Australia Warning or Danger Tips by darthmilmo

It all started when I left Sydney and drove off through the Bells Line of Road across the Blue Mtns. I spent my first night sleeping in the 4WD on the back. The following morning, I stopped at several incredible overlooks. I eventually filled the tank up in Lithgow before heading into Woollemi Nat'l Park. I drove through spectacular forests via an unsealed gravel road. At times, it was rough enough for the 4wd, but primarily it was alright. I saw several interesting sites including the Lost City; the Glow Worm Tunnel, and the Sunny Creek Overlook. The guidebook I was using suggested this little shortcut through a spectacular gorge and I took it. It did say the road was a bit rough with several rock steps, but nothing to be worried about. Ha! The road ended up being a course from hell. I ended up nearly flipping over landing in a waterhole at a 45% angle. After spending the night in the area, I started walking back to civilization. Eventually, I managed to get a ride to Lithgow (not before walking over 15 km) where I met Garry Roy. He was kind enough to help me recover the vehicle. In no time, he had me out of the hole and on the road again. It looked as though we were going to make it out of the gorge, but as we went uphill, my car decided to go on a spin by its own. It all happened so fast. I parked the car and put the handbrake on, but this was clogged up with mud and so eventually the car gave in and rolled down hill. It rolled for 80m at an increasing speed. It evaded several boulders and trees before hitting the edge of the trunk of a wide tree. This caused the 4WD to jump into the air and spin before my eyes. It looked like it was going to go all the way; but instead, it landed flat out on its roof. It was a really bad day for me, but in the end I was glad no one was hurt. A few weeks later I heard back from Garry, who apparently managed to sell the totaled 4WD for 1/5 of the price I paid :(.

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I was hiking down the lovely Mackenzie falls and Gorge Feeling when the following happened. Feeling adventurous, I crossed the river via the rocks, rather then the bridge. As I crossed through, my footing came loose and for a minute there I saw myself falling down to the rocks in a deadly angle. It's funny how your mind goes into overtime on these precise moments of agony. You just start thinking about the consequences and know that regardless of what happens, it will hurt big time. Instinctively, however, my other foot landed on the ground and managed to swing my body back. Hence, I managed to rebalance myself as I set over the rock. Phew! That was a close call! If I had fallen down into the rocks from that angle, I would have landed right into the side of my body, probably breaking an arm, a leg, and, gulp, maybe even my skull. Ironically, just as I was nearing the other edge of the river, I saw a sign warning hikers to be careful as the rocks on the river bed are quite slippery.

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There have been several deathly attacks by crocodiles. However, on average, based on numbers, these are quite rare in Australia. The last attack before my visit occurred in Kakadu in 2002 near the Sandy Billabong. We spent the night at the same campsite where a German girl was tragically killed by a crocodile. Her clumsy guide had told her it was fine to swim at the nearby Nourlangie Creek, which lies about 1 km away. This of course was baloney as any other guide would tell you it's silly to do so, especially with the croc warnings and the area looking like a croc safe heaven.

So, please follow your common sense when visiting a croc infested region.

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I rode the bike all day for over 35 kilometers around the Tweed Valley. Among the places I visited today was Disney rock, a mini-Ayer look-a-like sitting in the middle of a sugar cane field. There is an interesting scare-crow guy with a "Prohibited to Trespass or climb the rock" sign... It’s hilarious :). At first look, I wasn’t sure what to make of this?!? After learning more Australian history, I figured out that it represents Ned Kelly, one of Australia’s infamous outlaws. He used to wear a similar shield around his body to protect him from the bullets. Look closely and you’ll notice the handicap: no protection for their legs!

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Four wheel driving is one of the best ways of exploring Frasier Island. There are talks on the works to close all inland roads as it hurts the ecosystems. In the meantime, just head over there and rent a vehicle while you can. Sure, you may get stuck like the folks shown on this picture. But hey, that’s part of the fun no :). Go with an open mind and a good spirit.

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I walked down the beach at theTown of 1770. I saw a sea snake, which is a very unique creature with a flat segment at its end for steering. The sea snakes are extremely venomous. When I first approached it, I noticed it was bleeding quite a bit so I thought it was dead. I moved it a bit with my sandal, but this only startled as I saw it was alive... ***! Lucky for me, it just went up like a cobra trained by a Hindu. It did so for a minute as it complain and scared me off. I quickly escape after taking a pic of the snake though :).

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Everyone warned me about it, but when it happened to me I nearly ended up falling prey to a climbing goanna. These monitor lizards like to climb trees, especially when they feel threatened. One of them actually ran straight to me one day as I was trekking in the Eungella National Park. Having one of them running towards you is a rather dangerous affair. As you see, the goanna was rushing right at me to climb me as though I was a tree. After all, that is what they do when they're scare. The thing to do on those cases is to actually lie down. Thus, the goanna can’t climb you and then has to search for another tree or thing to climb. Well, when you feel as though you’re going to die all things stop to make sense. I had to do something fast, so I just started jumping like crazy, instead of lying down. I was relieved when, out of my desperate jumps, I scare it away...hehehe.

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Just a word of warning for those brave souls that decided to go walking to the Homestead, which is a small home near an old ranching cattle station in Great Keppel Island,. This house looks abandoned, save for the ferocious ducks, geese, roosters, chickens, and turkeys. These birds are used to humans and at times are too demanding of food. Believe me, I just wanted to sit at a bench with some shade near the Homestead, but I was continuously pestered by a few roosters and some chickens!

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The following occured while I was divin on Holmes Reef:

The first dive took us down to 34 meters. I hadn't been this deep for a while. As the body gets down to this depth, the atmosphere begins to compress to over 3 atmospheres of pressure. The compressed air and environment causes the body to have a high does of nitrogen. In some cases, you get Nitrogen narcosis. It is not a deadly thing mind you, but it does have a similar effect to laughing gas or being drunk. In some cases it can become dangerous when the diver doesn't know what he/she is doing. Since I hadn't been this deep in a while, I was hit by a small case of nitrogen narcosis. I was still well within control, but if someone had seen me I would have had the largest smile/grin. I realized this and ascended a few meters. Once I was up a bit all things went to normal :)

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This pic shows how everyone should always wear a belt for your shorts/pants can fall off

Sorry, but I couldn’t resist sharing this pic with you… hehehe. Yes, it can happened anywhere in the world, not just Australia :P.

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