The end of 2013 and start of 2014 did not involve your
standard celebrations. Following a
whirlwind holiday trip to South Australia, meeting and seeing almost everyone
in Tegan’s family that I’d only ever heard about, we were bound for Mornington
Sanctuary in the West Kimberley. We like
to call Mornington the ‘flagship’ AWC property, with an incredible landscape
filled with ranges, gorges, and plenty of wildlife. This is where a majority of the Northern
Australia science staff is based, and also home to a tourist area that allows
campers in for the dry season. When the
place is in gear, you can get a big crowd of scientists, tourists, and
associated support staff, making it a sizeable community in the middle of
nowhere. However, being the wet season,
there were only the permanent staff on hand, including many that we’d worked
with in previous years. We were looking
forward to the time to catch up with friends not seen in a few years, and eager
to start on the next phase of the rat project.
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| Almost 10 hours, Google Maps? Really? |
After flying into Darwin from Adelaide we were to drive to
Kununnurra the next day, a good 9 hours southwest and across the Western
Australia border (more on that experience to come). Kununnurra was going to be the meeting place
for our ride into Mornington aboard a small passenger plane, since the roads
were flooded or too muddy to drive. We
checked into our hotel in Darwin and collapsed on the bed, aware that the next
day was going to be a big one.
However, there was some confusion and last minute travel
changes that involved us needing to be in Kununnurra by 11am the next day. We found this out about 6 minutes after
putting our bags down at the hotel. We
were faced with a choice: drive 3 hours to Katherine, then continue the rest of
the way the next day, or wake up at the ridiculous hour of 2am and make the
trip in one shot. Already tired from
travelling most of the previous 7-10 days, we decided to catch a bit of sleep
and speed to Kununnurra starting at 2am the next day. We grabbed some dinner, bought enough food
for a week at Mornington, and went to bed.
The alarm woke us up at the ridiculous time of 1:45am, and
we grudgingly got ready to leave. The
previous night we had swapped our holiday and town clothes with work rags,
leaving piles of Christmas presents and random goods in the back seat of the
ute. If anyone broke in while we were
gone they would be able to find a new wardrobe, shoes, camera, wine, and
food. This thing was getting locked up.
We departed from Darwin at around 2am, and I drove the first
leg to Katherine. I was surprisingly
awake, the adrenaline coursing through my veins, as every object on the road
could be a cow or kangaroo. Or a
cowgaroo, something that only haunts your nightmares, or my sleep deprived
hallucinations. We made it to Katherine
in record time thanks to the 130km speed limit (80mph). Did we exceed that sometimes? Perhaps.
As Tegan took over driving, we headed west while I
slept. Daylight crept in behind the
clouds as the sun rose and we got closer to Kununnurra. We swapped drivers again and Tegan slept some
more, allowing me to be lost in my own thoughts. About 300km from our destination I suddenly
realized we had overlooked a couple big details.
First, the Western Australia border crossing forbids any
fruits or vegetables being transported from east to west. This is to stop the potential spread of pests
or disease, since WA is a relatively pest/disease free growing area. We had been through this before in the past,
but had neglected to think of it this time around, and would have to part with
all of our fresh produce we had already bought in Darwin. Maybe $50 worth would have to be disposed of
or eaten on the spot, and we really didn’t want to eat half a cabbage at
8am. Life lesson learned I guess.
Second, there is a time change of 1 ½ hours between the
Northern Territory and WA. You go back
in time as you head west, meaning we didn’t really have to leave at 2am, we
could’ve left 1 ½ hours later and arrived on time. Oh how our sleep-deprived minds let us down
this time.
Despite these blunders we got to Kununnurra in plenty of
time (surprise!), covering the 850km in about 7 hours (anyone looking for a
NASCAR driver?). It ended up working in
our favor, as we were able to buy our fresh goods again and have a real
breakfast without having to rush around before getting picked up. We dropped off our ute at a previously
arranged location and caught a cab to the airport to wait for our plane, packed
to the rim with food for us, for the rats, and other gear.
After waiting for a little while in an office near the
tarmac we saw a little Cessna land and make its way down the runway—our
ride. The flight into Mornington was
pretty spectacular, everything green and the rivers and waterfalls
flowing. If anyone ever decides to
travel in Australia, do the east coast thing, but go to the Kimberley if you
want some real scenery. I dozed in the
back as Tegan had the front, and the vast landscape unfolded beneath us….
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