Pungalina, Part 2...Chopper time!

Ghost bat!

  Before we left for the chopper survey, we had a bit more of a chance to have a look around the sites close to the homestead. We spent some time spelunking and exploring the incredible underground world that you could have easily got lost in. The cave was home to a couple of species of bats and we got to see a ghost bat up close and personal. The caves were very humid and had people literally dripping sweat in minutes so afterwards we headed for a place known as bubbling sands… we had heard many descriptions of the place, but couldn’t really get our heads around what is was exactly. Wow! It was beautiful, basically a warm aquarium, big enough for at least 10 people and full of fish! The water bubbles up out of the ground, through the sand, forming a large pool, before flowing into the river near the homestead.

Bubbling sands

  After these days of relaxation, it was time to start packing for the chopper trip.  Everything and everyone got weighed, as the amount of gear the chopper can carry is dependent on the distance and the amount of fuel needed. All the gear gets packed into massive bags that get hooked to a big rope and ‘carried’ by chopper to the campsite.  The site was about a 15-minute flight from the homestead and was stunning! 

Located on Pungalina creek, the spot was in a little gorge with a nice swimming hole, surrounded by spinifex and cliffs. But before we could really start to appreciate the beauty of the place, hard work was required.  While being flown into your camp is awesome, it means there are no vehicles to help you carry the trapping gear to the sites! You therefore have to earn your sites, and we thrashed ourselves putting in 5 sites the first day- not such a bad effort considering we didn’t start digging until after 10! We walked about a kilometer to each site, with our progress made slow by having to navigate through rocky creek beds, scree and sand dunes with armfuls of gear.

In the end, the effort was well worth the catch.  Rock rats, native mice, pygmy goannas, dragons, and other little skinks made it very successful.  Ethan and I were particularly lucky as we got two goannas one afternoon and another one the following morning at a different site!  Meanwhile we spotlighted for rock ringtail possums, went bird watching, hiked around, and swam when it got too hot.  Pack up day came around all to quick and we were headed back to the homestead to pack up all our gear and begin our long trip back to Wongalara.  All in all, what an amazing introduction to Pungalina-Seven Emu, and the secrets that the land holds.