on 6/11/02 1:02 PM, Walter Knapp at wrote:
>>I kid myself that the tent will keep the crocs away as well!
> It's just floss for their teeth. Right there with the meal, nice and hand=
y.
The tent, and the mic cables too!
>
> I was only near Kakadu one night back in 1979, as part of a long foray I
> did through the outback. Maybe it was the time or something, but few
> mozzies. It was a wet year, all my problems in the center with my rented
> camper were from mud.
It was nice in the Centre (of Australia) back in the 70s, not too many
tourists about. There's too many now. The idea in the Centre, if it rains=
,
you just stay put on your boggy dirt road and enjoy the wildlife. The road=
s
only take a few days to dry out. I was camped out in the Centre in 78, 79
and 80, all of them wet years, in fact 1979 was the wettest year in 100
years according to the locals. The heavens opened, dry river beds turned
into muddy rushing torrents, birds sang and frogs croaked everywhere. What
I noticed most about rain in the Centre was that birds did not seek shelter
from the rain but instead sat out on bare branches with their wings spread
out, fluttering and splashing and thoroughly enjoying themselves.
Wonderful!=20
Oh how I wish I'd had a tape recorder in those days!
Yes indeed Walt, many more outback roads are now tarred, which means...more
tourists, more generators, more noise, more scenic flights....
Vicki Powys
Australia
>Packed the clutch full at one point to where it
> quit working, had to keep removing mud from the radiator coils so it
> would cool. I arrived in South Australia with the camper covered
> entirely from top to bottom in a layer of dried red mud. Most of what I
> drove then is probably paved by now. Was not then.
>
> Now Australia's flies are something else. Very friendly. And all the
> assorted insects that walked right through netting at outback bore holes
> were fun too. I usually tried to set up the camper near water to act as
> a blind in the morning, mostly photographing parrots. That was insect
> heaven out there at the bore holes.
>
> I'd love to make that trip again.
>
> Walt
>
>
> Vicki Powys wrote:
>> Barb and All,
>>
>> In Kakadu National Park (Northern Australia) you can hear the mozzies
>> droning in just on dusk, then you see them coming, a black-cloud squadro=
n
>> searching for blood. There is no place to go except into a netting tent=
, no
>> matter what sort of repellent you are using. But the tent isn't a bad p=
lace
>> to record from, either. Have mics on long leads, and another in the ten=
t
>> too. I kid myself that the tent will keep the crocs away as well!
>
>
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