danh
08-28-05, 10:36 AM
Okay, so I'm home recovering from having my wisdom teeth removed, so I thought I'd post some pics. Since I've
been back, I've accumulated pictures of the Northern Territory from people who have been kind enough to send me
their pics since mine were stolen. None of these pics were taken by me, however all were taken either of me or with
me standing right next to the photographer. In short, I'm using these pics to show my experiences, not photography
skills.
The Northern Territory was the wildest and definitely my favorite place in Australia. And I mean wildest in all
conceivable meanings of the word (pun intended.) Even the cities, Darwin and Alice Springs, had a distinct small-
town feel. The friendliness and laid-back attitude were also a welcome change. The Aboriginal culture there was
incredible, and I was quite impressed with how much the government was working with them. I even got to see some small Aboriginal communities and meet a staff member of Kakadu National Park whose job
was to help the young Indigenous people find work within the park.
http://ca.geocities.com/danhoops@rogers.com/devils_marbles.JPG
This is a small part of what's called the Devil's Marbles. Basically, after driving for five days from Cairns first west
the south through desert (the horizon is almost constantly viewable ahead of you) these giant rocks randomly strewn
all over the place are a welcome distraction. These two particular stones are the most famous and are the two that
appear on all the postcards. It doesn't take much imagination to figure out why.
http://ca.geocities.com/danhoops@rogers.com/gouldi.JPG
Goanna!!!!!! I saw The Rescuers Down Under recently, and my favourite character was Joanna the goanna. This is
a Gould's goanna. They look very similar to the yellow-spotted goannas (we call the Argus in the pet trade) but
there are subtle differences between the two, especially with the tail. They prowl picnic areas and camp grounds
like you wouldn't believe. Gould's are the most widespread and numerous of the Varanus in Australia, and yet I saw more yellow-
spotted, lace, and spotted tree monitors then I did these!
http://ca.geocities.com/danhoops@rogers.com/quoll.JPG
This is a quoll. So what's a quoll? That is. The closest I can come up with is a cross between a raccoon and a house cat.
Except a marsupial. And primarily a frog eater (despite what this picture would have you believe.) This has given
the quolls, particularly Northern quolls like this one, a hard time, since they seem to love cane toads, presumably
until the cane toad kills them, but by then it's to late. They are getting very rare, so I was extremely excited to see
this one. It was pretty tame, letting us get shockingly close to it (closer then any raccoon has ever let me get.) We
heard it wrestling through our garbage while sitting around a campfire in a National Park not far from Darwin,
which was still cane toad free. Unfortunately, according to what researchers told me, by the time of this writing,
cane toads should already have infiltrated the area.
http://ca.geocities.com/danhoops@rogers.com/koolpin.JPG
This is a very special place in Kakadu National Park called Koolpin Gorge. I was hitch-hiking through Kakadu
(which is larger than Switzerland) until I met two backpackers who had hired a 4WD, and I agreed to split the gas
(petrol.) At various stops in Kakadu we met tour groups, and always pestered the guides about the best places to go.
95% of them said Koolpin Gorge was the best. Koolpin is sacred to the Aboriginal people, who lease and operate
Kakadu, so people are only allowed in by permit. We rushed to get the permit and spend a morning exploring the
area. This is just a small slice of the incredible beauty in Koolpin Gorge. The most interesting part was that, to
respect the land, no tracks were cut. You had to find your own way!
http://ca.geocities.com/danhoops@rogers.com/death_adder.JPG
I think everybody knows what this is. I found two death adders with the help of a local herper by road cruising. I
also contacted a researcher who was doing some work with them. He'd radio track them (sometimes they
wouldn't move for weeks, so he had their locations memorized) and then he'd let me hook and bag them! It was a
great learning experience. The most disturbing part was how well camouflaged these things are. You can know it's
within the ½ m2 you're looking at, and still not see it!
http://ca.geocities.com/danhoops@rogers.com/sunset.JPG
I was lucky enough to spend my last week (well, I actually extended my trip for this) on an island west of Darwin
where the sea turtles come to nest. The experience was a once-in-a-life-time thing. There were no permanent
structures on the island, which was very small and made of sand, so we all stayed in tents and had a lattice-work
dome as our common area. The toilet was composting and the only fresh water was for drinking. We bathed
(rarely) in the ocean, with one person always on the lookout for salties. We did get a saltie on the island two nights
in a row. The first night we only found the slide, but the second we found him, a sub-adult male, halfway up the
beach in search of fish which had been gutted there earlier.
