Tag: numbats

April 2023

Is there anything more delicious than a service station egg sandwich?  The white bread fresh and sinfully soft with egg mixed through with mayonnaise, so creamy and so right.  Pop the packet and reach for the sandwich with one hand while guiding the car with the other.

Damn you, egg sandwich, I missed the turn.  Glance in the rearview mirror and slow down to savour the eggy goodness of a service station sandwich. Then back on track covered in crumbs.

I am on my way to the WA Wheatbelt for a couple of nights of numbat spotting and woyley watching with my friend Elaine.  Numbats are diurnal so  it will be numbats by day and woylies through the night.

Arrive at camp and brush off the crumbs before making my home for the next two days.  Spend the afternoon chatting and relaxing – the sun is shining.

Burn-off smoke hangs low and obscures the sun turning it red – the same red as the breast of the Scarlett-capped robin I sighted earlier.  The robin had flitted into view tantalisingly close but not close enough to get with my big lens.

Ash falls like snowflakes onto our tents and rests on our sleeves before moving onto the next surface.  The burn-off season is here.  Ravens cry far off, and parrots squabble in the trees behind. The air is thick, so thick it tickles your throat.  Still no numbats and no sign of echidnas. Do they really exist in WA?

A generator bursts into life, cutting through the silence like a message from home.  Lawnmowers on a Sunday afternoon?

Day Two

Numbat safari – driving at snail’s pace, eyes scanning the bush on either side of the gravel road.  Foot hovering over the brake pedal.  Not sure what I am looking for, but I will know it when I see it. “There’s one!” I press the brake and glide to a halt.  5 km/hour, hardly the stuff of screeching halts.

I fumble for my camera – lens cap off, turn on the camera.  Numbat, small, striped and oh so delicate.  I was expecting them to be bigger, but there it is, 20cm in length, mouth filled with leaf litter.  She stops on top of a fallen log and looks around before scampering into the bush.  My only photo shows a whisp of tail disappearing from view.

The second numbat and I am ready.  Camera is on, lens cap is off and my finger is ready to focus and shoot. I capture her twice. Again, this one has leaves stuffed into her mouth and she poses for the camera and turns tail, stopping a short way away for a second shot, perfect camouflage.

Satisfied we complete the remaining 10 km of the 23km circuit slowly but not as slowly as the first half.

Back at camp, hail falls as the clouds charge overhead, black and looming, carrying fresh ice and fresh wind across the treetops and over the campsite below – our temporary home with plastic for walls and foldable furniture inside. Camping lacks substance but is substantially satisfying.

Another layer of clothing to warm against the impending weather. Will my tent leak?

Campers arrive and set up their temporary homes. Click clack, ladders up to houses atop cars. Chairs released from their bags, ready to receive bodies tired from travelling.  Most people keep to themselves.

So still, now the storm has passed, and the local birds emerge to peck at the bark and retrieve grubs. Small birds, flittery and fast. Stop still while I press the shutter – click whir – got you, little one.

Camp food – always the simplest ingredients that taste the best.  Salad and roast veg – leftovers from last night’s cook-up on the coals.  Pumpkin sliced and placed on freshly warmed wraps. Cheese, pickled onion, salad and Japanese mayonnaise. A sprinkle of sea salt with pepper berry from Tasmania and a scattering of fine black pepper – Saxa.  Balsamic glaze to finish off this fine meal.  I could live on wraps (and service station sandwiches).

Still no echidna despite my scanning the land for the tell-tale round forms moving back and forth.  Waddling awkwardly on clawed feet that extend sideways from prickly, furry bodies with a strange bill not unlike a bird’s beak.  They freeze when discovered and bury their beaks into the earth not unlike a 3-year-old child hiding behind her hands “I can’t see you!” Echidna where are you?

A nocturnal tour of Barna Mia.  Red torches so as not to harm their eyes.  Small hopping marsupials, some that no longer exist in the wild, surround us.  Cheeky possums (hardly endangered) join in and feast on chopped fruit.  Families of restless children surround the animals preventing the shy Bilby from appearing.  A glimpse of her from behind, big ears and a fluffy tail – like the Easter bunny – elusive. Then gasps as travelling “stars” appeared to cross the nightsky in a row. False alarm it was only Elon Musk.

The next morning is so cold it’s hard to get out of bed.  Birds everywhere – the sudden appearance of the Rufus tree-creeper – a menacing name but they look so fluffy and sweet-natured.  Little fat feathery bodies topped with small sharp beaks and soft brown eyes.  They sit on damp logs absorbing the sun and occasionally pecking at bugs. They creep up the tree trunks just like their name suggests.

Pardalotes, Scarlett capped Robins, Djidi Djidis, Wattle birds and Shelduck swoop through camp posing left right and behind – cheeky glances over their shoulders.

Packing up under the threat of a looming shower. Neatly folded chairs, tables and tents slide into spaces and bags not made for the return of their occupants.   Doors slam and hold everything in for the trip home.  Fire extinguished to prevent the spread and firewood abandoned for the next inhabitants.

A fulfilling two days.  Now, where is the closest service station?

A version of this post has been published on the We Are Explorers website.

What’s the skinny?

• Egg sandwiches are best when made with soft white bread and lots of mayonaise (imho)
• Dryandra Woodlands National Park is 175 km (two hours + 10 minutes) from Perth.
• The camping is a first come first served basis. No booking
• There are two main camp grounds – Congelin and Gnarla Mia
• Take everything you need including water – no potable water is available at campsites
• Lions Dryandra Woodlands Village is an ex-forest department settlement for logging families. Cabins and dorm style accomodation can be booked online.
• Numbats are diurnal – they come out during the day.
• Barna Mia Nocturnal Nocturnal Wildlife Experience is well worth a visit. Bookings before you leave Perth recommended.
• Mobile coverage is hit and miss – download maps before you leave Perth.
• The nearest town is Narrogin – 40 km away
• The wilman Noongar people are the original inhabitants of this land.