Australia: Day 72 - WA - Dale's and Kalamina Gorges

I set my alarm early so I would have time to get up and explore in the first light - I mean seriously - who can sleep in while in the Outback?! I wandered around and saw some new birds and some of the plants I had learned about in Bio. It is hard to sneak around out there because the rocks/gravel are so heavy in iron content that they actually clink when you step. I eventually made my way back to the camp ground as people were beginning to stir. That's when it happened. Andy walked into the camp ground with a stick - I threw my bag and bolted over there cause I knew without even looking what had to be on the end of that stick. And I was right. Snake. My first Australian Snake - finally. It was some young python (we think) Andy had discovered on the toilet seat (which is why he removed it with the stick - since it isn't a very good idea to just randomly catch snakes in the outback with a stick) Anyway I took a billion pictures and then Andy let it go, definitely made my day. About 8:30 we headed out for our first real hike - a complete trek of Dale's Gorge. First we hiked along the edge of the gorge to some neat overlooks until we reached the end - then we climbed down in. We visited some plunge pools, I saw my first monitor spp., and a variety of birds and bugs. The swimming was awesome and I even brought my snorkel mask so I could look at the fish swimming around in the holes ( I saw 3 different spp. - no idea what they were though). Eventually we headed back for lunch which we had at the visitor's center. I gobbled mine down so I would have time to go through and read the interpretive displays (I have decided I am a guide junkie - whether it be field guides, displays, or live person - I just need information!) Anywho after lunch we headed for Kalamina Gorge for more swimming and another hike. The flow wasn't as fast in Kalamina so there was a decent amount of Algae built up which made some of the holes a little icky. We all climbed up into a natural archway on the canyon wall and I was horrified while climbing back down (heights - eek!) but I survived. After a final swim and game of water frisbee we headed back to a new camp for dinner. The stars were spectacular so I laid awake a while watching them while some others when to the bar ( this camp site actually had some facilities - most of the camps only have pit toilets). I apologize in advance for the billion pictures on this entry...

Butterfly - I haven't had time to go through and ID all the critters yet - but I will - never fear

Camp

Australian Ringneck

That little line of gravel is actually a tunnel built by ants to protect themselves against predators as they move from Spinifex bush to Spinifex bush