Turtle Haven

Out shooting some scenery, or just looking weird, in Port Hedland... 

Ben doing his thing

Take photo here...

Port Hedland was stinking hot. (Yeah, I know I say that a lot, but man... it was unreal!) The ground on our site was covered in some sort of cloth, and I don’t know if it had anything to do with it, but the ground retained a lot of heat. So, once the tents were set up, they never really cooled down. It was really hard to get any sleep whatsoever. You stick to everything.

We were lucky enough to stumble upon the breeding season for flatback sea turtles while there. Not sleeping much, it wasn’t hard to get up at 6 in the morning to head down to the beach. The first morning we didn’t see any turtles, but saw many tracks leading up from the water. We met a group of volunteers that told us when they usually come up and decided to head back during the afternoon when the tide came in. (We were picturing a couple of hours in the sweltering sun with various degrees of sunburns and no turtles. But as it were it was a good decision. As soon as we’re back down on the beach I spot the first turtle getting out of the water in the distance. We rush over as fast as our feet could carry us across the sand.

 Turtles meet and greet

Ben watches nervously as this turtle headed straight for him

As we were there more turtles got out of the water and we were all very excited and careful to respect the magnificent animals as they dug their hole and laid their 50 odd eggs then dug another decoy hole to confuse any predators, before crawling back down to the water. If my memory serves me right, each turtle comes back to the same beach about three times every breeding season and lays about 50 eggs each time. But then they might not return for another two or three years.  The beach was pretty much covered in tracks and holes.

And it keeps coming.. Looking a bit freaked there, Benno! 

This was one of the most amazing things I have ever witnessed. These animals are incredibly awe inspiring and beautiful, and even more so when you know that only about 1 in a thousand make it from hatchling to adult. Apparently it’s the temperature of the sand that decides the sex of the turtle. Cooler sand- boys, warmer sand- girls, too hot- death. 

The next day we got up early again and headed to the beach, this time in hopes of finding some hatchlings. The first thing we come across is a very deep hole where a dog as dug its way down to the eggs and eaten them all. A common problem for turtles and a devastating thing to find for newfound turtle enthusiasts.

We walk around for a while looking for nests and babies, and the same group of volunteers show up.  As it were, we were looking in the completely wrong places. They kindly point us to a little ditch in the sand where they are. To be quite honest, it took me some time to realize that I could actually see them. And when I saw their two little heads and flippers buried in the sand, it scared me to think how easy it would be to step on these poor little things.

We sat around for quite some time waiting for them to heat up enough to wake up. A little breath here and there, but no big movements for a long time. As the sun rose and it got hotter things started happening a lot quicker than I thought it would. The myth of all turtles being very slow died right then and there. One of the little ones started jiggling his way (temporarily burying the other) and rapidly headed right for the water, which unfortunately was at low tide. There’s not much you’re allowed to do to help them except shoo away hungry seagulls as they need to imprint their little GPS’ so they can find their way back to the same beach when old enough to lay their own eggs. We walked the little fella out to water, watching him struggle his way through footprints, rocks and other obstacles. Once in the water it didn’t take long before the poor creature ended in a little rock pool with an (evil) octopus. And such this sweet little life ended all too soon.

The other little one also woke up and was quite disoriented for a while before finding the right direction. And as soon as it did, a greedy seagull zoned in on him despite our efforts to scare it off. At this point we had to leave, already late for camp check out and covered in sweat and sand. But, a kind soul we met there informed me in a comment on this blog that it found itself a octopus free hiding place in the water under a rock and laid there waiting for the tide to come in. Perhaps only to be eaten by a shark or perhaps to be one in a thousand to make it.

As a last note, I would like to add this. Regardless of what sort of wildlife we need to have a bigger respect for the nature that surrounds us. Littering, driving on the beach, even your ‘innocent’ little pooch can cause grave harm. For turtle hatchlings it is enough for us to pack the sand too hard on top of them to create a tomb from which they will never emerge. Plastic bags for example can cause turtles to drown. Respect the nature around us, respect the planet we live on, grow up and stop dropping your shit everywhere. It is unnecessary, disrespectful and very harmful. This planet is not ours and ours alone. We are not almighty. We are not Gods and we should stop acting like we are. 

