13/10
As mentioned we had scheduled a 3AM spotlighting drive for the Friday morning,
which meant that we had to set our alarms for crazy-early-o’clock. Getting up
in the middle of the night with no electricity is a challenge on it’s own, but getting
up that early in general really messes with one’s sleeping patterns. By the end
of the drive it was getting light outside so we had a choice between watching
the sunrise or going back to sleep for a couple of hours. I obviously chose the
latter, having a nice sleep-in until 9AM. We went for another 2-hour drive at
10PM in the hopes of seeing carnivores, but once again we came back with
nothing. It was a very big day for us and to be fair, for the last hour of the
drive we were all getting semi-delirious. I wouldn’t be surprised if we drove
right by a hyena or two!
Between the drives we collected the cameras and analyzed the data. Over 2000
photos of the vegetation, not great! Oh well, what can you do.
It was also my turn to cook yesterday so
I threw few things together and served a bean risotto for lunch. Maybe I got a
little carried away with the chilli, but a good effort nonetheless.
The rest of the day was spent reading. I got so hooked on “The lost boy” by
Robert Wainwright that I finished the book the next morning. Boy were there
tears though… This book is based on a true story and it follows the life of an
English woman after she migrates to Australia and marries a local man. They
live in a small town in the Northern Territory, surrounded by harsh terrain,
battling extreme weather conditions, but still running a successful business
and raising their two young sons. After one of their boys goes missing, the
real storyline begins. I don’t want to ruin it, but it is worth the read. A lot
of the places I have previously visited, such as Kununurra, Broome, Port
Augusta etc are also mentioned, which makes it even more special. Anyway, if
you ever decide to pick up the book, have a tissue box nearby just in case.
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