Bushwalk Australia

What's your funniest animal experience, I'd love to hear it, one of mine is as follows.

Whilst hiking in the victorian high country up above Tali Karng. At one of our camp sites there was a flat section right next to the bushes edge, beautiful for setting up a tent site but i was discouraged from that for there was a dead tree overhanging as well as a very used animal trail right in the middle of it. Every evening out came 'Walrus the Wombat' the biggest healthy wombi and one of the most tame I've ever seen. He'd just eat the grass right at your feet if you were quiet enough, I used up alot my time just watching him go about his business when I was there.

We were lucky enough to have a fellow hiker who travels mirrored our own on this trip. Now this gentleman was an ultralite hiker who seemed to have done, owned and knew everything better. He even wasn't affraid to share his thoughts of my or anyone elses gear and it was nice to know all of our inadequacies.

Anyway, for all of our supposed short comings we finished earlier than said hiking know all guru and heard all about missing the choicest tent site. Then off he went to climb a mountain or something.

That evening Walrus was out and about minding his own business when a crazed deranged know all guru life coach came out of nowhere, jumped up and down in front of him screaming that 'WOMBATS ARE DANGEROUS AND DO DAMAGE!'. Walrus like all wombats wasn't to bright but they do have an innate sense of direction to home and safety, so after going left then right then left right again stopped thought about it for a second then charged straight for home. Causing guru life couch to dive out of his way to save himself. Unfortunately for Walrus there was an expensive very lite tent in the way, but that didn't stop him as he just ripped out all the pegs then ripped his way through the fabric that surrounded him and made off to safety.

Now I missed the next bit as I fell off my rock and couldnt stop laughing/crying, so when said guru life coach and now olympian jumper asked for some assistance someone threw him a torch and told him that the cars are a couple hours that way. So he grabbed his pack and took off leaving a mess for us to clean up.

Excellent walkon! A great start to a good thread suggestion.

My story is secondhand, and concerns the under-appreciated ability of tiger snakes to swim. A couple of Tassie anglers had putt-putted their small tinnie out into the middle of one of our highland lakes, hoping to land some trout. After a while they noticed a "stick" moving towards them, but still 30 or more metres away. As it got closer, they realised it was a tiger snake, with its head raised well out of the water, and its body undulating as it swam.

They were a little concerned that it wasn't deviating from its course - which was dead-ahead for their boat - but felt sure it would soon change course. It didn't. When it reached the boat it simply climbed up the side, and curled up in the bottom of the very small boat After some fancy footwork and a certain amount of "Dad's Army" style "don't panic!", they eventually repelled their boarder using a fishing net.

The one they were VERY GLAD got away!!

cheers

Peter

in a rat infested hut, people were laughing at me hanging up my food as i warned them about rats.... shortly after everyone went to bed, there was a crunching sound, it was a rat attacking a pack, mad scramble as people pulled food from tehir packs and hung it up...
next morning one guy had a hole in his pack, a rat had eaten through one side of his muesli packet out the other and kept on eating right through the pack...

Some mates and I were camping up the beach where there is always a reasonable number of Goanna's around. Later in the afternoon we spotted a big old man Goanna moving around camp going from tent to tent looking for a scrap or two. We then realised that one of our party was having an afternoon siesta and the said reptile was headed his way. Quietly the lizard slipped in the tent as the zipper was undone. Then the moment of truth, human spots lizard, lizard spots human.........well we couldn't believe our eyes as nether in the tent could find the exit. The tent just exploded and poles were smashed and the screaming started as the whole tent seemed to collapse on the them both and then heave in the air again and again. We were unable to help because of our fits of laughter and tears. Our mate finally made his way out of the tent and had scratches all over him as the Goanna had tried to climb him in the tent!!!!!!!!!

It sure made for great viewing outside though.