People watching a little hatchling making his way to sea

A love letter to Air conditioning.

Dear Air Condition.

I love you. I love you. I love you. I miss your soft cool air, I miss how it embraces me and gently caresses my body.

Dear Air Condition, where have you been? I am wandering a valley of scorching heat, failing to find my way and clinging to my last bit of sanity.

Dear Air Condition, please come back to me. I shall never again doubt your abilities or your goodness for yours is life in a fresh breath of air. I shall never again let others doubt you or let them keep you away from me.  For in thy cool breeze is the life, lust and glory I long for, reborn and rejuvenated.

Prologue.

Dear Air Condition. I thank you for the times you have saved me and kept me conscious. I thank you for my remaining sanity and for regaining my humanity. 

Team Fantastic at Wycliffe Wells. Less hairy than they are now... 

Ben tries to learn how to roll the norwegian R's in Barossa Valley

Re-cap 2

Kununurra and Fitzroy Crossing. Went there. Did that. Incredibly hot and humid. Saw wild dogs and smelt dead cows. (Which by the way was absolutely revolting as you can imagine I’m sure.)  Ben vomited out the car window again during breakfast. Drove about 2000km in three days with 5 people in the car. Whoopdeedo. Not as bad as it could have been, but still far from comfortable. I was quite amazed at how liveable we were able to make it. And Xenon provided a much appreciated cheerful mood in the back seat.

Xenon goes Cowboy Bebop. 

BROOME

We entered the New Year in Broome, again in sweet air condition in a little unit in a caravan park close to the beach. Every night gave massive storms, and there was no way our tents would have survived. The thunder actually made the whole house rattle and shake one night, and the lightning went off like someone had put about twenty light kits around the house.

Ben trying to look scary and aggro. You're too cute, Ben. 

Steinar and I celebrated our 4^th anniversary on a camel safari on New Years Eve. That was great fun for about ten minutes. It was way too hot to sit still on a camls back, and we had forgot to bring any water with us. The anniversary itself was sweet fun all day. As it should be when you've got a fantastic man like I have. :) Broome was stinking hot, man...

Ah, yes, I almost forgot. At some point, and I can’t remember exactly when, the guys taught me how to play poker. Oh mama, I love that game! I can proudly say I won my second game. (Not to be repeated since, but I still do ok.)

Xenon and Ben in the man-made pool, Anastasia's pool, during our first attempt to check out those dino-prints. Water levels was way too high. 

Xenon looking as beautiful as ever on New Year's. Weird bars do weird things to already weird people. Myself included. 

Two awesome guys. :)

Xenon and random New Year's friends. 

Xenon flew home from Broome and we continued on after checking out some dinosaur prints. Unfortunately the tide wasn’t low enough this time either, but at least we got to check out some sweet rocks and cement replicas. Hey, it’s better than nothing.

The next few days the heat got worse. One day saw 47 degrees in the shade and I almost passed out in the car from the heat. That kind of heat makes me real sick, real fast, and finally sweet, sweet air condition was put on. Oh sweet mother of all releases. I heart air conditioning. 

Darwin

Ben at work in Drawin

We spent Christmas in Darwin. Escaping cyclone Billy, we still expected hard core rain and took in to a backpackers. Oh my, what a shock it was. Sooner than expected we found ourselves back to old and somewhat bad habits. Sleeping in, eating kebabs, not cooking much and a general slackness we honestly can’t really afford. The heat wasn’t too bad though as per usual I did plot bloody murder on the worst of days. A humidity of 90% is still no joke even if its barely above 30-35. (Doesn’t sound all that cool, but after the desert, believe you me, it was.) 

