A snake is wrapped around his foot

Day: 268-269 Stage Three expedition days total 659-660

Sunrise:
05:40

Sunset:
18:41

Total kilometers:
6980 km

Temperature - Day (maximum):
22° degrees, no sun

Temperature - Night:
20°

Latitude:
23°22'32.9"

Longitude:
150°24'01.3"

Paradise Lagoons-Camp – 08.02.2003 – 09.02.2003

Even today, we still receive calls from all parts of the country and Europe. We receive a lot of emails, which is why we are up to our ears in trying to cope with the sudden influx of work.

Before I go to the camels, we take a look at the saddles to see how much repair work is needed. Due to the heavy rainfall, thousands of small black beetles and hundreds of spiders have taken refuge on them. Frogs and mice have also chosen our packsaddles as their new home. We are horrified and at first we don’t know how to defend ourselves against this flood of insects. I now hit the bags and saddles with a plastic pipe to get rid of the invasion of bugs. It’s like I’m fighting a hopeless battle. Tanja and I brush and sweep for hours until the saddles are finally reasonably free of vermin.

Around midday I go to see the camels. They are doing very well. Sebastian has climbed over a fence knocked over by the flood and is eating in the neighboring ground. “Hello my friend. How are you? Nice to see you eating,’ I say and put my hand under the blanket we’ve put over him to protect him. “It’s nice and warm under there. Shall I take the blanket off you again?” I ask him and undo one of the belly straps. “Aaahhh!” I roar in shock as my eyes fall on his hindering foot and jump to the side as if bitten by a snake. A fat, long snake winds around Sebastian’s left hind foot just a few centimeters from me. For a few startled seconds, I stand there transfixed and think about my next steps. Very carefully, I approach Sebastian’s hind foot again to take a closer look at the situation. I can hardly believe it. In fact, he is standing on a long, coiled snake. It does not move. Is she dead? It has wrapped itself around his lower foot several times. I discover blood on the front foot, obviously from the snake’s bite. I stand there petrified and once again don’t want to believe what fate has thrown at us here. I’m glad I wasn’t bitten by the reptile too, but if that thing there is a poisonous snake, Sebastian will have to fight for his life again. He stands there calmly and eats the delicious grass.

After the first few seconds of shock, I carefully pull the peacefully grazing Sebastian forward. As if he hadn’t even realized he was standing on a serious threat, he lifts his foot off her and follows me. To my surprise, the snake doesn’t react. “My God, Sebastian! What else are you doing to put your life in danger?” I ask him. I grab him by the halter and pull him a few meters out of the high meadow. Then I examine his front foot. In fact, it is a bite mark from which fresh blood is dripping. “Looks strange,” I whisper. Kneeling next to him, I think again about what to do. My gaze falls on a branch lying in the reed-like plant. I pick it up and sneak through the wet stalks. I carefully poke around with the branch in front of me. There’s nothing left to see where Sebastian was just standing on the snake as thick as his forearm. She’s gone, it goes through my head. Very slowly I move on. Maybe I can find them after all. I think I recognized a python because of its size. If it really was a python, Sebastian is in no immediate danger. The bite can still become infected, but at least it would not be poisonous. But it could also be a full-grown King Brown. They are absolutely deadly. If he has been bitten by it, I must contact the vet immediately. Nervously, I creep on centimeter by centimeter. Suddenly I spot a movement through the dense greenery. Barely visible, the creepy-crawly lies curled up and seems to be watching me intently. I slowly touch it with the stick, whereupon it slowly uncoils and meanders away as if in slow motion. At first I think I recognized the body pattern and head of a Carpet Python. I follow her carefully and excitedly. My heart is beating so hard that I can hear it pounding in my head. Suddenly I discover them again. It is without doubt a Carpet Python. As she doesn’t seem to want to leave the grass where Sebastian is eating, I try to drive her out. Sebastian could easily get back on them. The risk of him being bitten again is too great. Nor do I want this magnificent snake to be killed by his feet.

FAST AS A FLASH SHOOTS YOUR HEAD TOWARDS BACK

I carefully touch her tail with my finger, whereupon she wriggles a few centimeters further. I concentrate, gather all the energy in me, bundle it together and let my hand shoot forward. I grab her tail in a flash, straighten up and am ready to dart back if she tries to bite me. To my satisfaction, however, she wants to flee. I hold on to her with an iron grip. Adrenaline flows through my body. Very alert, I now pull her out of the bushes. I walk slowly backwards. Then I reach the open, unvegetated field. Step by step I go further. I can’t believe it as the queue gets longer and longer. At first I would love to let her go, but then she would immediately flee back into the tall grass. The snake gets heavier and heavier. I’ve already pulled out at least two meters of her body and still can’t see her head. “You’re a real monster,” I whisper. Suddenly her head appears. Only now do I realize that I’m holding the tail of a python about three metres long. She is still trying to get away. I gently pull her about 20 meters into the open field. Before I let her go, I take the camera off her shoulders with one hand and take a few photos. “Nobody else will believe this story,” I say. Then I let go of the magnificent specimen. I watch in horror as she wriggles back onto the tall grass. I grab her by the tail again and pull her a few meters in a different direction. When I let go of her, everything starts all over again. After the third time, she seems to have had enough of me. In a flash, her head moves backwards and straightens up. “Wooohhhhaaauu!” I shout, startled. “It’s all right. Go back to your kingdom. I’ll get Sebastian out of there,’ I say and leave her in peace. I quickly run into the neighboring ground, grab Sebastian and lead him away.

Still excited, I reach the wrestlers’ house a little later. We now have visitors. Judith and Cowboy John are here and have brought us our Ford and trailer. Almost a year ago, we met the German tourist Barbara at our base camp in New Haven. She works for Alex as Jilleroo and offered to drive our Ford to the east coast. This solved another organizational challenge for us. (Diary overview from 23.05.02-24.05.02 day 7-8 stage three) Barbara and her friend Uli later actually drove our car and trailer to the east coast and parked them at Cowboy John.

“And how’s our old Ford?” I ask Judith and John with a laugh. “He’s in absolute top form,” John replies, also laughing. I immediately tell them about my virgin snake experience. Another four weeks have passed since they visited us at one of our camel camps. We have a lot to talk about and spend another wonderful evening together. Judith and John unpack their guitars and play. Judith sings songs about the outback. We can literally smell the firewood under the gidyea trees and see the diamond-like twinkling of the sea of stars.