Friday, May 15, 2009

Just Another Day in The Territory

For Hiram's second excursion, we took him to Fogg Dam. We had never been there this time of year before, and the water was practically overbanking. We didn't realize how dumb it was to be walking across till we saw how high the water was, not to mention the two crocs and croc trap we could see in the water. So we walked on the opposite bank with less water. There were quite a lot of animals out and about...birds, crocs, and snakes.



On our way walking back to the car on the dam, we could see something off in the distance. Initially we thought it was a dog, but then it dawned on us that it was a feral water buffalo. They aren't native to Australia but were brought in, probably for the ill-fated rice paddies of the NT. You see that behind the buffalo - that's the exit. We walked back to one of the observation stands in hopes that it wouldn't come out there and just head into the wetlands. Water buffalo can be extremely dangerous and unpredictable.



It plodded its way down the road stopped and stared at us, must have decided we weren't a threat and moved on. Then it came upon a car, and eventually went off the road into the water. It was a little scary.




Then on our way back home along the highway, the car started to vibrate really bad. David looked in the rear view mirror just in time to see pieces of rubber flying back. Surprisingly the tire was still on, but the nearly the entire tread had "exploded" off taking the mudflap with it.

An exiting afternoon indeed.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Come on you guys...POST! I know you lead busy lives, but tell what is happening in Darwin!