bucket or barrel in its centre, into which the abject amphibians are placed. This wasn’t as simple as it sounds.

As the crowd gathered around the ‘track’, Thommo insisted each new owner personally place his or her toad in the barrel by hand. But as the Cane Toad has taken nearly 77 years to reach Kununurra from its first release in Far North Queensland, the art of toad-wrangling is virtually unknown. Which placed the more squeamish at a disadvantage that Thommo was quick to exploit.

‘Give us a kiss and I’ll do it for you,’ he offered.

‘I’d rather kiss the toad,’ one feisty owner replied.

After seemingly endless rounds of dropped toads, escapees, posing for photos, toad-kissing and shrieks of revulsion, the toads were ready to race.

Almost.

With the owner of the first toad to reach the circle’s perimeter after the barrel was lifted (ie the ‘winner’) to receive a highly desirable prize (ie a Thommo’s Toad Races T-shirt and 6 bottles of wine cane toad juice), the stakes were high. So Thommo issued strict instructions that the crowd was not, under ANY circumstances, to interfere with the race outcome.

With a flourish, Thommo removed the barrel and revealed a clutch of 10 toads, blinking in the sunlight after their enforced rest in the dark.

Nothing happened.

Nothing happened some more.

Then, despite wild – and desperate – shouts of encouragement, nothing continued to happen.

The cunning cane toads weren’t playing.

Thommo entered the ring and made threatening noises. That did the trick! Suddenly, a freedom-seeking toad saw an opening in the crowd, took off like a rocket, leapt the barrier like a seasoned Olympic hurdler and disappeared into the crowd, who obligingly parted.  Its fearsome friends followed.

Thommo declared the race – and my virgin experience – over.

I hope it was as good for you as it was for me!

Want more information?

• Cane Toads and Cane Toad World
• Fats Thommo
• Kununurra

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The huge fish levitating planking looming above the cars parked opposite the Swan Hill Visitor Information Centre ALMOST made up for Pilchard’s refusal to take a detour via the tiny town of Tittybong. Just so I could say I’d been there …

But the thrill of ALMOST visiting Tittybong dissipated as I sniffed out a story here on the Victorian side of the River Murray, which forms the state boundary with New South Wales.

Swan Hill’s giant Murray Cod ‘Arnold’ was saved from oblivion by its community who fibreglassed the steel and timber behemoth and slapped it (him?) up on the banks of the river as a tourist attraction. And they were right to do so – ‘Arnold’ is now far better known as a stalwart of the Swan Hill streetscape than for his short lived movie career. Say what? Yes, he was constructed in 1991 as a prop for Australian movie production Eight Ball.

No, I’ve not seen Eight Ball either. I’d never even heard of it until our April 2012 visit to Swan Hill! It’s apparently about two men who meet on a construction site for a preposterous tourist attraction – yes, a giant Murray Cod – on the banks of the Murray River near Swan Hill!!

At least It makes a change from swarms of bees, creatures from black lagoons and killer tomatoes …

So is Arnold’s reincarnation life imitating art? Or vice versa??

At 15 metres (~47 ft), Arnold dwarfs Jaws, a tiddler at only 8 metres (25 ft)! But giant Murray Cod aren’t just the stuff of B grade movies – the largest real one ever recorded was over 1.8 metres (6 ft) long and weighed 113 kg (250 lb)!

Whether inadvertently or not, Arnold’s size echoes the Aboriginal Murray River creation legend – a giant Murray cod chased down a small stream widens the river bed to assist its escape, it’s thrashing tail creating the river bends that the more prosaic attribute to weathering, floodwaters and time …

But will re-stocking programs, catch-and-release strategies, upper and lower size restrictions, and bag limits be enough to reverse the decline of this iconic Australian fish?

Once common throughout the Murray-Darling river system, the Murray Cod is now ‘vulnerable’, since European settlement a victim to unregulated overfishing, river de-snagging, decline of water quality and competitive introduced species such as European carp.

A youngster at only 21, Arnold has 27 years to go before he matches the age of the oldest recorded Murray Cod. And even further to go before 2061 when he’ll reach 70 – the estimated age of the monster fish of yesteryear!

