Skippy

Talk about unexpected... this evening, I opened my front door on a mission to check out the sunset, and instead I was greeting with this lovely skippy at the edge of my driveway. I don't know who was shocked more! And for those wondering, that's a hare in the background. He's my friend!

Happy New Year

I was treated to a trip to Moomba for New Years and it was just amazing! My first surprise was that James's boss gave us permission for me to go out the gate and see some of the field. James had to go and do a little job, but that was fine since I was allowed along for the ride.

This is the Moomba plant itself. All around this is the rest of Moomba - the yards for all the different companies, the facilities such as the dining room, cinema, and swimming pool, and the accommodation for everyone. This photo was taken on the go as we left Moomba.

After a quick stop at Dullingari, we continued out into the field and crossed the Queensland border. My first trip to Queensland! We pulled up at the end of the road that James had to look at and this pretty much shows what the majority of the country is like - deep orange sand just full of vegetation. In some places its really hard to even see the sand because there's so much greenery around it.

Lucky this road was built up! You can't see in the photo, but this water stretched for kilometres and was only from when it rained (not part of the floodwaters that came down from Queensland).

Our next stop was Innamincka! I've been wanting to see Innamincka for years now because James often talks about it. I had my very first beer at the Innamincka pub, then we went to check out the causeway. As you can see, the Cooper Creek is flowing very well, and the causeway is currently under water. There was a ute on the other side of the creek, and they had to turn around and detour because it wasn't safe to cross.

Further up the crrek near the campground, its quite peaceful and placid. Still, I wouldn't like to swim in it - you'd be swept away pretty quickly.

After Innamincka, we returned to Moomba to celebrate the New Year. We didn't make it even close to midnight and were sound asleep by 10:30pm. We had a good reason though - I was being treated to a helicopter ride the next day and had to be up bright and early for a 7am take off!

Apparently this is the desert! I was very fortunate to be able to go up in the chopper and see the desert in flood and so green for the first time in 40 years. Its such an awe inspiring sight.

This isn't the most focussed picture, but all those birds are pelicans. Yes, pelicans in the desert! This was just a small flock - there are hundreds!

Again, not the best photo because of our lovely pilot Jeff's reflection, but it gives you an idea of how big this huge body of water is. This isn't draining anywhere, its just waiting to dry up.

It was funny to see all those trees poking out of the floodwaters. When we drove to Queensland, you can see Coolabah trees everywhere - some are new, but most have waited a very long time for their next big drink.

James's boss and his wife were with me in the chopper, and Richard (the boss) asked Jeff (the pilot) to spin around in a circle over Walkers Crossing so his wife could take a photo, then to spin the other way for me to take a photo. Jeff is an extraordinary pilot - he's been flying choppers since he was 19 (he's now in his 50s) and is an American who has served with the US Air Force. He's incredible - there's no other way to describe him. He can turn a chopper like you wouldn't believe. Which is why we ended up landing - I started to get a bit green! After a quick walk around, I was fine... sort of. Walkers Crossing is on the track from Birdsville to Innamincka and was named after one of the Field Services (who James works for) guys, Syd Walker who was responsible for rebuilding this crossing. Shortly after the project was completed, Syd died from a heart attack so Field Services named the crossing after him.

There's a memorial plaque here for Syd as you can see - they actually had to set the plaque into the rock because the original plaque was stolen. Unbelievable.

Our chariot awaits.

After visiting Walkers Crossing, we swapped seats so that I could have a turn in the front. The desert is just alive!

We landed again near Tirrawarra so Gail (the boss's wife) could have a go in the front as well. Then we flew over the Tirrawarra swamp (as you can see in the picture), and returned to Moomba.

It was such a priviledge to be invited to go up in the chopper and a once in a lifetime opportunity. I was really nervous having never been in a helicopter, but I knew I would regret it for the rest of my life if I didn't go. Even though I got nauseatious, I had the best time and couldn't have had a better pilot or better passengers (well, it would have been nice if there'd been room for James, but never mind). After the chopper flight, we had a short break, then it was time to board the tiny 8 seater plane to take us chicks back to Adelaide (quite a difference from the 100 seater jet that brought us up!!). In case you're wondering, we came back on a plane because it was on a Saturday - the jets only run on weekdays, and we were only allowed to stay one night, so they chartered a plane to fly us back. I personally think it would've been cheaper to let us stay til Monday! But it was a wonderful and amazing time at Moomba and I've been very lucky to have experienced it the way I have.