Lots More Crazy Adventures

This is my sixth article from the Australian outback.

In early July I took a week off work as my brother was visiting Alice Springs for the first time from Adelaide. I left Lajamanu as usual at 6:30am, driving down to Alice Springs with glee, not knowing that my day was about to go very wrong in a few hours. I was driving down the Tanami Road (dirt road) at 110kmph when a few lights appeared on my dash board to indicate something was wrong. When I came upon the usual dip 10km past the Tanami Gold mine and applied the brakes, to my horror my brakes did not work. I had to lower gears and zig zag so that I didn’t crash into the dip on the road. Thanks to my experience driving manual 4WD vehicles, I was able to miraculously stop the vehicle and escaped unhurt, but rather badly shaken. After conversing with my Fleet officer, Dan over the satellite phone, I was instructed to try and drive back to the mine so that a tow truck could be arranged for pick up. Unfortunately I only managed to get to about 1km short of the mine when the driver’s side front tyre exploded and collapsed. Dan was able to arrange for a tow truck to pick up the vehicle and bring it into Alice Springs the next day. My ranger coordinator Andrew was luckily in Lajamanu so he came to pick me up 4 hrs after the accident. To my horror when Andrew arrived the vehicle he was driving had the same flashing lights on the dash board and was leaking brake oil. Andrew’s instructions form Dan was to drive to Alice Springs, but with this complication we decided it was safer to return to Lajamanu. We barely made it to Lajamanu with brake oil leaking profusely. I had to cancel my leave and inform my brother to postpone his trip. This is the fourth time in my conservation career that I have had a near-death experience, but I am lucky I walked away from this unhurt physically, but shaken mentally. With two of our three work vehicles out of action we sent the broken vehicle by truck to Katherine for repairs and Andrew and I both drove up in the last work vehicle to go pick it up and return to Lajamanu. I had a 2 night trip in Katherine as a consolation price after my car mishap and the loss of my holiday. My brother was able to reschedule his flight to September. Looking back it worked out well as Alice Springs was dealing with a COVID-19 scare that same week and my brother would have had to quarantine on his return to Adelaide. So although I almost died and our plans were ruined it was God’s way of protecting us so I remain thankful for that. My vehicle, my dear Alice, was fixed and returned to me in mid-August and she is working just fine. The incident report said that it was a freak accident which occurs in 1 in every 4000 Toyota Land Cruisers despite it undergoing two recent services. A ball bearing had collapsed resulting gin the hub exploding causing brake oil to leak and ultimately result in the tyre and rim collapsing.

In July we joined the Southern Tanami IPA crew and undertook a joint field trip to Highland Rocks which is within the Southern Tanami IPA. As usual it was like trying to herd cats to ensure all the vehicles and people got to the camp site safely. The campsite was around 50km inland off the Tanami road through a narrow bush track.

We were joined by our fire officer, Ross, and our first female helicopter pilot, Kat, to help with the protective burning work we had planned to do. This was the first time we had a female pilot on a field trip and the indigenous elders and rangers were struggling to comprehend that fact although we found it amusing. Since there were a few men only sites which had to be burnt, having a female pilot posed issues. The rangers even asked if Kat could fly with her eyes closed when over those sites. Kat is an experienced pilot and certainly could fly with her eyes closed, although it is not recommended. Thankfully a compromise was reached and Kat was allowed to fly over these sites provided she stayed in helicopter if they should land. It was loads of fun during the week with rangers dropping fire capsules from the helicopter, whilst the rest of us carried out on-ground burns. We did a lot of off road driving thanks to George (big fan of bush bashing) especially since he plays appropriate music for the circumstances in which we drive. We had a few flat tyres during the trip but George came to the rescue with his hi-tech tyre changing equipment which made things much easier.

We visited a waterbody called ‘Two Kangaroos’. We started to dig to see if we could hit water. Luckily we were able to find water, however the hole was too small for anyone except me to fit into it. So whilst someone held my feet, I crawled in head first to access the water which obviously was muddy.

