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Got at least to get it started. The thread will be a mixture ofhopefully BGRC Melbourne Shoot, travel and tourist photos and comments plus some of the hunting days. Most of the trip was travel.

Now Curl and Mrs Curl travelled all the way down under from the mountains of Virginia. Where at the moment he is treating Daryl to a hurricane and moonshine. I "understand" Curl has a moonshine shack "out back" but he wouldn't admit this to me.

Nor did he bring any moonshine with to Oz. We had to suffice with fine wines, beer and whiskey.

This all started when trying to organise a hunt for 2017. Curl said yes but couldn't go in 2017 so in the end I postponed to 2018. Mickey was supposed to come as well, but broke his foot and is still recovering. I hope!

Curl has also been invited to visit by the BGRC guys of Melbourne and Tassie. When they have visited the USA.

We had a lot of toing and froing on rifle importation, permits and licences, and in the end it was too hard. Curl got a visitors firearms licence from Victoria which says it covers all of Australia. SA was not a problem. But NT is close to impossible. Forget about all the experts saying how easy it is. They have evidently never organised an NT firearms permit for hunting. Outfitters can do it realitively easily given enough time, and for international sporting events in the NT, but everyone else, almost impossible. One of our "kind" members even emailed Curl to tell him he was going to be breaking NT law and possibly even US law ... one never knows who reads these threads or where comments end up ... So unfortunately it was wise for Curl to leave his lovely rifles back home and borrrow firearms here. Sad but true, how bureaucrats and control freaks spoil it for everyone. On the NT laws I had a chat with a knowledgeable guy in the NT and he seemed unsure if what the NT Firearms branch says is actually correct. Certainly their interpretation is NOT in the regulations and Act. One officer seems to have his own interpretations. The result? Even a station owner theorectically can not let a guest use a firearm and hunt on the station legally! But they issue the permits and licences so for now it seems that is the "law". In SA anyone can hunt with me under my supervision. The Victorian visitors licence also says to covers all of Australia so ... Curl was my gun bearer on this trip ...

Curl and Mrs Curl first arrived in Victoria via Sydney and attended a BGRC shoot in Geelong. One of our Tassie members travelled over to attend as well. Hopefully Curl and the others can share some photos and comments from that shoot.

Then Curl and Mrs Curl flew to Adelaide where I picked them up from Adelaide airport. A day or so spent packing the vehicle and roof rack. Three people in the Landcruiser meant needing the rear seat in with half of it packed with gear and especially the firearms which only fit in there. Originally I had planned a trailer as well. But decided against one as they use lots of extra fuel, and a planned ex-army trailer once plentiful at ex-mil auctions in Adelaide did not appear for a whole year. But a couple dozen of them in Darwin at auction in July! Too far away!

Curl and Mrs Curl wanted to experience the long drive from the South to the North across the continent. Some people can not handle all the driving. Four days driving if not side trips, and over 3000 kms. But I decided Mrs Curl deserved more than four days driving non stop. So the plan was a brief stop at Coober Pedy. Then a side trip to Ayers Rock/Uluru. Where I also hope to climb the rock for the last time. The PCists are closing the rock to all but Aboriginal men climbing it later this year or next year. And in reality close it almost every day already for "safety" reasosn. Then alter another side trip to Kakadu, a dawn cruise at Yellow Waters, and the jumping crocdiles at Adelaide River. Before Mrs Curl flew off from Darwin's airport.

A minor but possible vehicle problem caused some excitement, but luckily didn't actually become a problem. A shredded tyre before the Ayers Rock turn off revealed a missing bolt from the suspension! All the way to Uluru, and back again, then Alice SAprings on a Sunday when everything was closed. Finally fixed in Katherine where a wreckers yard provided a spare. Nothing at the Toyota dealership, "we can order one in" etc etc and nothing anywhere else. And a recommended mechanic, who was busy, kindly made time to put it in and tighten all the others, some of which were also loose. I had had major R&M work done on the vehicle earlier in the year and it seems the mechanic did not tighten them enough. We could probably have put the bolt in ourselves but these bolts needed extra tightening we were told and a ratchet was not good enough. So fixed, a new spare tye giving us two spares again. And later another new spare battery as the second one in the landcruiser was no longer holding a charge added to the expenses.

A mistake I made. In order to save space and carry less crap I did not carry a third spare tyre. Usually I put one on the roofrack as well. And usually carry a full petrol jerry can for the generator, and another full diesel spare jerrycan. Ended up buying a jerrycan for the petrol and another extra one of drinking water, making two of them.

Also had some "fun" on the roads. Previously on trips had issues with cattle, especially driving at night. But this time, three close encounters with cattle sleeping on the roads at night. Most people stop driving before dark. The "grey wanderers" make camp usually by 2 pm to 3:30 pm! One cow when I was driving on the way to our hotel on the highway to Ayers Rock I missed by its nose ... two more sleeping blocking the other side of the road, and another sleeping on our side, with the one standing and about to walk right in front of us. Even more amazing was a car doing a good 110 kms plus had been a couple of kms in fron tof us and also driven through these cattle. Curl had a close call having to drive off the road to miss cattle. Another cow, we avoided as a car in front of use showed break lights, and slwing well down, there was a cow standing on the white line in the middle of the road. Other cattle, always hard to spot as they are often brown and blend well in. We did as a result try to avoid driving much after dark. And when doing so, slow down quite a bit. One of the staff at the hotel on the Lasseter Highway (the road to Ayers Rock) told us there had been three collisions with cows that week alone, with the cars written off on their station alone. The Stuart Highway is a little better as the big trucks plough through the cattle sleeping on the road. Now it is obvious why sometimes there are five or six carcases all in one spot off on the road side. A collision would mean the end of a trip even if no injuries resulted. Roos aren't as bad with a bull bar usually, but a cow or camel can be a disaster. But some of the locals drive at 130 kmph (or even 160 kmph towing a caravan we were told) on these roads at night!

And the hunting. Made a telephone calla day before Curl's arrival to double check our arrival time was OK, and got a very unsure response. The property owner was leasing the whole property to someone else, completely mustering the property of all their cattle and did not want hunters on the property at all! After the phone call, it went from a NO, to a POSSIBLE. After some time, we did get a qualified yes. It seems a previous hunter on the station had become distressed, set off his epirb signalling device and started off a big search for him, including helicopters. He had passed out from dehydration only a few metres from a running river, which he had been walking on for kilometres and refused to drink from, passing out from dehydration instead. And the authorities were trying to bill the station owner for the expenses of the rescue search. So the property owner is less than happy to have strangers on their property now. We agreed to arrive two days later than originally organised, cutting the hunting days from six to less than four days. Helicopters mustering the entire property were also going to be stirring up any buffalo to add to the hunt's difficulties.

Now given all this, we did all have a good and enjoyable trip. Less than successful in terms of the hunt. We did find some very wary buffalo. The buffalo were very wary. If disturbed they did not come back to that area again. At least while we were there. Also the swampy areas were actually more numerous and far larger than last time. Found some buffalo in an area unexpectedly on swampy areas last time completely dry. Things change over three years. Found some scrub bulls. Even saw my first wild pig on this property! Always see their tracks and often fresh, but not a pig until this one.

Overall it was an enjoyable trip. Not as many photos as the previous trip. Lots of touristy photos to enjoy. And a few from the property as well. I hope you enjoy what will be posted. Have to work on the photos still so will be posted over the next week or two. And hopefully Curl and any others can post some as well.

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John aka NitroX

...
Govt get out of our lives NOW!
"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
"A Sharp spear needs no polish"

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