Watch Out for Crocs! (5th June)
We added more supplies to out kit before making a lazy start from Cooktown. Whilst gathering gear I noticed a KTM 640, a DR650 and a KLR 650 kitted out very similar to us outside the local supermarket....more about them later!!
We headed North-West to Battle Camp the scene of some pretty brutal Aborignal/European fighting, unfortunately that's about all I know.
We crossed Laura River and stopped for some lunch, the guys on the aforementioned bikes were there and we had a short chat, compared notes and they headed off whilst we ate. It's always a great feeling running into like-minded people.
From there we headed North to Lakefield National Park, and headed for Hann Crossing on the Kennedy River for our camp. Lee and Banger ripped out their fishing lines and Banger almost managed to land a Barramundi in the croc infested waters. Our camp would have been within 15 metres of the part of the river that the Lonely Planet guide says is the local haunt for the crocs...I was definitely concerned but Lee and Banger were convinced it would be fine.
During the night I heard something walking around the tent, I knew it wasn't a croc, but though it could have been a pig as Banger had mentioned was actually a bigger threat than crocs. I yelled out to Lee for some sort of confirmation that I wasn't imagining things and turned out he'd already gone to sleep. Needless to say I copped it in the morning with the boys simulating my wails for help, with many added inflections let me tell you! Banger let on later that he didn't sleep to well after that as he was concerned that we might be under attack from a pig or some berko human!
Early in the morning I heard a couple of crocs "splooshing" into the water, at that point I shot out of my tent with me Leatherman knife exposed and stood with my bike. I'm not sure how much safety a cold-engined motorcycle offers, but I felt better knowing that I had something solid between me and the water.
In the morning Lee led me over the to the water to see if we could see some crocs. About halfway between camp and the water, Lee flung his arms back and nearly knocked me over, I immediately thought "CROC!!!" but it was actually a black whip snake. The snake didn't flinch, even when Lee threw a piece of pipe onto it. At that point Banger warned that it was playing dead. Lee gave it a little nudge with his fishing line and it slithered off towards my tent, thankfully it continued on into the bush. Not long after that Lee and I were sitting down and another one wiggled past us within about a metre! Obviously they had a nest up further and were coming down for a drink.
We headed North-West to Battle Camp the scene of some pretty brutal Aborignal/European fighting, unfortunately that's about all I know.
We crossed Laura River and stopped for some lunch, the guys on the aforementioned bikes were there and we had a short chat, compared notes and they headed off whilst we ate. It's always a great feeling running into like-minded people.
From there we headed North to Lakefield National Park, and headed for Hann Crossing on the Kennedy River for our camp. Lee and Banger ripped out their fishing lines and Banger almost managed to land a Barramundi in the croc infested waters. Our camp would have been within 15 metres of the part of the river that the Lonely Planet guide says is the local haunt for the crocs...I was definitely concerned but Lee and Banger were convinced it would be fine.
During the night I heard something walking around the tent, I knew it wasn't a croc, but though it could have been a pig as Banger had mentioned was actually a bigger threat than crocs. I yelled out to Lee for some sort of confirmation that I wasn't imagining things and turned out he'd already gone to sleep. Needless to say I copped it in the morning with the boys simulating my wails for help, with many added inflections let me tell you! Banger let on later that he didn't sleep to well after that as he was concerned that we might be under attack from a pig or some berko human!
Early in the morning I heard a couple of crocs "splooshing" into the water, at that point I shot out of my tent with me Leatherman knife exposed and stood with my bike. I'm not sure how much safety a cold-engined motorcycle offers, but I felt better knowing that I had something solid between me and the water.
In the morning Lee led me over the to the water to see if we could see some crocs. About halfway between camp and the water, Lee flung his arms back and nearly knocked me over, I immediately thought "CROC!!!" but it was actually a black whip snake. The snake didn't flinch, even when Lee threw a piece of pipe onto it. At that point Banger warned that it was playing dead. Lee gave it a little nudge with his fishing line and it slithered off towards my tent, thankfully it continued on into the bush. Not long after that Lee and I were sitting down and another one wiggled past us within about a metre! Obviously they had a nest up further and were coming down for a drink.
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