The drive to Dalby was a few hours. We had stopped for breakfast in the morning and for me to buy some more clothes as I wasn’t really prepared for the sudden change of plans. On the way, we drove for hours through what I would describe as nothingness!! There was just nothing around! I was anxious to see what Dalby was like! What the way they had described it, I had kinda imagined there was nothing there! I had jokingly questioned them in the past about whether they even had electricity! We arrived there and I was very pleasantly surprised! It was a small country town, but very cute! Not really what I was expecting at all! I liked it instantly! Here are a few pictures.
We dropped Karmyn off at her work as she was due to start and then went to Jess’s mum’s work where I was introduced to her mum who was lovely! We went back to her house afterwards and started on some laundry. Jess and Karmyn had told me that we were going out shooting that night and I was a bit apprehensive! I had absolutely no idea what to expect! We would also be camping out overnight which sounded fun I thought, as long as we don’t get attacked by any wild animals! This is Australia after all! We headed out that evening in Jess’s dad’s ute. I didn’t understand the word ute before I came to Australia but had learned that it was short for utility truck. Similar to what us Brits would call a pickup truck but everyone has them over here! We had to stop at a neighbours house to borrow some swag, another word I was unfamiliar with! Jess explained that it’s what you sleep in when you go camping out here, but no it’s not a sleeping bag, it’s better! I was intrigued!
Once we had picked up the swag, we headed to meet up with Karmyn who was also coming with her dad’s ute and Christina – one of their friends, and then to meet the guys. There were 3 guys coming out with us, one of who was Dan who was a qualified shooter with a license to go out and shoot the kangaroos and hares around here as they are considered pests. That kinda surprised me! We think of kangaroos as the animal that represents Australia but they’re actually pests here! For some reason, I was expecting Dan to be an old guy, but he was just 23 and not at all what I expected! We drove up to the outback where the kangaroos hang out. The drive there was my 1st experience of driving on a dirt road! You could barely see in front of you as a result of all the dust in the air being thrown up by the car in front. We parked up together and then all got on the back of Dan’s ute. I was scared but excited at the same time. It was 11pm and was dark and cold. I wasn’t prepared for the cold so we all got layered up and then started the drive. I was briefed on how this was done. Dan had a big spotlight on the back of the ute which was moved around as he was driving. We were to keep an eye out for anything moving and if we see anything, we were to bang on the top of the ute. At that point, Dan would turn the car off, we were all to keep quiet, and then he would get his shotgun out and shoot it. Oh yeah and close your ears when he gets the gun out because the gunshot was really loud! It took around 20 minutes driving before we saw something moving and all banged on top of the ute. As described, he gone his shotgun out, aimed it, and fired! He got it! We all got out and went to take a look. It was a hare with all it’s guts hanging out from where it was shot. My friends asked if I wanted to pose with it for them to take a picture. Why not I thought? You only live once right? This was definitely one of the strangest but also coolest experiences I had ever had! I had gone from sitting at my desk at the bank in London to going out shooting in the Aussie outback! Definitely a ‘check me out’ moment!
We were out there for a few hours. We didn’t see many kangaroos, and Dan explained that they mostly congregated in another area these days. We did see some though, although they were across the water so we couldn’t get to the one he shot. After a few hours, it was time for me to learn how to use the gun! We put a plastic bottle out as a target quite far away and then Dan taught me how to hold the gun, take aim, and shoot it. I took my 1st shot and it was really fun although I missed the target. On my 2nd shot though, he saw the bottle move and we put it down to beginners luck! We all took turns taking shots at it and then we headed to the area where we would be camping out. The boys were sleeping on the floor, but us girls were gonna sleep on the back of the ute. We put the trays of our 2 utes together to create a long area and set up the swags. Originally I had said I would just sleep inside the car. I thought it would be warmer and more comfortable but they actually had a pretty nice setup at the back so I decided I wanted to join them and get the full experience! Once inside the swag, it was actually pretty warm and comfy. I just hoped and prayed that I wouldn’t need to go to the toilet in the night as wandering around here in the dark wasn’t so appealing! I fell asleep pretty quickly. The next thing I remember was feeling like someone was shining a torch at my face! I opened my eyes to see it was the sun! Shining brightly over me! That was a pretty cool way to wake up! It was just after 6am and the others were all just about awake as well. We packed up and then drove out with plans to meet at Christina’s house for breakfast. Here are a few pictures from the night:
