Killer snakes and hungry leeches

Today I joined, Di (powered by leech speed), Emma, Chris, Liz (Tanty chucker), Alan (our unflappable leader), Geoff and Claudia for a 20/25k walk along Whitney's Road, Brooklana, NSW

Alan led us on a fine walk. It was bit tricky finding the old Whitney Rd due to the logging tracks but once on it we had no problems. The leeches were prodigous and only Claudia missed their friendly attentions.

After a few hours walking Di, Emma and I had stopped to wait for the rest of the gang to catch up (because we are so fast). Emma had just finishing yanking an army of slimy leeches off Di's ankles, when she took a step back. I saw a black snake rear up in the grass behind her as she took another backward step. A shout of warning from both Di and me and the lucky snake avoided blunting it's fangs on Emma's leg. The snake slithered off and we followed at a distance because it was very beautful to look at. Then Di noticed I had been standing right besides another one that was coiled up in the grass. It seemed they were everywhere.

We also saw a rather sleepy looking Carpet Python earlier along the track and again on the way back. I hope we didn't annoy it too much.

The old Whitney Rd bridge was gloriously abandoned and decrepid. We had lunch further up the track.

Alan found a great spot free of leeches with a view over some big old Wollemi Pines. There were lots of interesting looking shrubs and moss around us but we were too busy, discussing methods to deter leeches, to worry about such things.

On the way back Liz accidentally filled her right shoe up with water and spat the dummy... I should probably explain... As she bent down to pull off a charming ankle passenger (leech) her camel-bak dribbled water into her shoe. This was after failing to actually quench her thirst. So Liz took it upon herself to remove the offending item and chuck it. The leech was grateful for the distraction.