In August we carried out our annual Bilby survey at Duck Ponds with Kelly, Hayley, Cat and our amazing helicopter pilot Dave. Due to lack of rangers Karl, George and the Yuendumu rangers came to our aid. The trip from Lajamanu to Duck Ponds takes 2 hrs and Andrew and I had to drive to and fro three times that day to get equipment and food across, so we were exhausted on Day 1.

The trip went very well. We found many active bilby burrows and were able to collect many scat samples for DNA analysis to determine population density. We had our master tracker indigenous rangers, Christine, Alice and Ambrose to aid us. Henry and his family who were the elders on the trip undertook all the protective burning around the area and we set a few massive controlled fires around the region.

Duck Ponds didn’t have much water, but there was plenty of bird life around the place. Dingoes often came to see what we were up to, but left us alone at night. Kelly and I deployed Elliot traps again in the hopes of catching a small mammal. I taught Henry how the traps worked and he helped me set up the traps. This time we were lucky to trap a Sandy Inland Mouse which was so cute. That made my day. To Andrew’s delight Dave had a Blue-Heeler puppy called Boots for sale which Andrew ended up bring home to Lajamanu the following week.

In early September I drove to Maningrida in Arnhem Land to undertake an exchange programme and work with the staff from the Bawinanga Aboriginal Corporation (BAC) who manage the Djelk Indigenous Protected Area. It took me 1.5 days to get there from Lajamanu. I had the privilege of driving through Kakadu National Park and staying the night at Jabiru at the Crocodile Hotel. I had to cross Cahill’s Crossing, which is Australia’s most dangerous river crossing due to strong tides and its large population of saltwater crocodiles. Fortunately on my travel to Maningrida and back to Lajamanu the tides were low, but I did see saltwater crocodiles around the crossing. Lucky for me my vehicle didn’t get stuck on the crossing, and the experience was exhilarating. I waited to send a video of Cahill’s Crossing to my parents after I safely crossed it on my return. Naturally they were freaked out. It was lovely to be in the tropics again with the lush trees, flowing water and beautiful scenery. When I got to Maningrida I drove straight to the beach to see the ocean before I made it to the office. I love being near the sea, and I have missed it these past few months working in Lajamanu and Alice Springs.

Jakawan was my counterpart in Maningrida and he took me around to introduce me to the staff and the company CEO. He was a few years older than me, but we shared the same passion and energy for our conservation work so we hit it off instantly. Our first task was to set fire to stacks of hay as they had seeds of the invasive weed Gamba grass in them. I spent the week working with the rangers and meeting people in town. The rangers spent most of their time fighting fires. I also had the privilege of going out on the boat to survey salt water crocodiles and other marine animals. This was the first time I saw saltwater crocodiles in the wild so I was so excited and thankful at the same time that I was inside the boat. There was a trap set up to catch crocodiles as they are harvested for their meat, but it was empty when we checked it. Jakawan took me for a drive to show the damage caused by buffalos to the landscape. The damage was so extensive to the soil that it was so difficult to drive on. We also drove to a lake infested with salt water crocodiles and their female ranger Christina, taught me how to locate them on the surface of the water from afar. I spent the weekend in Maningrida enjoying the pool, the lovely takeaway food and the long walks on the beach. Unfortunately with the saltwater crocodiles in the water I couldn’t go for a swim in the sea. This was the best ranger team I have had the privilege of working with. Majority of the residents live at outstations which have phone, internet, water and electricity facilities unlike at Lajamanu, so each family is more connected to their land. It was amusing however to find that the internet connection was much better in the field than in the Maningrida town. I had a very educational exchange programme where we were able to exchange ideas and I was able to learn new things which could be implemented in Lajamanu. I spent two nights in Katherine on my return to rest up and enjoy some good food and the hotel pool.