Lol its hard to be helpful when your lying on your laughing ya head off

I've had a few standout experiences.
1. sleeping under a rock overhang, just in my sleeping bag without a tent or tarp, in the Victorian alps i was visited by a wombat during the night. It stopped, grunted its usual greeting in my face and nudged me so I squeezed over and gave it some room, it wasn't enough so it pushed me over further before letting out a long sigh and waddling off. I remember wondering, while looking for somewhere to sleep, why this particular spot looked slept on when it wasn't on any track and hoping it wasn't dogs. It was relief when the wombat visited.
2. In the Victorian alps, it was a dry night so i slept under the stars again. I had stopped for the night in a gap on the AAWT near the Razor. That afternoon I had spotted and heard a few lyrebirds and after I finished cooking it sounded like a heap of them rustling about while settling down for the night. I couldn't believe my eyes as they flew up into the trees and found forks in the limbs to sleep in, like wild bantams. But the funniest thing was being woken during the night by them falling out of the trees. Only a few of them, or perhaps just one very unco bird, would plop into the ferns, squawk then flutter back up into the tree again.
3. Sleeping under the tarp at Saltwater Creek while walking between Tathra and Bairnsdale I had an afternoon snooze only to be woken by a big goanna flicking my face with it's tongue. Instead of being startled when I woke it just squatted there staring at me. When i started talking to it, it looked at me as though it was listening but my conversation must have been boring because it waddled off to find the campers with BBQs.
4. In the NSW alps while resting in Valentines Hut after walking from Deschkos I was deciding whether or not to have a wash but decided to wait until the next day just before reaching the power station so I was fresher when I met my lift back to Cooma. I had a sliver of soap left, just enough for one wash so chose to wait and wash the next day and settle for a dip at Valentines instead. Back in the hut later that afternoon, as I read the log book, I heard a scurrying and spotted the local antechinus. So I watched it for a while scurrying back and forth between the rooms and behind the stove. It looked as if it had found my left over dried apple because it was carrying something white. I went to repack the food sack and discovered the little blighter had found my toiletry sack and made off with my sliver of soap!
5. I have had a couple of funny fox experiences while walking. Because i walk solo I don't make much noise or draw too much attention so I can get closer to animals. It is funny when I see a fox so totally focused on something like catching a grasshopper it doesn't see or smell me until it is almost tripping over me. I remember watching on near the Coberras as it leapt about trying to catch a butterfly in the air, it reminded me of a kitten playing with something on the end of a string. Another fox was chasing a rat near Bill Jones hut while i had a lunch break. It was zigging and zagging around the grass hummocks, jumping a few times and missing, once it even did a crash landing that looked like a forward roll. The rat ran straight past me and then the fox looked up. The moment it saw me its eyes almost popped out of its head as it jumped vertically into the air in fright. It was hilarious. Don't ask what the fox said, it didn't hang around long enough for a conversation.
6. One walk between Hotham and Bogong it snowed. I took a lunch break at Tawonga Huts then continued following the xcountry ski touring poles along the AAWT. I came around the corner of a hill and saw a small family of brumbies on the track in front of me, also walking along the track between poles. I was walking faster than them so as I came up closer they simply stepped to the side of the track, let me pass within a meter having a good snort and sniff as I went by (it was so close I could have reached out and pat their flanks but i didn't want to spook them). The most polite horses I have ever met.

Have you ever wondered what funny stories birds share while gossiping about the crazy humans they watch? I know some currawongs that could tell a few stories

Those are really cute, and yep I'm sure at the 'mother nature conference' that there's a few cracking stories to tell

TerraMer wrote:It was hilarious. Don't ask what the fox said, it didn't hang around long enough for a conversation.

I really appreciated this gem

whynotwalk wrote::lol: Excellent walkon! A great start to a good thread suggestion.

My story is secondhand, and concerns the under-appreciated ability of tiger snakes to swim. A couple of Tassie anglers had putt-putted their small tinnie out into the middle of one of our highland lakes, hoping to land some trout. After a while they noticed a "stick" moving towards them, but still 30 or more metres away. As it got closer, they realised it was a tiger snake, with its head raised well out of the water, and its body undulating as it swam.

