Santa Claus arrives by helicopter

Day: 211-214 Stage three / total expedition days 602-605

Sunrise:
05:23

Sunset:
18:50

Total kilometers:
6204 km

Temperature - Day (maximum):
38°-42° degrees, sun approx. 58°-63°

Temperature - day (minimum):
16°-22° degrees

Latitude:
21°55'22.4"

Longitude:
146°45'46.2"

Cassiopeia-Camp – 13.12.2002 – 16.12.2002

Two base camp options have emerged in the last few days. Once we could go to Havilah Station, 160 kilometers away. From there it would be another 130 kilometers to the coast. In order to successfully complete our west-east crossing, we would have to walk the 130 kilometers from the coast back inland. A feasible detour from our point of view.

The second option would be to accept an offer from the farm Paradies Lagoons near the town of Rockhampton. This would mean that we still have 600 kilometers to go. A shocking thought. What’s more, the area around Rockhampton is very densely populated.

We will clarify further details from here this evening. Then we have to decide.

Apart from tonight, we have always been invited to dinner. But since Santa Claus is coming today, we drive to a lonely and deserted place about 40 kilometers away in the middle of the bush. Here on Twin Hills there is a tennis court where the residents of the surrounding wards meet. It’s a special day and it’s not long before a small helicopter appears in the evening sky. It is a helicopter with room for only two passengers. In this case, the pilot and Santa Claus himself. The children in the surrounding ward look up into the sky, spellbound. The helicopter, which looks more like a large flying dragonfly, circles above the few huts. Santa Claus waves to the children. His big white beard blows in the breeze. Suddenly, the flying vehicle lands with a loud clatter and the holy man climbs out. He runs towards us and the children. He greets the 20 or so toddlers with dignity and begins to call them up one by one. “Robert!” echoes from under the corrugated iron roof. Little Robert approaches big Santa Claus in an uncertain and cautious manner. “Have you been good?” asks Santa. Robert nods anxiously and accepts his gift.

It is a real pleasure for us to see all the shining children’s eyes. The other adults are also affected by what is happening. “Oh, I’ve got a watch!” a little boy exclaims. It doesn’t take long before Santa Claus says goodbye again, sits down in the large dragonfly and flies towards the setting, glowing sun.

Each ward lady brought something delicious to eat. The table with the rich dishes literally bends so that everyone present can fill their bellies. Some men are busy grilling fresh meat while others are playing a tennis match. There is an extremely relaxed and pleasant atmosphere in which many stories about events in the outback are exchanged.

CATTLE ROUNDUP WITH HUBSCHRAUBER

“Would you like to go for a ride?” Rob the helicopter pilot asks me. “I don’t know Rob. The last time I flew on Bimbah Station I got terribly sick,” I reply, still thinking back to that experience in horror. “If you get sick, I’ll just drop you off quickly on the ground. You can also film the helicopter in action,” he tries to convince me. “Hm, I’ll think about it. Maybe I can find the tablets for motion sickness in our medical kit. Then it shouldn’t be a problem,’ I reply thoughtfully.

An hour later, Rob lands his tiny helicopter next to Cassiopeia’s house. I squeeze into the seat next to him, fasten my seatbelt, put on my headphones and the helicopter takes off. “Have you found your travel pills?” Rob asks me. “No, but Tegan gave me something from the medicine chest.” “Good,” it sounds through the headphones as the little dragonfly, in which there are no doors, flutters over the land. The wind is blowing in my face and I’ve never had such a gigantic flying experience in my life. “You’d think you were sitting in the open air,” I say, looking through the Plexiglas capsule while the left side of my body is buffeted by the wind.

The fatal drought is spreading among us. As far as I can see, everything is brown and gray. Thousands of tree corpses lie like felled soldiers on the cracked ground. The trees were cut down to provide more grass for the cattle and now, during the worst drought in a hundred years, there is no shade at all down there. Of course, the merciless sun has burnt everything that was ever green and I can’t understand how the cattle can survive. There are said to be 26,000 at this station alone. An incredible number. A number that will quickly decrease if the rain continues to fall.

Below us I spot two trucks. “This is the drilling team. They’re looking for water. Most of the dams have dried up, which is why we urgently need new boreholes,” explains Rob, setting his aircraft down next to the trucks. We leave the helicopter and greet Rusty, the manager of Moray Downs. “And did you find any water?” Rob asks. “Yes, but it’s salty. Not edible for cattle,” he replies. “What should I do?” Rob asks, whereupon Rusty gives him instructions on which dams to drive the cattle from with his helicopter. Only minutes later, we are back in the air.

“I’d better put you down there,” says Rob, letting the dragonfly glide down. As soon as I climb out of the cockpit, the little thing shoots up. Like a biting hornet, it turns twice around its own axis and chases some cattle out of the undergrowth. To avoid being overrun by the herd, I sprint behind a tree and watch as the pilot Rob fires his helicopter at the animals with perfection, only to intercept it again just above the ground. This way of rounding up cattle saves the farmers a lot of labor. Although the helicopter hour costs 330 dollars, it seems to be cheaper than hiring a large group of Jackeroos and Jilleroos.

15 minutes later I’m sitting next to Rob again. We fly to the nearest dry dam to drive the cattle away. This measure will prevent them from dying of thirst. They are forced to leave the muddy waterhole and are driven to a dam where there is still enough water. “How long can you drive the cattle back and forth until the last dam has no more water in it?” I want to know. “I don’t know Denis. I think it will run out in three to four weeks at the latest.” What will you do then?” “Then many animals will die. Let’s hope for rain,” says Rob, and we descend steeply again. Although Rob flies very carefully, my stomach heaves dangerously. I start to sweat profusely and the color must have drained from my face because Rob asks, “How are you?” “I need to concentrate a lot.” “I’d better put you down again. I don’t want you to lose all the fun of flying,” he replies and sets the little thing down on the patter-dry earth.

We’re on the road for a total of three hours and although I’ve swallowed the tablet and Rob has let me off at least six times, I feel like I’ve been through the wolf. As I say goodbye to the very pleasant and friendly Rob, I force a smile on my face. “It was a great experience,” I say, shake his hand and walk to Cassiopeia’s farmhouse. “And how are you?” Tanja asks. “Not so good,” I reply taciturnly, sit down in the living room chair and fall into a deep sleep in broad daylight.