Hello
Mates.
This is another second-hand report from
the middle of Australia. We have just
had a good talk with Ben in the interests
of sending you all another report.
Ben and Steve plus camels are now 250
kms west of Innaminka. By and large
things are going well for them and we
have gleaned some interesting snippets
to share with you.
They are still en route for Alice via
the dodgy crossing of the Warburton
Creek. That should happen in the middle
of this week, so thatíll be in
the next report for you. There is a
very cold SE wind blowing all the time,
so although the temperature gets up
to mid or high 20s, until about 11 or
so in the morning they are wearing down
jackets. At night the same wind blows
but the actual temperature is round
about freezing, but with the windchill
it is of course well below that.
It is a pretty hostile environment,
but they feel they are getting the hang
of things a bit better now, and have
even started to enjoy themselves. The
sun sinks rapidly at about 5.30, and
the sky at night is startlingly clear
and really beautiful with stars right
down to the horizon. They light a campfire,
and huddle round that with all their
warm clothes on. I should think they
must feel quite small and insignificant
in the Great Plan of things.
They have actually left the huge dunes
of the prickly, bitey Streslecki Desert,
and are now in Sturt's Stoney Desert
- completely different - here it is
completely flat for 100's of kms in
all directions and the stones are as
if the desert floor has been laid with
marble. The local name for this is Gibber.
The stones are large flat pebbles that
have been polished for thousands and
thousands of years till they are smooth
and shiny. There are one or two approaching
boulder size but mostly they are just
flat and smooth. There is virtually
no vegetation at all, just the very
occasional tree or patch of scrub. No
visible animal or insect life at all.
But they have seen a couple of feral
camels, fortunately these were cow camels!.
Ben is now carrying the gun at all times
just in case.
Ben and Steve are having the first problems
with their feet. They are getting sores
from the sand which gets in their socks
which they are unable to wash as every
drop of water is like gold. They totally
reliant on Sam and his Land Rover for
their water suply and also of course
hay for the camels.
"July 4th .......cont'd. We spoke
to Ben again yesterday in order to discover
how the river crossing went. Would you
believe the camels strolled across -
apart from Monroe who caused Steve to
go surfing, by running across the river
with him in tow - I hope they had the
camera running at that point! Not only
did they cross quite unconcernedly,
but they strolled back again later on
in the evening when they were grazing!
Fortunately the river was only 2 feet
deep and with a nice firm floor and
absolutely freezing cold! Lots of washing
was done of socks, bodies etc. That'll
be their last look at running water
until they get to the Ross River Homestead
which is two days walk east of Alice
Springs and where they are intending
to leave the camels until they sell
them.
When we spoke yesterday they were on
the Eastern edge of the Simpson Desert
with 25 days walking ahead of them,
until they reach Alice, as long as they
stick to their schedule. The Simpson
is filled with big shifting dunes I
gather. It's a good job both Sam and
Ben and Steve have their GPS equipment,
or it might be quite hard for Sam to
find them. They were about 160 ks from
Popple's Corner (I think that's the
name). For those Mates who don't live
in Australia, that's where Northern
Territory, Queensland and South Australia
all meet. There are lots of signs of
feral camels about, so they will have
to be very alert for possible attacks." |