I hope he’s not the last of his kind by then …

The post Only in OZ #21 – Big Murray Cod, Swan Hill, Victoria appeared first on Australia by Red Nomad OZ.

I’ve yet to meet a Calcareous Concretion I didn’t like.

Although there’s some confusion about exactly where that magical Moon Rock meeting is likely to be. My first sighting in Outback Queensland’s Richmond was supposed to be ‘unique to the Richmond Shire’ according to the town guide.

BUT … I’d clocked up several hundred Moon Rock sightings before heading a few hundred kilometres south-west, where a data sheet from Boulia’s Stone House Museum outlines the geological forces that formed – yes, you guessed it – the BOULIA Calcareous Concretions!

Richmond’s dubious claims of Moon Rock uniqueness are weakened further by calcareous concretion presence in the Gogo formation of the Kimberley, Western Australia. Happily, my razor-sharp mind immediately resolved this discrepancy!

Calcareous Concretions are a feature of the Toolebuc formation, left when Australia’s vast inland sea dried up after covering much of what is now Outback Queensland – including both Richmond and Boulia!! QED …

Of course the most common form of calcareous concretion is the pearl – I therefore stand by my opening sentence – but other than formation method, the pearl and the Moon Rock are completely dissimilar …

However, although Moon Rocks can be seen in Boulia and the Kimberley, the fossil fossicking grounds of the Richmond shire, where FOSSILHUNTER once roamed (and shall roam again!), is their heartland.

Ranging in size from tiny to immoveable, you can’t throw a fossil-bearing rock without hitting some evidence of Richmond’s widespread exploitation of the Moon Rock’s decorative qualities.

The commemorative cairn, a grim or happy reminder (depending on your politics and point of view) of ex-Queensland premier Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen who opened the Flinders Highway that bisects the town, is made of various smaller sized Moon Rocks.

But there’s no evidence that they in any way resemble the pumpkin scones made famous by Sir Joh’s wife, Lady Flo Bjelke-Petersen …*

A scattering of larger Moon Rocks lurk in the gardens below the Lakeview Caravan Park around the wonderful Fred Tritton Lake (above), a feature of Richmond’s ingenuity and an understandably popular local gathering spot.

But if you want to see Moon Rocks in their natural habitat, drive out to Cambridge Crossing on the Stawell River, 40 km from Richmond.

The riverbed, mostly dry on our June, 2011 visit gave no clue to the forces that pushed these Moon Rocks up against the crossing bed when the river flowed.

Luckily, the temptation to crack open a Moon Rock’s hard casing and cut through the limestone layer to discover the fossil or crytal that formed its nuclei was thwarted by the absence of a rock pick. Well, actually a jackhammer …

So here’s one someone prepared earlier!

A pile of Moon Rocks cleared from the riverbed and crossing didn’t look THAT big – until I stood next to them!

And remember I’m not a small person … although I’m still wondering how Pilchard’s photo of me and the Moon Rocks (below) was mysteriously photo-shopped to make me look fat …

While I salivate at the memory of top notch Bakery goods from the mysteriously named Moon Rock café at world class dinosaur fossil museum Kronosaurus Korner … they’ve really got nothing to do with the rest of this post  Just put it down to Moon Rocks in my head …

Richmond residents clearly come by THEIR Moon-Rocks-on-the-brain obsession honestly because it’s here, during the biennial Richmond Fossil Festival that the World Champion Moon Rock-throwing competition is held!

SO … if you’ve got the $AUD5.00 entry fee, and can throw a 23 kg (50 lb) Moon Rock more than 5.04 metres, you just MIGHT topple 2011 World Champ David Ievers in May 2012 and grab yourself a world championship title!!

Me, I think I’ll take my chances with the pearls …

Want more information?

• FOSSILHUNTER
• Moon Rocks
• World Champion Moon Rock-throwing Competition, 2018
• Kronosaurus Korner and Richmond

* Forgive me the indulgence of this gratuitous history lesson – Although Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen and his wife, Lady Flo Bjelke-Petersen were Queensland’s first couple 1968-87, these controversial and colourful figures were well known throughout Australia. He for his policies that allowed controversial development unsullied by such considerations as standard approval processes, and allegations of corruption; she for the fabulous pumpkin scones for which she will always be remembered despite later becoming a senator in her own right.