They were a little concerned that it wasn't deviating from its course - which was dead-ahead for their boat - but felt sure it would soon change course. It didn't. When it reached the boat it simply climbed up the side, and curled up in the bottom of the very small boat After some fancy footwork and a certain amount of "Dad's Army" style "don't panic!", they eventually repelled their boarder using a fishing net.

The one they were VERY GLAD got away!!

cheers

Peter

That's classic Peter. I've heard a kayaking buddy tell a similar story.

Just watching this thread with interest until one of our nude bushwalking members pipes in, that'll be entertaining.....

Camped way up in American Fork Canyon in Utah. I'd dealt with squirrels in other US states but so far up on this cold dark valley where Ted Bundy had claimed to have burried many bodies I thought it was safe to leave food in the vestibule. The flyscreen unzipped. Moonless night. Footsteps. Now I'm $#!+ing myself. A skunk the size of a small Staffy is eating my food box. Not wanting myself and all my worldly possesions get sprayed I cracked an egg and tossed it out, it chased and I chased it away. If you have ever smelt a skunk you'll know of my concern. At least it wasn't a Bundy family member.

Pretty tame but here's my two.

My father and i used to 'camp' in the backyard of our shack, sleeping in the open air on a tarp. He used to tell us stories about the 'fox over the bank' that would spy on us while we slept. The story spooked me and my siblings. No-one ever saw the fox. Until one night. Dad had few too many beers and was snoring his head off. i was awake staring at the stars when a fox appeared from over the bank! Not only that, he came all the way up to the edge of the tarp. I was 8yo and petrified. I tried to wake dad to no avail...the fox ended up stealing some left over sausages from a BBQ right next to us before he took off. No-one believed me and they blamed me for eating the snags!

Second story I was camped on Mt Rugby, very soon after sunset it was very still and the centre arch pole of my Scarp started bowing inwards. Listening I heard some grunts. I unzipped the fly only to see a wombat scratching it's butt on my tent. I said hello, it looked at me dismissively and wandered off. Love wombats!

Hey stepbystep and anyone else don't worry about so called tame stories, it's great just hear bits from peoples lives that puts a smile on my face and hopefully others.

The wombat in my story was named when one of the girls in our group saw the wombat and said, 'hey everyone come over here and see how big this Walrus is!' We didn't let her forget it either, I will only give her initials out as to not embarrass her to much, isnt that right Diane Keating

I have just one. Many years ago we were "camping" on KI when they still had a single emu.

The bird thought it'd be a good idea to steal some meat patties from our BBQ. My father disagreed and proceeded to chase the animal, whilst in close pursuit the bird promptly emptied its bowels.

Another good one I have is being woken in a hut in the Ak Sai valley in kygyzstan. These beaming eyes at a about 7'. I hit the torch, it was a big weesal eating off the table. First and only time I have seen a weesal. Shat myself.

Male koalas in the breeding season. I'd always thought koalas were relatively quiet and peaceful until camping in Spring near Bungalow campsite halfway up Feathertop many years ago. We went to bed and hunkered down for a quiet night. At about 3am and unknown to me a male koala had crept silently up to my tent, within a few millimetres of my head.

Without warning he decided to assert his rights over the mountain and all the nearby females.

UH!, UH!, UH!, UH!, UUUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Over and over again at about 1,000,000 decibels (not exaggerating).

I'd never heard anything like it or since. For about an hour his bellowing reverberated across the mountain scaring the bejesus out of us as we didn't know what it was, but it sounded huge - whatever it was had to be at least 4 metres tall (still not exaggerating).

It eventually went quiet and when we got up in the morning, there was a koala sitting in a low fork looking like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth until he gave us one more chorus for good luck.

alanoutgear wrote:UH!, UH!, UH!, UH!, UUUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Over and over again at about 1,000,000 decibels (not exaggerating).

I'd never heard anything like it or since. For about an hour his bellowing reverberated across the mountain scaring the bejesus out of us as we didn't know what it was, but it sounded huge - whatever it was had to be at least 4 metres tall (still not exaggerating).