http://ca.geocities.com/danhoops@rogers.com/hatchling.JPG
A hatchling flatback sea turtle. This is probably the best pic to explain exactly what our main job on the island was. There were
six of us (4 vollies, 1 research student from Ontario, and the prof) who went on patrol in two shifts. The first
was from about 10pm-3am and the second from 2am-7am. It shifted depending on the tides. We'd walk along the
beach close to the shore (but not to close) with our flashlight and radio. When we found tracks leading from the
water, we'd cross them off with our foot, follow them up and find the nesting turtle. The turtles nest in stages:
coming up on the beach and finding a suitable spot, digging a body pit (which is basically flinging sand everywhere
with all four flippers - be careful!), digging a nest (very methodically done and incredible to watch), laying the eggs,
filling in the nest, filling in the body pit, and returning to the ocean. We took various notes, including times,
carapace measurements, tag numbers, and egg counts. To count the eggs I actually gently held the cloaca and
felt the eggs come out. If the turtle had no tags, I got to tag them.
The morning shift would also have the job
of finding and counting hatchling tracks going into the water, finding and digging up the hatched nests, and
counting the eggs inside. They also collected any hatchlings still in the nest (such as this little guy) and kept them
until the following evening, when they were let go.
http://ca.geocities.com/danhoops@rogers.com/green.JPG
This is the last picture, I promise. Since the flatback nesting stuff was all done at night, we did some less important
stuff, like sleeping, playing frisbee, exploring nearby mangroves, etc, during the day. We also, if the tides were
right, got to walk along a nearby reef looking for young green (such as this one) and hawksbill sea turtles. If we saw one, we literally
jumped on it. This apparently can also be done from a boat, however the tides were never right for that during my
stay.
I hope you enjoyed my pictures and long rambling essays. I know the blurbs were longer then the others, but I just got
so excited remembering all the stuff.
Dan
been back, I've accumulated pictures of the Northern Territory from people who have been kind enough to send me
their pics since mine were stolen. None of these pics were taken by me, however all were taken either of me or with
me standing right next to the photographer. In short, I'm using these pics to show my experiences, not photography
skills.
The Northern Territory was the wildest and definitely my favorite place in Australia. And I mean wildest in all
conceivable meanings of the word (pun intended.) Even the cities, Darwin and Alice Springs, had a distinct small-
town feel. The friendliness and laid-back attitude were also a welcome change. The Aboriginal culture there was
incredible, and I was quite impressed with how much the government was working with them. I even got to see some small Aboriginal communities and meet a staff member of Kakadu National Park whose job
was to help the young Indigenous people find work within the park.
http://ca.geocities.com/danhoops@rogers.com/devils_marbles.JPG
This is a small part of what's called the Devil's Marbles. Basically, after driving for five days from Cairns first west
the south through desert (the horizon is almost constantly viewable ahead of you) these giant rocks randomly strewn
all over the place are a welcome distraction. These two particular stones are the most famous and are the two that
appear on all the postcards. It doesn't take much imagination to figure out why.
http://ca.geocities.com/danhoops@rogers.com/gouldi.JPG
Goanna!!!!!! I saw The Rescuers Down Under recently, and my favourite character was Joanna the goanna. This is
a Gould's goanna. They look very similar to the yellow-spotted goannas (we call the Argus in the pet trade) but
there are subtle differences between the two, especially with the tail. They prowl picnic areas and camp grounds
like you wouldn't believe. Gould's are the most widespread and numerous of the Varanus in Australia, and yet I saw more yellow-
spotted, lace, and spotted tree monitors then I did these!
http://ca.geocities.com/danhoops@rogers.com/quoll.JPG
This is a quoll. So what's a quoll? That is. The closest I can come up with is a cross between a raccoon and a house cat.