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What’s a weary Aussie traveller to do after a few hours and a few hundred kilometres on the road? Stagger from the car – reeling from too much sitting and legs crossed from sipping water water – and head straight for the loo, of course! Or the nearest tree, rock or shrub.

Finding a good place to do your business is an Aussie outback traveller’s rite of passage.

So how desperate would you be if you’ve just crossed the universe, and you’re a gazillion light years from home??

Appropriate facilities – or intelligent life forms – aren’t always easy to find in this corner of the universe.  Local and intergalactic travellers will therefore be relieved (in more ways than one) to learn that the Wycliffe Well roadhouse doesn’t just cater for mere earthlings.

Deep in the heart of the Northern Territory, and self-styled UFO capital of OZ, the roadhouse is where all the smart aliens (and local travellers) head for a quirky break.

Alien body waste disposal technology is still a new science here on Earth, however Wycliffe Well’s ground-breaking inclusive convenience block labelling is sure to minimise offence no matter how far or from where the visitor has travelled!

Or to what facilities the alien visitor is accustomed …

The simple earth technology might not meet home galaxy standards.  But I would defy any traveller from anywhere to wander amongst the random statues and murals tastefully adorning the grounds and not find something to make them feel at home!

With the possible exception of the Elvis campsite …

In 2002 the Sun Herald ranked the tiny Wycliffe Well roadhouse 5th in the world for UFO activity.  Sceptics may scoff at its high per-capita UFO sighting rate, and the uninformed will almost certainly put it down to substance abuse overindulgence; but who’s to say this isn’t an alien home away from home??

After seeing the extraordinary attractions of Wycliffe Well for myself, I suspect extraterrestrial navigation systems throughout the universe will be busy programming in its coordinates!!

The post Wycliffe Well Roadhouse – The Best Alien Pit-Stop this side of the Galaxy! appeared first on Australia by Red Nomad OZ.

The benign, blue sky stretches away to infinity around western Queensland’s Boulia, mostly unrelieved by clouds, birds or planes. Unremarkable – at least by Outback standards – Boulia’s boundless blue backdrop is the ultimate Big Sky luring travellers to the Outback.

But it’s not the splendidly panoramic sky of daylight hours that attracts visitors to this remote capital of the Channel Country.

It’s the mysterious Min Min Light which only appears at night!

The famous lights didn’t appear as we descended south from Julia Creek and Mt Isa into Boulia after 600km on indifferent outback roads.  Hardly surprising, given it was still daylight.

So with a mixture of anticipation and scepticism, we read signs around the town proclaiming we’d entered Min Min Light country.   Would we get to see the famous lights on our first foray into the paranormal world of this phenomenon for which there is no rational explanation?

The Min Min light has been well known in Aborginal lore for generations.  But the first police report of the legendary light was lodged shortly after the Min Min hotel, 100km east of Boulia, burned down, leaving only a bottle heap and cemetery.

Panicking after seeing a glow hovering over the graveyard, a passing stockman spurred his horse for Boulia.  To his horror, the light turned and followed him most of the way back to town.

While his report was met with derision, a short time later a couple new to the area arrived in Boulia.  They requested an explanation for a mysterious light which moved away from them when they moved towards it, but followed them once they returned to the road.

Then, a few nights later, another stockman reported an eerie light originating from the Min Min graveyard, this time bounding through the air like a football.

Despite theories – phosphorescence, burning gas, ghostly apparition, alcoholic influence, even fungus!! – there’s no scientific explanation to completely explain the spooky light.  Now the Min Min light – often mistaken for a bright car headlight – has been seen by thousands of people since that first sighting nearly 100 years ago.  But  despite attempts to chase it down, it’s never been caught, outpacing runners, horses and cars.