First time I heard them I thought they were bush pigs (I was 14), I did not sleep well for fear of one running into our tent. I was relieved to learn they were koalas but still had lingering doubts.

I took my youngest nephew for a stroll in an area with a lot of Koalas in early January. He's 10 years old and doesn't much like koalas anymore because of the awful noise they make.

That sound coming from a koala makes about as much sense as a cat barking like a German Shepherd.

On the topic of loud noises. I've had a couple of devils fight in the vestibule of my tent.
Gee, it was by far the worst alarm clock, it sounded like the primordial clash of velociraptor and sabre toothed tiger.

Driving alone over Tioga Pass in Yosemite one night, late in the season. With snow beginning to fall lightly I stopped at the pass to use the pay phone. As I got out of my car a pack of nearby coyotes begin to howl in unison. I stopped and listened. Mesmerized. The combination of the solitude, the snowfall and their singing seemed magical to me. It was a special moment. Suddenly a park employee stuck his head out of the window of a nearby building and screamed "SHUT UUUUP!!!!"

The coyotes fell silent. What had sounded so wonderful to me was for him nothing more than the barking of neighborhood dogs.

Every second movie had Coyotes howling when I were a lad! I remember asking if we could go camping so we could hear Coyotes and see a rattle snake.. well before I built a healthy respect for snakes.

Wombats are very funny. Their behavior reminds me of dogs, and dogs are hilarious!

Most of my 'funny' encounters are only funny in hindsight.. as they mostly involve snakes.

I had the episode with a Copperhead trying to rest on my kayak on the lower reach of the Arthur River. I seem to loose rational reaction around snakes. At that time I went into a high brace and 'sucked my guts in' as the snake bobbed past, it never occurred to me that I could have used the paddle to fend off the snake..

Another time in the Whitsudays a snake, chasing a lizard, landed in our camp. Never had time to even drop our dacquri's

In the Brindabellas, heading back from camping we ran over a snake. A mate was into making his own clothes and I knew he tanned all kinds of things. The snake was beautiful with vivid fresh red belly contrast to a shiny black back. Unfortunately, when we got back to the campus the snake (from a bucket in the boot) had disappeared Coming to the conclusion that it had managed to get out somehow, five of us spent the weekend in the car, heading to Sydney, catching a Midnight Oil concert and camping up on the northern shore. It was the following week before the snake showed again, bloodshot eyes full of revenge and now inches from my trembling hand between the front seats

Funny, perhaps (in hindsight), as far as snakes stories go, came from WA. I was taking an afternoon siesta in a large family dome tent. Dozing off, when I flipped onto my side my hand came to rest on a lump in the floor. The tent was pitched on rough ground so it wasn't till the hump moved that I realised it wasn't just a rock. With Coit like instinct I followed my first thought and grabbed the moving lump *&%$#!! This thing is too strong to hold! It'll bite me through the floor material Oh %^*#($, have I grabbed its head or its tail - It was standoff. I still can't understand why it wasn't thrashing around, but here I was, petrified and frozen, squeezing the life out of a poor goanna.

Love your story walkon. Sounds like a cracker.

Mine would have to be the first time I'd heard a native quoll, you know that washboard like gratting sound they do. Scared the S%#T out of me.
Five factors:
1 - No friggin idea what it was
2 - I was alone
3 - It was only about 5 meters away in a bush my torch wouldn't penetrate.
4 - It was right at the peak of the Malcom Naden man hunt in Barrington Tops and I was alone.
5 - I had assured my wife and family Malcom was not threat to me and actually had started to doubt my resolve.

i was camping at lake waikaremoana, after dark, heard a rustling in the bushes, thought possum, I made loud grunting noises to scare it,,, it made a rather loud roaring noise back, i went quiet and pulled the sleeping bag over my head

A few come to mind, but some not so funny at time.