For me Christmas involved two nights, including Christmas Eve, curled around a toilet bowl sick and in bed, alone. Somehow my body just didn’t seem to like the heat, dehydration and poor eating. Hm... I wonder why... By far not the most pleasant of times and to be quite honest I found it incredibly depressing. But fortunately I was up and running again by Christmas Day. Just in time to see our lovely Xenon eat prawns with custard and have a custard and cream sculling contest with an 'Irish Cunt'. It was quite the show! :)

Anyway, we went on this sweet crocodile cruise on the Adelaide River on Christmas eve. I’m not messing with any crocs, man, those things are scary as! This one croc had his eye on me for a while, and standing in front of an open window on the bottom deck I didn’t feel all too confident. Those bastards can jump. High. Real high. And as far as they are concerned you look Deeeeelicious.

I believe this croc wanted to eat me.  The window was open between him and me, and as you can see it wasn't all that high above water or far between this monster and myself. 

Pete also got to come on the croc cruise! I wanted to give him an up-close-and-personal meeting, but Ben didn't let me. I reckon Pete would have loved it. 

Eirik contemplating life, perhaps, under the stormy Darwin skies. 

We spent a fair few days in Darwin splashing around the pool, kicking it in our air conditioned rooms, catching up on work and had our mr. Xenon join us for a weeks holiday. Happy Days!

Re-cap 1

The Devil's Marbles

This thing is harder to keep up with than I had imagined. The days and weeks fly by. I can’t be bothered recapping everything that has happened, it’s just too much.  But I’ll try my best to give you the gist of it.

Ben gave us a sweet Christmas present at the Three Way Roadhouse. A room!! Steinar and I slept for most of the day waking to find to find a massively drunk Eirik who had been the victim of Ben’s bottle of scotch and a game of Texas Liquid Hold’ Em. A game they invented where you bet drinks instead of money. It was a sight to behold. After dinner we again retired to our room, only staying awake to monitor the development of cyclone Billy further up north.

 

                            MATARANKA AND THE NOT SO ITTY BITTY BATS

Continuing on our way to Darwin we stopped in Mataranka and went to the thermal pools situated in a national park there. We thought we might go check it out first and as we get to where you go in to what looks like a massive jungle, I commented on the fact that it smelt like a zoo. As we walk in the stench really hits you and I look up only to see every tree covered in bats. Thousands of them, everywhere. It was a bizarre sight I’m sure I’ll never get to see again. The pool looked sweet and we decided to go back and get our gear and swim stuff. Then the first drops of rain hit us. By the time we had walked the short distance back to the car we were drenched. Driving became an almost impossible task, and we had to take in to a room in a nearby caravan park. The next day we went back determined to have a swim. The pool was so hot it felt like you were pissing your pants instead of swimming. Not all that pleasant to be honest, but worth doing to have done it.  When it’s hot you just don’t want a hot pool. 

Crazy Mataranka peacock

Murder, she wrote

Heat; that suffocating thing that wraps around you like a python. Squeezes the air out of you and fills your lungs with concrete. Your head feels like its about to erupt and explode, smearing everything within reach in brain matter. Sweat trickles down your back, down your stomach, down your legs... Your clothes stick to your body like you’ve just partaken in a wet t-shirt contest, only there is nothing refreshing or remotely sexy about it. Everything you touch has to be peeled off, even your own limbs stick together like Velcro.

Now add a good and unreasonable amount of humidity.

Add a car full of stuff.           

Then stick 4 (5) people in it.

For 6-9 hours.

At 120 km an hour the wind bashes your face through a small gap in the window, whips you with whatever hair it can grab a hold of. Part devil, part saviour, your window is your life support, your umbilical cord to the land of the living. As the sweat covers your body, the wind becomes the last stop between your sanity and the beyond as your struggle to remain conscious. Every sense of time and place is lost only to be replaced by aggression, confusion and suffering... (Yes, I choose to call it suffering.)

And murder will be plotted... 

Ben and Xenon incredibly hung over, hot and bothered as we leave Darwin. I've never heard you guys bitch like that before... Self-inflicted. Deal with it. :) 

Ben goes swimming in some lake in Darwin while Pete and I are left soaking in sweat watching.