In mid-September I drove down to Alice Springs for a two week holiday. This time there were no mishaps with the vehicle. My brother was able to fly in with no COVID scares either during the week. We had a lovely week together in Alice Springs where I took him to show him around the town, visit a few places and meet up with all my crazy but wonderful friends. During the second week of my holiday I relaxed and enjoyed good food, good friends and exploring my beloved quirky town of Alice Springs further.

In October we held the annual fire meeting in Tennant Creek. The meeting went well and we were able to map out priority areas in the Northern Tanami IPA. Henry and James were the two elders who joined us from Lajamanu for the meeting. It was fun meeting up with the other ranger groups and discussing ideas. In late October COVID-19 had spread throughout Katherine including to several indigenous communities bordering Katherine. This was because an interstate traveller had lied on her border entry form, but had come in from a COVID hotspot and subsequently tested positive after spending a week in Katherine while infectious. Since Katherine was only 6 hours away from Lajamanu our local COVID management team, which involves all the managers of organisation working in Lajamanu including myself, worked with the police and health staff to put in place the measures we had already agreed to in 2020 in the event we had a positive case in Lajamanu. The nurses also ran a training programme on PPE usage for us in case we needed to step in to help.

Since my snake capture and release training in February I have been called out a dozen times to deal with snakes in Lajamanu. To my amusement, all the snakes I had to deal with this year were pythons which are non-venomous. I had the good fortune to finally see two Stimson’s pythons in the wild and capture and release them. I was also able to capture the biggest snake I’ve seen to date, a feisty 2m long Black-headed python. During this capture I had quite an audience of my fan club in Lajamanu who were cheering me on and filming the entire process. Andrew absolutely refuses to come anywhere near snakes, but will happily stand way back and be my camera man and shut the snake bin after I have dropped the snake in.

I carried out a cane toad tadpole control experiment in conjunction with the Lajamanu school students in late October. The control method was developed by researchers at the University of Queensland and being carried out successfully in Queensland. They were using bait (Bufo Tabs) which was made from a pheromone of adult cane toads which exclusively attracted only cane toad tadpoles. Since it was difficult to get the bait delivered, I instead used dead cane toads which I had been collecting and freezing with the help of a few friends and their shovels over a few months. I taught the students how to make the traps and how they worked. We had around 20 students join us and deploy three traps at Turkey’s Nest (3km out of Lajamanu). Unfortunately we didn’t trap any tadpoles. However the kids invented a new game where since their aim was so good, they started flinging rocks at adult cane toads on the water surface at Turkey’s Nest and successfully killing them, giving me more bait for another attempt. The teachers who accompanied the students commented that they will have to bring the kids out in rotation weekly to tire them out by undertaking this game! In November the schoolchildren and I redeployed the traps at another waterbody near Turkey’s Nest and this time was successful in capturing cane toad tadpoles. We trapped around 1000 tadpoles in each trap. We became the first team in the Northern Territory to successfully carry out this method. The traps will now be deployed frequently in 2022 to manage the population of cane toad tadpoles in the IPA whilst adult cane toads will continue to be killed and used as bait in these traps.

In early November while Andrew was on leave I ended up babysitting Boots and training him for 3 weeks. Boots loved air conditioners and would enjoy being my acting ranger coordinator at work and keeping me company at home. We would go for daily walks and I would drop him off frequently at the police station to play with Dave” (police sergeant) dog Jack, both of whom would be running around the garden through the sprinklers which were turned on during the day. Boots was a very good watch dog and protected the house well, barking at everyone who walked past the house. With COVID raging in Katherine I had to follow federal, state and local legislative rules for COVID management, making more COVID related work while I spent most of November by myself in the Lajamanu office. Having Boots for company and cuddles helped me get through each stressful day. I commented to Andrew on his return that Boots was the best ranger coordinator I had since he did everything I told him to do and made no fuss!

In November I held both an IPA Committee meeting and a Bilby workshop at Lajamanu to get approval for Hayley’s proposed PhD project at Duck Ponds studying the effects of fire on Bilby populations. All the elders were happy with the project and were enthusiastic about setting fires for research purposes.