Once in Carnarvon Gorge with wife and 2 very young kids camping.
We were all out of the tent, a Paddy Made A frame when we saw a huge Goanna wander in one end and under the ground sheet to depart at other end.
Thankfully no damage and it did make me laugh to watch.

Further up the Queensland National Park drag strip and we came to a much used camp spot and watched in amazement a couple setup camp, arrange things for tea then wander off into the bush.
Not long gone and the birds arrive and commence to inspect their belongings.
I decided it was time to step in after they scruffed a couple of hard boiled eggs neatly wrapped in Al foil and carefully extracted the contents.
Obviously the campers weren't experienced in such things and the curiosity of local wildlife was all news to them.

Next one was not so funny at time but did give rise to some amusement for others and certainly later.
We were camped at Pool of Siloam, two kids and myself in tent and I awoke in the night to some odd noises.
I sat up and looked about but didn't see anything unusual, so went back to sleep.
This greeted us in the morning.

The Devil(s) had dragged the pack out in the night and had a ball.
I was always in habit of tying my boots to the tent poles which probably saved them as they had tugged at them and chewed the ground sheet.

There was a very kind group over the lake that saw us tiding up and came and gave us some chocolate and biscuits.
The pack went back to Paddy Pallin who patched the hole and put new straps and the house insurance paid up too. I think it was the first for them.
"Please describe exactly how the accident occurred"
It certainly was a talking point and provided much entertainment for all including the native intruder(s).

Why is it that the littlest things in the aust bush make such a racket. Camping in tassie once and I think we had the devils jamboree all around us for the whole trip. Even the locales couldn't believe it. Very tired and grumpy after that one

Not really camping but we did walk there. In Kruger NP I booked one of the hides for a night. We asked to walk there and the two guards walked us out and locked us in that afternoon, for the night. At about 11pm there was the loudest roar I had ever heard, from seemingly just outside the fence, of what turned out to be a male lion. We never slept a wink that night as he and his pride decided to give us a concert for a couple of hours. Next morning the rangers showed us all the prints around the hide and told us we were LUCKY to have a pride visit.

Great thread. Loved the snake in the tinny story!

I have three memorable walking animal encounters:

A few friends and I had headed into the Walls for a couple of nights mid-winter last year. On the first night we set up camp in Jaffa Vale. Shortly after setting up tents I head a loud ruckus coming from a mates tent about 20 meters away; some hasty movements and muffled yells. I jumped out of my tent to discover my mate trapped inside his single entry tent by a very large possum with his food bag in its claws. My mate had hung his light from the middle of his tent and it was providing a silhouetted view of both him and this large possum in the tent along with his lack between them. It escalated into a kind of weird dance around the tent as my mate tried to get the possum away without losing his food. I think they completed 3 complete circuits of the tent before the possum made off with a small potion of food. Was hilarious watching this almost artistic representation of man vs. possum projected on the side of the tent. The possum had torn its way into the tent through the mesh lining while my mate was in the tent getting changed. One brazen possum.

My other encounters are my own and occurred in Uganda:

1. We were a number of days into a trek in the Rwenzori Mountains when I awoke in sheer terror having just felt a snake moving around in my sleeping bag. I was petrified and frozen rock solid. I had no idea what to do. I managed to wake my companion who awoke a local guide nearby by shouting - I refused to let her move in fear of disturbing the snake which I could still feel moving slowly around my right foot. I was sweating profusely thinking about how far a decent hospital was, travel insurance cover, necrotising fasciitis, amputations and the like... the guide came fairly quickly and was not too alarmed, saying snakes in this region and at the altitude of this campsite (~3500m) were very rare. I was not at all convinced with the continual movement of a very long animal around my right foot and calf. The guide offered me some gin (the local Waragi gin is very popular in Uganda and I can thoroughly recommend it) but thinking about potential drug interactions from anti-venom and various worse-case scenarios I declined. The guide wanted me to just get out of the sleeping bag but it was a no deal from me. Eventually the guide carefully unzipped the bag from the bottom of the foot box and up the side. This took a long time as I was constantly demanding he be more careful and slow. Ever so carefully he peeled back the top layer of the sleeping bag from the bottom corner he had unzipped and immediately fell onto his knees laughing. I was confused at first but quickly realised I was in no danger. Turns out a giant earthworm (a very common animal in Ugandan forests) had found its way into my sleeping bag. This earthworm was actually quite small by Ugandan standards, only about 45cm long and up to an inch thick in its middle. The relief was huge but for the rest of the trip the porters all had some on-going jokes about me and snakes in the local tongue of course. Turns out these giant earthworms have been observed to be over 6 meters long in the Rwenzoris.