Even if the lights HAD appeared at the excellent Boulia caravan park on the Burke river (named for the explorer) overnight, it would’ve been impossible to see them in the deep sleep we’d sunk into after a long day on the road.  So the next day, our paranormal adventure continued at the local Boulia Museum ‘Min Min Encounter’, the only place where a Min Min Lights sighting is guaranteed!

Tragically, it’s not possible to photograph any part of the 45 minute journey we followed through this professionally designed hi-tech production.  

But it successfully debunks possible explanations through actual eyewitness accounts of genuine Min Min light experiences.

Then the journey ends with a simulated night bus ride through the moonlit outback terrain, where the Min Min lights appear just before dawn!

The post Aussie Icons #6 – Min Min light, Boulia, Queensland appeared first on Australia by Red Nomad OZ.

When the 200-year-old Tree of Knowledge was poisoned shortly after being included on the National Heritage List on Australia Day 2006, I was appalled.

Yet another historic Aussie landmark fallen victim to the disregard sometimes shown for our heritage. But although the tree’s demise was disappointing, I was also resigned to its fate. Because when a tree dies, it’s gone for good, right? RIGHT??

Wrong!

Where else but Australia would a replacement tree be considered a viable option?  And we’re not talking simple replanting, either – that’d be too easy. We’re talking a total tree REBUILD!

So when news broke that the now dead Tree of Knowledge would be replaced by a virtual monument incorporating a section of the original in homage, I was skeptical.

How could a virtual tree memorial be built to at the very least equal the real thing?

Because if it DIDN’T match the drama and history of the original Tree of Knowledge, what would be the point??

You’ve probably figured by now that THIS Tree of Knowledge isn’t the Garden of Eden original. Even if the nearby Roses and Things garden and tea rooms closely approximates how I’d imagined the legendary garden, downtown Barcaldine,  known as ‘Garden City of the West’,  isn’t quite the same thing!

But why make such a fuss about a TREE?

Well … I’m glad you asked!

Barcaldine is WAAAY more than the Rose Garden and killer bakery! This classic Outback Queensland town is also (arguably) the only place in Australia – if not the world! – with a combination heritage walk/pub crawl based around the 5 historic pubs in the main street!!

But I digress …

Back to the tree!

In 1891, a dispute between shearers, their union and local pastoralists polarised political opinion, culminating in an historic strike and the rise of the Labour Union movement and Australian Labor Party. Events unfolded under a Ghost Gum (Eucalyptus papuana) in the town’s centre, subsequently dubbed the ‘Tree of Knowledge’.

That made the tree a local and national iconic symbol.

So THAT meant poisoning the tree wasn’t just vandalism – but political sabotage.

How could an appropriate replacement for this priceless icon EVER be found?

Pretty much impossible, you’d think.

Or was it?

In August 2011, a couple of years after the $AUD5 Million virtual tree was officially ‘opened’ I approached it with some apprehension.

Probably the best I could hope for was that I didn’t hate it.

But, standing in the shade covering the area of the original canopy, I experienced a rare moment of speechless admiration. Incorporating the preserved trunk and some branches of the original, but with a canopy of wooden cylinders (secured with lock nuts!) to replicate leaves and the musical sound of wind in the ‘foliage’, this awesome virtual tree ROCKS*!

This stunning tribute actually betters (in my opinion, and that’s the one that counts on this blog!) the original icon it commemorates.

But perhaps that’s partly because it provides a unique photographic experience in that it’s almost impossible to take a poor shot!!

A virtual Tree doesn’t require conventional gardening methods either!  Earlier in 2015 it was ‘closed’ for maintenance – those bolts and lock nuts stopping the wooden panels from falling don’t tighten themselves!

And there’s hope for the future too, with Barcaldine’s Australian Workers Heritage Centre, now home to the ‘Young-Un’ (or Son of the Tree of Know-ledge!) cloned from the original tree’s DNA planted in early 2011 by then Prime Minister, Julia Gillard.  And if that doesn’t work out, there’s another clone in Brisbane’s Ecosciences precinct!

So, maybe another icon will be unveiled on this historic spot at a ‘Tree of Knowledge’ festival in another 200 years or so!!

Watch this space …

* Well done, Brian Hooper and m3architecture!

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