I was all excited to be heading down to Alice Springs to spend the summer and for a well-deserved holiday in Adelaide. However, 12 hrs before I was due to leave Lajamanu the wastewater tested positive for COVID-19 indicating there was positive case in the community. This resulted in Lajamanu going into lockdown on 28th November for two weeks with a rapid response team being sent to manage the situation from Darwin. I was so disappointed that I got locked in at Lajamanu again, when I was so close to getting out after a very difficult year. I unpacked my vehicle with sadness. The whole town was tested and we were not allowed to leave our houses except for a visit to the store if needed only. Fortunately since I had enough food I was able to stay put in the house. I kept myself occupied by reading, watching movies and taking naps in the afternoon. However the feeling of being trapped in Lajamanu and the possibility of my holiday vanishing made me extremely sad. The testing was done by dividing the town into three categories. The high risk group tested first were those who had travelled in from Katherine and their families; medium risk were those with underlying health conditions and the low risk were those who had bene in Lajamanu for the past two weeks and were in good health. The local COVID-19 management committee had to attend twice daily online meetings with the rapid response team and police at 8am and 6pm. It was the first time I was directly involved in such a large scale operation aiding the state police and health staff to manage the situation. On November 30th I returned a negative test and the police and health staff allowed Andrew and myself to leave Lajamanu the next day since we were both deemed low risk. I loaded all my gear back into my vehicle that evening, had a good night’s sleep and left Lajamanu at 6am on 1st Dec. I was so happy to get out of there and be able to go to Alice Springs and also go to Adelaide for my Christmas holiday. Andrew, Boots and I spent the night at Tennant Creek, taking the long way as the Tanami Road was flooded. We parted ways at Tennant Creek, with Andrew and Boots headed to Brisbane via Mount Isa while I drove down to Alice Springs. I stopped 20km from Alice Springs to check the news about the COVID situation. The news reported that the positive case in Lajamanu had finally been detected. I drove straight to the Alice Springs testing centre and had my first Rapid Antigen Test which was also negative, clearing me to go about as normal. It was amazing that a COVID test could provide a result within 15 minutes unlike the three other PCR tests I had undergone previously where one had to wait at least an hour to get a result. It was lovely to be back in Alice Springs, meet up with friends, enjoy the restaurants and most importantly to be back playing the organ at church.

I left for Adelaide as planned for my Christmas holiday in mid-December. It was exactly a year since I had boarded a flight. Thankfully the flight was empty and was uneventful. It was lovely to be out of the scorching outback heat and enjoy the cooler summer weather in Adelaide, and spend time with my brother Michael. I attended the Ashes test match on 3 days, ate, drank, enjoyed time with my brother including staying in his new house, caught up with friends, hit the beach, relaxed and enjoyed the lovely Christmas music at St. Peter’s Cathedral. With COVID cases raging in Adelaide towards the end of December (since the state’s borders were now open) I restricted my movements in public and avoided crowds. Omicron and Delta were causing havoc in the Northern Territory as well, with cases also popping up in Alice Springs. I had a wonderful Christmas and New Year season with my brother and his friends. After undertaking a COVID test in Adelaide with a negative result I returned to Alice Springs in the second week of January. On entering the airport in Alice Springs the power went out on three occasions and ground staff were scrambling to switch to manual systems to board out-going passengers on two flights. As a local I found it hilarious that only in Alice Springs airport would such chaos ensue and it was a lovely feeling to be back. I returned to work the next week to work out of head office after the legislated two negative Rapid Antigen Tests at home which was fun to self-administer except for the discomfort of having to stick something up my nose for 10 seconds.

Omicron and Delta have ravaged the Northern Territory with several communities including Lajamanu still struggling to manage cases. Alice Springs has gone into lockout mode twice since my return where only those who are fully vaccinated are allowed to go about as normal. Lockouts are intended to minimise the spread of COVID and keep hospital admissions down. It’s going to be a very interesting year living with COVID in the Northern Territory, but to I have to follow Dory’s advice and just keep swimming.