2. We were camped at a little visited national park in far SW Uganda called Lake Mburo. It is by no means a destination park but is appealing for that reason. The camp sites are shoddy and fully exposed to the park meaning animals freely and often wander the sites at night - we had gazelle, warthogs, and a small alligator as regular visitors along with some other animals... We had set up in a 'designated area' (a patch of grass next to the lake) about 200 meters from the main park office (a thatched roof hut with dodgy cafe thing). We loved this park as they ran quality boat trips on the lake every day which were a chance to see scores of species not usually seen and with only one or two other travellers present it was a quality experience with very friendly guides. After a long day and then a long evening drinking with the ranger who stayed at the office over night we had returned to our tent. We were settling into the night when the rangers voice rang out "Stay in the tent, be quiet"...Of course there was no way I was going to just sit in the tent without at least looking to see what was happening so I silently unzipped the door a few cm to peep out. I could just see the *&%$#! end of a huge hippo standing about 3 meters from the tent. This thing was BIG and so it was pretty confronting as hippos out of water are rather dangerous (I'm sure they are dangerous in water also...) but just as I looked out of the tent a warthog zipped in front of the tent between me and the hippo. This scared the absolute crap out of me and I kind of screamed, but the hippo was also taken off guard by the warthog (and maybe by my scream) and rushed back into the water at full speed. This all happened very fast and I wasn't sure which way the hippo was moving after I had screamed and pulled back from the peep-hole in the zipper. So when I heard the hippo moving quickly and the ranger yelling something in Ugandan I was terrified the hippo was doing to crush us to death and both me and my mate were rolling around the tent like a maniacs not sure where we were safest. Anyway, we survived but the ranger was pissed (both metaphorically and literally). We quickly went back to bed as we didn't want to upset the ranger who was now bearing a strangely long barrelled rifle whom we had just consumed about 6 beers with.

Also, just remembered another animal encounter:

I was taking some uni friends across the overland in Dec '12. We had reached the turn off to Barn Bluff and so left out packs there before heading up the climb. I told everyone to ensure their drybags were sealed as best they could, all zippers done up and covered and that their packs were impenetrable to the crafty currawongs. Almost all of these very fresh walkers thought I was having a laugh and told me in clear terms where to stick my work creating instructions. None of them believed that these birds could undo zippers or pack clips or open a poorly secured bag. I wasn't too fussed and knew I would likely have the last laugh so let them learn the hard way. So I packed my pack up well and made a big deal out of putting my pack cover on and placing my pack under a small shrub. With my encouragement a friend with some experience did the same and made a big show out of securing our packs. On our return I knew I was in for a good time when I saw a currawong fly away from out packs with something clearly in its beak. We arrived at the pack to find 4 of them had been completely raided with various pack contents scatted around the packs and area. They could not believe their eyes and all were exceptionally embarrassed and apologetic.