Except a marsupial. And primarily a frog eater (despite what this picture would have you believe.) This has given
the quolls, particularly Northern quolls like this one, a hard time, since they seem to love cane toads, presumably
until the cane toad kills them, but by then it's to late. They are getting very rare, so I was extremely excited to see
this one. It was pretty tame, letting us get shockingly close to it (closer then any raccoon has ever let me get.) We
heard it wrestling through our garbage while sitting around a campfire in a National Park not far from Darwin,
which was still cane toad free. Unfortunately, according to what researchers told me, by the time of this writing,
cane toads should already have infiltrated the area.
http://ca.geocities.com/danhoops@rogers.com/koolpin.JPG
This is a very special place in Kakadu National Park called Koolpin Gorge. I was hitch-hiking through Kakadu
(which is larger than Switzerland) until I met two backpackers who had hired a 4WD, and I agreed to split the gas
(petrol.) At various stops in Kakadu we met tour groups, and always pestered the guides about the best places to go.
95% of them said Koolpin Gorge was the best. Koolpin is sacred to the Aboriginal people, who lease and operate
Kakadu, so people are only allowed in by permit. We rushed to get the permit and spend a morning exploring the
area. This is just a small slice of the incredible beauty in Koolpin Gorge. The most interesting part was that, to
respect the land, no tracks were cut. You had to find your own way!
http://ca.geocities.com/danhoops@rogers.com/death_adder.JPG
I think everybody knows what this is. I found two death adders with the help of a local herper by road cruising. I
also contacted a researcher who was doing some work with them. He'd radio track them (sometimes they
wouldn't move for weeks, so he had their locations memorized) and then he'd let me hook and bag them! It was a
great learning experience. The most disturbing part was how well camouflaged these things are. You can know it's
within the ½ m2 you're looking at, and still not see it!
http://ca.geocities.com/danhoops@rogers.com/sunset.JPG
I was lucky enough to spend my last week (well, I actually extended my trip for this) on an island west of Darwin
where the sea turtles come to nest. The experience was a once-in-a-life-time thing. There were no permanent
structures on the island, which was very small and made of sand, so we all stayed in tents and had a lattice-work
dome as our common area. The toilet was composting and the only fresh water was for drinking. We bathed
(rarely) in the ocean, with one person always on the lookout for salties. We did get a saltie on the island two nights
in a row. The first night we only found the slide, but the second we found him, a sub-adult male, halfway up the
beach in search of fish which had been gutted there earlier.
http://ca.geocities.com/danhoops@rogers.com/hatchling.JPG
A hatchling flatback sea turtle. This is probably the best pic to explain exactly what our main job on the island was. There were
six of us (4 vollies, 1 research student from Ontario, and the prof) who went on patrol in two shifts. The first
was from about 10pm-3am and the second from 2am-7am. It shifted depending on the tides. We'd walk along the
beach close to the shore (but not to close) with our flashlight and radio. When we found tracks leading from the
water, we'd cross them off with our foot, follow them up and find the nesting turtle. The turtles nest in stages:
coming up on the beach and finding a suitable spot, digging a body pit (which is basically flinging sand everywhere
with all four flippers - be careful!), digging a nest (very methodically done and incredible to watch), laying the eggs,
filling in the nest, filling in the body pit, and returning to the ocean. We took various notes, including times,
carapace measurements, tag numbers, and egg counts. To count the eggs I actually gently held the cloaca and
felt the eggs come out. If the turtle had no tags, I got to tag them.
The morning shift would also have the job
of finding and counting hatchling tracks going into the water, finding and digging up the hatched nests, and
counting the eggs inside. They also collected any hatchlings still in the nest (such as this little guy) and kept them
until the following evening, when they were let go.
http://ca.geocities.com/danhoops@rogers.com/green.JPG
This is the last picture, I promise. Since the flatback nesting stuff was all done at night, we did some less important
stuff, like sleeping, playing frisbee, exploring nearby mangroves, etc, during the day. We also, if the tides were
right, got to walk along a nearby reef looking for young green (such as this one) and hawksbill sea turtles. If we saw one, we literally
jumped on it. This apparently can also be done from a boat, however the tides were never right for that during my
stay.
I hope you enjoyed my pictures and long rambling essays. I know the blurbs were longer then the others, but I just got
so excited remembering all the stuff.
Dan