Mother Earth whispers the words of the invitation to the great desert
Temperature - Day (maximum):
approx. 26-30 degrees
Anna Plains Station – 08.06.2001 – 10.06.2001
As in any place where you stay for a longer period of time, a certain everyday routine sets in. Routine processes dominate events and it is time to leave this oasis in the middle of the bush soon. With every additional hour we spend here, my inner call to move again becomes greater and more urgent. But it’s not just our inner restlessness that drives us forward, but also the thought of the inexorable march of time. Some nights are already really cold and during the day the thermometer rarely climbs above 30 degrees. Winter will soon reach its peak and every day we use here to prepare will inevitably be missed in the desert. The merciless Australian summer with its painful heat will scorch the land and all living things will suffer under the hot rays of the sun in a few months. Bushfires and heavy rainfall are another constant threat and we realize that our late departure means we have to reckon with these challenges. To push ourselves harder, we set ourselves June 16 to continue the great journey into the unknown Great Sandy Desert and Gibson Desert. Watching movies, finishing up website improvements, phone calls, letters, emails, repairing and mending some equipment and infinitely more are our occupations and it looks like the flood of work will not stop.
Our camel boys dance for joy
We feed our boys just before sunset. Although this has also become routine in recent years, it always gives us new pleasure and we enjoy the moment. As soon as they spot us, they stretch their heads in our direction. It’s as if I can understand their conversation. Sebastian, the boss, seems to be mediating with his mates. “Hey, here they come at last! Let’s get there. You know whoever gets to the trough first gets the most.” Istan grumbles: “You’re not the only one who’s hungry, my friend, I could eat an entire bale of hay by myself. Let’s see who gets there first, me or you?” The two gallop towards me as if stung by a poisonous animal. “Camels, wait for me, I could eat at least two bales of hay before the delicious cubes we always get from him!” Goola yells after them and sits down at their verses. “Nothing works here without me. No matter how much of a head start you have, I’ll catch up with you,” Jafar bubbles, leaping into the air with all fours at once and exploding with energy to catch up with his colleagues. “Go ahead, go ahead. I may be the smallest of you, but I eat the most and, above all, the fastest, Hardie drums up and follows his hairy friends. “It’s scary for me. Who knows, if we get near him he’ll just put another nasty rope around our necks and make us do some horrible thing. I’d better stay put and watch the whole place from a distance. I’m not comfortable with this creature,’ Edgar grumbles in his companion Jasper’s ear. “Oh come on, come on. My stomach is growling. Let’s at least have a look. If the others are so keen to get there first, nothing bad can happen to us. Come on, don’t get your fur in a twist,” Jasper replies, following the rest of the herd slowly and carefully.
I hurry to close the gate in front of the feeding enclosure so that I can distribute the hay and concentrated feed into the feeding tube in peace. “Hey, hey Sebastian, Istan slow down!” I shout and manage to hook the gate’s locking chain into the post at the last second. “Shit, he’s done it again,” Istan grumbles angrily to Sebastian. “We’ll be even quicker tomorrow. It’s best if we go into the feeding enclosure in the afternoon and just stay inside,” replies Sebastian.
As I throw the hay into the feeding tube, I hear their excited humming and bubbling. Nervous and hungry, the camels run up and down in front of the gate. “It’s okay guys, I’ll be done in a minute!” I call out to them. Before I open the gate to the feeding paradise today, however, I take a bucket full of concentrated feed and walk along outside the fence with it. All seven camels follow me excitedly. Tanja stands in a waiting position with the film camera and the photo to record what is about to happen. Sebastian stretches his long neck over the fence. He wants to stick his greedy mouth in the bucket, but I keep running. “Now!” I shout and run off. I race along the fence of the enclosure like a sprinter. “After them!” I think I hear the camels bellowing and they gallop off. A wild, exuberant dance of joy begins. All seven boys jump into the air, race from one end of the enclosure to the other, turn on their own axis, snort loudly, and gather at the spot where I stand breathing heavily and holding the bucket of treats over the fence for them to eat. “Tastes great,” they grunt and almost snatch the bucket out of my hand. After everyone has had a few mouthfuls, I race back to the other end of the enclosure. The chase begins again, the exuberant dancing and the wild leaping. Dust is stirred up and the red-golden rays of the sun cast a warm, beautiful light on the hustle and bustle. I chase along the fence a few more times, cheering loudly with happiness and laughter, and each time I have our pack behind me. Tanja, who is following our game on camera in the enclosure, is almost overrun by them and manages to get to safety behind the training post just in time. After the camels and I are completely out of breath, I open the gate. They thunder like madmen to the feeding trough and gorge themselves on their well-earned supper. Tanja and I sit in front of the fence and watch the spectacular sunset. A large, wide cloud front has rolled in. The fiery red, dark orange, deep yellow and ochre rays bathe the sky in an indescribable sea of color. The clouds glow as if they will burst into flames at any moment. A large wind turbine turns slowly and looks like a fake silhouette. Even the station’s trucks and clearing vehicles standing around seem like creatures from another dream world in the last backlight of the glowing planet. We sit there in silence, enchanted and captivated by this spectacle of nature. Although we do not speak to each other in these moments, we both know from the depths of our hearts that the great desert awaits us. That she will have so much to tell us in the coming months. Mother Earth, the greatest teacher of mankind, is showing herself from a golden side at this moment and I believe I can hear her whispering words of invitation to another interesting and worthwhile phase of our existence.
It starts to rain heavily during the night. Even in the morning it pours without end. The floodgates have opened and the entire station land is once again under water. We spend our time doing the work that still needs to be done and enjoy having a safe roof over our heads on this wet day.
