jjpnsgjjoja I M flept tor bpuw was 

 ouite surprised lo find it was only 

 e o'clock I nibbled a couple of 

 Mscifrb and put my head down again. 



V 10,36 p.m. I VWB wide av.ake. 

 v , hud a snack and a hot drink. «f 

 Having had more than half 

 n,s usual aiiiouni of sleep. I let mv 

 ihiiut'hts wander over a whole range 

 t ,f Kleu*. A persistent though I dealt 

 •A the comments of friends and 

 .cqiwmtances when ihey became 

 /ware of my intentions to "go it 

 .-lone" in the bush The frequent 

 enmmeni Was, 'What? By yourself?"' 

 .ml also. "1 vould never do that!' 

 kmarcnfty 'here was something un- 

 mUtni about my hchawour. Tver 

 ,mcc man stood up on all fours and 

 frmfr in develop his eves and brain 

 M the expense of his other senses 

 ♦ic has not been satisfied to look out 

 and enjoy the myriads of visual 

 opportunities. ! knew why sorm- 

 people wondered bow I could stand 

 •he darkness and the silence. '1<> so 

 m,.u\. silence reverberates with 1hc 

 mlcnial i nunc rings and imagined 

 oars, while the daikncss is lit with 

 1hc bright flashes ami coloured flak 

 .■a |-,\o,v,< im ^nation fo me, man 

 ik an extension of »hc unirn.il kinii- 

 .lom. one of ihcm: DnfferffJl in der- 

 ive hut mil in kau' and still a part 

 R< ,itl natural cwntmion. So a.s a pan 

 a lh . u.mt il kingdom I lay there 



it darkness content to he J T»» r ' 



of thrs giv.it system and still cats'* 

 to Icirn asm of its ere.iturc-s, 



\i \ |)() HI., although still d:uk 

 md a hide chilly. I had a night's 

 sleep liclmid nw; so decided to move 

 OH ilark of not, The sun was well 

 bclOW the hoti?ou and the moon far 

 I mm bright behind the masking 

 clouds, but the track was quite vis- 

 il.le A Pallid Cuckoo culled Moving 

 »lon« with the torch flashing occa- 

 Mimallv. a«d reflecting Horn the 



Snplember, 1971 



yellow and white of Htbberlia and 

 MiCTWDV nus. I disturbed two silent 

 winged birds that moved away wilh 

 a grulT barking sound 



About an hour later I parsed a 

 track to the right. This track leads 

 • 1 1 Meridian Gale, and is part of the 

 ujd. bullock "rack from Hopcloun to 

 Pine Plains. 



As Magpies started to call, I passed 

 another track. This one was used hv 

 Rudd Campbell, the Ranger, before 

 Ihc hetter tracks wire made. 



By 4 30. 1 reached the most undu- 

 lating country that r had traversed on 

 the Ginap Track, und even by the 

 waning moon I could sec that the 

 malice scrub had given way to 

 spaced bulokes on the hillsides. The 



kangaroos ited I disturbed rJbrtimpep 



awav For some time my eves had 

 been peering left and right at the 

 dark outlines of the vegetation aud I 

 rcerLitcd missing pan of what I had 

 scl out to sec. The bulokes made a 

 good wmdbreak, so I brewed a cup 

 of coffee and breakfasted. 



Good light was Still more tha" an 

 hour away, and I felt that to walk 

 on would be adding to what I had 

 ilready missed: and to sit and wait 

 was not 10 mv h'king either. So I 

 made my decision parked my pack 

 hcoJc the buloke. ami with camera 

 and binoculars ser off to retrace my 

 steps Ihc skv was much less over- 

 c.iu now with the moon, stars aiui 

 Mttiu douds elearlv visible. 



Wuis began to tvvuiti. and by 

 ri 15 [ had rBaChcd my sleeping place. 

 Marty hirds were calimy now in the 

 pale dawn- iwo called across the 

 uack ..pparentlv to each vlher. They 

 umtinued WJ Call in the dimness but 

 when it became hght euough foi me 

 lo use the hinoculars, Ihey became 

 silent and eluded me. 



Shorllv, I came to that section of 

 me rrac* where nn torch had picked 



265 