I must share some funny Himalayan camping/trekking animal stories with you, they're busting to come out

It was my first Himalayan trek. During a lull in fighting I went into the Kashmir ranges near the Pakistani border. It was my only ever trek with a guide, porter and cook and 2 other travellers so it was all very exciting.
Anyway, not being restricted by the usual Himalayan safety procedures, we walked straight up to 3,600m on the first day to camp near one of the local nomadic farming families. One of the other travellers, Tina, was feeling sick so the porter and cook stayed behind with her in case she needed to go down to a lower camp while the guide took Matteo and I up to some lakes near 4,500m. I started feeling dizzy about 4,200m but it passed. We stopped for lunch beside a snow fed turquoise lake surrounded by wildflowers and had a snooze in the sun. While we slept a herd of about 40 kashmir goats had wandered down to the lake and joined us. They were sticking their noses in our faces, lying in the grass beside us, and chewing anything we didn't move out of reach, one even photo bombed my pictures. It was so cool!
On the way back we took a different pathless route via some higher nomad camps stopping for tea and bread and saw heaps of marmots sunning themselves on rocks. They're just too cute
That night in camp, around midnight, long after we had fallen asleep in our tents, I half woke to a grunting noise and assumed it was a yak, pony or other domestic animal then suddenly all hell broke loose. The whole farmer's family, children included started yelling and clapping and bashing cooking utensils, our guide, porter and cook joined in. Tina and I stumbled out of the tent only to be met by the guide trying to push us back inside. There were torches flashing everywhere and in the middle of it all was a bear looking very disgruntled. Tina and I very quickly climbed back in out tent and stuck our heads our to watch as the bear ambled away into the rocks.
Everyone's adrenalin was pumping and nobody could get back to sleep so we laughed, played cards and nobody complained when someone's joint filled the tent up with smoke and we all relaxed enough to sleep through the rest of the night.
But I tell ya what, i was very nervous the next morning when nature called. I couldn't get the phrase "Does a bear #!%& in the woods" out of my head

My second trek was in the Karakoram ranges of The Himalaya. I had travelled across with a group of 5 so we could pool the cost of a taxi then took off walking up Hundar Valley for a few days. On the way across from Leh we learnt HH The Dalai Lama was visiting for a week so every morning there was a mass migration from outlying villages as far away as the disputed borders into Diskit for his teachings and blessing. I had already met him on the first day trekking while I stopped for one of his afternoon village visits so I wasn't in a rush into Diskit on my last day of walking. I started about 6.30am, walking out of Skampuk and was joined by all the locals dressed in their best traditional clothes to attend his last public teaching and the big blessing.
As I walked along, the only white tourist in sight, people started giving me their animals to shepherd down to the river. It started with a young girl asking me if I like HH The Dalai Lama (of course I do), she went back to an older woman and then came back and asked if I like animals (yes, i rescue and care for them), after the next chat with the other woman she came back and gave me her switch and showed me how to keep her sheep moving down to the river, they know where to go just don't let them stop and eat anyone's flowers. No worries
A few hundred metres further down the road and an old man merged his yaks with my sheep and gave me a makeshift walking stick and quickly showed me how to tap them gently on their rumps and call out to them in Tibetan yak language before he took off jumping on the back of an overflowing truck full of brightly dressed happy people.
Within a kilometre I had sheep, yaks, cows, goats and donkeys given to me by locals too impatient to get to Diskit to take their own livestock down to the river. It was hilarious. I was over the moon that all these people trusted me with their animals and couldn't stop laughing at what this picture must have looked like. I have to admit quite a few more flowers were nibbled that morning than usual
I dawdled over the dunes, along the river and through some fields into Diskit in time to enter the Gompa and find a space to sit for the big blessing. Karma

The big trek in Nepal was originally only to Annapurna Base Camp, just before the end of monsoon season, the trekking agent told me his guides and porters were still on holidays, sold me a map, arranged my permits and sent me off alone. I was blissfully ignorant so off I went for a wonderful adventure
To cut a long story short, within the first few kilometres a local family started walking with me and, after seeing I could handle real local food, invited me to join their pilgrimage. As we walked up the valley to Tadapani more family joined us, then we left the tourist track and followed the paths of the nomadic farmers over a pass up near 6,000m to a holy lake at about 5,000m. Again, no altitude rules, i was walking with the locals along an ancient pilgrim path only 1 white person had ever been on before. They had taken a Brittish Nat Geo man up many years before me.
By the time we reached the first farmer's shelter there must have been almost 30 of us. It was a makeshift stone and timber hut with a round fire place in the center and holding pens for the yaks, goats, sheep, chooks and bullocks on either side. I don't know how we did it but we somehow managed to squeeze together like sleeping kittens and puppies with heads and legs resting across each other for the night.
I thought i was lucky to get a spot on the outside. I had only 3 women lying against and on me. But being on the edge also meant being next to the animal pens. I had a bullock snorting in my face, licking my hair and chewing my sleeping bag all night!!!
The next night wasn't so bad. The shepherd who owned the last pilgrim tent was also the sharman/priest who conducted the rituals. That night, about 50 pilgrims, 30 goats and yaks, 5 dogs, some chooks and 1 white woman slept in a huge tent the sharman had filled with smoke to cleanse us during the night. A goat decided I would make a very comfortable bed for the night, I didn't argue because it was probably it's last sleep before being sacrificed.
That was the most privileged, amazing, slightly gruesome, detour i have ever taken

I've already told the Wombat/Snowshoe story elsewhere.

Can remember a very, very long time ago, in a Tasmanian National Park that shall not be mentioned by name, with a Ranger who shall also remain anonymous, on a night-time bandicoot hunt (for tagging & associated scientific purposes). The process was for me to drive the 4WD back and forth, up and down over fairly open ground near where the buggers nested, with the Ranger mounted on the bonnet. Upon sighting a bandicoot he'd dive off on top of it - or try to. It takes some skill to land and grab a startled bandicoot without injuring either it or yourself. I think we got half a dozen in around 50 minutes - including the same one three times . . .

Then, one day in the same NP, Ranger, Park Assistant and self were doing a firewood run (after a very odd night/morning mostly uninvolved with animals). This was done by driving an old tractor up and down a semi-cleared hillside, knocking over wooden stumps and chucking them and other deadfall timber into the caged trailer behind the tractor. Two of us laughed our heads off when the poor young Park Assistant unknowingly picked up a branch that housed a large nest of Inchmen ( extremely aggressive Bull Ants, to the uninitiated). It was even funnier when he dropped it and some of the blighters bounced off into his clothing - he almost had to strip off completely to get rid of them before being bitten in some very sensitive places.
Mind you, it was nowhere near as funny later at the campground when, surrounded by mostly school-aged campers, I was chucking the last few bits of wood out of the trailer and one final ant - no doubt cheesed off at being separated from its mates - latched onto the webbing between thumb and fingers of the left hand. I think the four-lettered words I uttered could have been heard a few states away. And the hand was unusable for the next three days. It took a week for the swelling and numbness to clear up completely.

As part of my proposal to my Wife, I managed to drag her outside her comfort zone on a camping safari in Kenya! She's not really the most adventurous, but had an absolute ball despite having to rough it.

There was one night I'm sure she won't count as a favourite though - we arrived late to camp one night and had to set up in the dark. We were laying out the sleeping bags and all, and soon discovered we'd set up on top of a safari ant's nest. Those things are vicious! We quickly up-pegged and dragged the setup to the other side of camp, then spent a short while dispatching the odd ant pincering our legs before going off for dinner.

Later that night when it was time to get to sleep I accompanied my fiance to the tent to do our teeth. Just as we got there I turned on my headlight to get in, and illuminated a hyena passing the door that thankfully cackled and took off for the hills! I was too in awe to notice my fiances finger nails digging into my arm haha. They're much bigger than you think when you're standing in front of one.

We then spent an hour before sleeping with our head torches on, dispatching the hordes safari ants that had managed to invade the tent a few hours earlier. I swear their jaws are the biggest part of their body - feels like it anyway.

I thought that was a funny highlight of the trip. My fiance, not so much haha

Funny now, but not at the time, was alone on a dreary day up at top off the Border Ranges, low clouds, couldn't see more than 10 feet in front of me, when I heard this terrible noise just to the right of me. Sounded like a female being tortured, it was a Barking Owl.

By far the most terrifying noise I have ever heard in my life.

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