Camels

We did a lot of driving on our trip and crossed paths with a lot of animals.(thankfully none of them were snakes) You can imagined how surprised we were to see camels roaming wild across the desert. So we did some inquiring and found out that many years ago camels were imported to Australia and used as pack animals in the Outback before the trains and highway existed. They were better suited to the conditions of the outback than horses or other pack animals. Over the years their numbers have increased and you now have "wild" camels roaming around Northern Territory. Now camels are caught and exported to Saudi Arabia and different parts of the Middle East. You can buy a wild camel for about 250-300 Australian dollars.

On our way back to Melbourne we spent a night in the Flinders Ranges and had the opportunity to go on a sunrise camel ride complete with breakfast in the Australian Bush. Our entourage consisted of the Williams family, four camels and our own authentic bushman named Graham.

It was an amazing experience riding through the Australian bush, seeing the first light of day illuminate the plains and mountains of the Flinders Ranges. As we rode along Kangaroos and Wallabies hopped away and Graham pointed out various items of interest in the Australian Bush. After riding for about an hour we stopped and had a campfire while Graham cooked us breakfast. What a great way to start the day! (and this is coming from me, not a morning person at all)



making toast over the fireGraham

When we stopped for breakfast we gave Kira the camera,...later Cliff and I had a good chuckle looking at all the pictures of the camels from a four year olds perspective, camel legs, feet and bellies etc.. This is one that she took from the front of the camel looking up, at first glance you can't tell its a camel. Perspective eh.