We arrived back to the campground to the sound of dozens of small bells chiming. A fellow camper told us it was actually the sound of bellbirds. It's amazing how much like bells these birds sound! We took a little hike and found a bellbird building a nest.
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| Australian Bellbird |
Later, I spied our first swamp wallaby. I certainly hope all of them aren't as shy as this one!
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| Swamp wallaby, Goomburra, Main Range National Park |
With all the Main Range campgrounds full, we decided to move further inland the following day. We found an area with interesting geological formations and took a short hike, hoping to camp there.
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| Girraween National Park, Queensland, Australia |
After making another call, however, we unfortunately discovered that all the campgrounds in the Girraween National Park were also full. We drove on and camped in a free city park that night. We were surprised when several cockatoos called galahs strutted right in front of us. A lady stopped and told us that a flock of these birds could take on a crocodile. One thing is for certain... they are the noisiest birds! They began their squawking at 6:00 am sharp. It was impossible to sleep any longer.
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| The Galah Cockatoo |
The next morning, we headed towards the town of Texas. A fellow told us the town was so named because the people who owned the property had left to mine some gold. When they returned, squatters had taken over the place. They had to fight like the Alamo to get the land back. When they were successful, they decided to name the town Texas.
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| Texas in Queensland, Australia |
The following day we drove on to St. George to Lightening Ridge. The scenery became more and more arid. This section of Australia is in the grips of a terrible drought. Everything is dry as a tinder box. We saw a few emus, but most were at a distance.
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| Emus near St. George, Queensland |
We saw mostly dead kangaroos and wallabies. It was amazing how many of these poor creatures were road kill... some freshly killed while others were just bones with hide on them. In one area the length of our camper, we saw eight kangaroos freshly killed. It was devastating to see. As the day wore on, my spirits began to sag at the sight of such carnage.
We had been warned to stay off the highways after four in the afternoon because the animals begin to move then. It was quickly approaching four, and we were still a good half hour from reaching Lightening Ridge. We began to see kangaroos and wallabies standing along the roadside. I had to pull the camper to a complete stop several times to miss them. The creatures would simply stop in the road to look at us before hopping off into the bush. No wonder so many are killed. It was heartbreaking.
We found a nice holiday park (RV park) in Lightening Ridge. Next to the park was a large vacant lot with a mob of about 30 kangaroos in it. The park attendant told us the kangaroos come into the park every evening to eat the grass. David and I grabbed cameras to take a few shots of the mob in the waning light.
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| Mob of kangaroos |
We sat outside our camper as dusk settled in and the sun set. As if to soothe my spirits, the entire mob of kangaroos passed right by our chairs, most only ten or fifteen feet away from us.
The full moon shed a soft glow on their gray coats. Some of the kangaroos would be skittish with us sitting so near. They hopped quickly past us. Others would bow, using their short front legs to propel them forward, sliding their great hind legs to their front legs, and using their tail as a fifth limb. When the mob reached the lawn, they bent over, grazing much like cows. It was wonderful to watch and get to know these creatures better. I can't wait to learn more.
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