The iron snake
Day: 12
Sunrise:
06:59
Sunset:
17:20
As the crow flies:
23
Daily kilometers:
27
Northam Camp – 23.05.2000
When Tanja and I wake up this morning, we don’t want to leave our warm sleeping bags. It is unpleasantly cold. Nevertheless, we try to keep to our schedule, put on warm underwear, slip into our clothes and crawl out of the tent. The thermometer reads minus one degree for the first time this year. The early rays of the sun bathe the bushland in a deep gold. The sky is light blue and our barometer promises another beautiful day. We leave the camp at 10:40 a.m. and march towards the town of Northam. We reach our planned overnight stop a few kilometers from the city earlier than planned. After a short rest, we decide to cross Northam today.
From now on we have to lead our caravan along a busy railroad line. Jo, Tanja and I know what that means. None of our camels have yet made the acquaintance of the big iron snake and we are prepared for anything. While Jo leads the animals, Tanja and I form the early warning system. I walk ahead with our dog Rufus to check the path next to the tracks for broken glass and other garbage that could be dangerous for the camels. Tanja follows us to warn Jo about the iron monster.
As the animals walk, the panniers constantly sway back and forth and make all kinds of noises. It scrapes and squeaks incessantly so loudly that the person leading the caravan can hardly hear any sounds from outside. A car, road train or even a train would totally surprise Jo and of course the pack animals. Although our desert animals have become much calmer in the meantime, they are still frightened by the smallest unknown sound. It has happened on more than one occasion that the entire caravan has gone through when the final man wanted to overtake them for some reason. In this case, Jo taught us to always talk to the animals. For example: “Hello camels, it’s me! Don’t be frightened! I’m coming now! I’ll overtake you!” Of course, it is not important what you say to the animals, but that they hear the familiar voice and are not frightened. To explain, I must mention that each animal is tied to the saddle of the front camel with the nose line and does not have the opportunity to turn around to see what is coming. If a train suddenly appears from behind, Jo is warned by Tanja and can lead the entire caravan in an arc so that all the animals can stand in the direction of the train and see what is coming towards them. According to Jo, this action is a chance to prevent the animals from passing through. Over the next few weeks they will lose this shyness, but until then they are still in the training stage.
Suddenly I discover a number of old, tangled telephone cables along the way. “Stop Jo!” I shout and signal to her that I need to clear the path. Such cables are extremely dangerous; a camel can easily get one leg caught in an upright snare and then, when it runs away in fear, cause all the others to panic too. I clean the floor and we can continue walking, but a little later I stumble over countless of these eternally long wires again. Only now do I notice that the trees and bushes above our heads are also covered in the old stuff. Apparently the telephone company cut all the cables from the poles and just left them there. The further we go, the worse it gets. In the meantime, I have to cut countless wires with my Leatherman. We decide to continue on the other side of the tracks and cross them. Thank goodness there is an unpaved but relatively well-maintained path to the left and right of the tracks that the railroad company has set up to maintain the rail system.
We reach the outskirts of Northam at 3 pm. Without being surprised by the dreaded iron monster, we leave the tracks and follow a few little-used side streets around the town. We are now constantly approached by the friendly locals and involved in short conversations. Many of the people living here have read an article in the Western Australian or seen a movie about the Red Earth Expedition on some TV station. We are pleasantly surprised by their positive response. Some even invite us for tea or coffee, which we unfortunately have to decline due to time constraints.
The ranger from Northam and some policemen we meet wish us good luck. There are also countless schoolchildren along the way, waving at us with wide-eyed amazement.
At the end of the never-ending Throssel Street, a friendly sports instructor accompanies us to show us a safe route across some main roads. Then we cross the busy railroad line that connects Western and Eastern Australia and follow it. It’s 4.30 p.m. We’re dog-tired and Jo makes a joke about the train that’s about to arrive. I laugh at their irony, because there is hardly enough space here to turn the caravan in an emergency. About 5 meters to our left are some buildings bordered by a wire mesh fence and only a few meters to our right are the tracks. But while I’m still laughing, Tanja’s warning cry of “Train! Train! Train!” runs through my limbs. “What did she shout?” Jo asks me. “A train is coming, turn the caravan quickly!” I answer her and before we know it, the huge freight train appears. Jo somehow manages to turn the animals at the last second and then he thunders past. Tanja and I are watching under enormous tension how our animals will react. Jo holds Sebastian’s head right in front of her face and speaks soothingly to him as one train car after another rattles along the nearby tracks. All the camels have wide eyes and look in horror at the huge, never-ending iron monster, but they remain calm. I can’t believe it and start an exuberant dance of joy as one carriage after another roars past. Suddenly the haunting stops and the train disappears behind a long bend.
Jo, Tanja and I are relaxed and happy despite the day’s exertions. We’ve been tense and ready for anything since we started running alongside the tracks and now this. Only a little later we find a wonderful camp by a small river. Today we proved to ourselves for the first time that we are capable of covering a greater distance despite our initial problems. According to my calculations, we covered 27 kilometers today.
