Then, while driving in awe of our surroundings, it started misting and we saw a complete double rainbow from end to end over the fields, with each end directly on a farmhouse. It was something right out of a chick flick. I don't think I've ever seen such a bright rainbow before. This was definitely a visual highlight of our entire trip in Oz.
The next day we headed out on a side trip to the Flinders Range. On the way we saw Emus! Just hanging out in a field! I never expected to see them in the wild - I didn't realize their populations were so high. We ended up seeing a few groups (flocks?), as well as fathers with little Emlets (I don't actually know what they're called, but I like the sound of Emlets). The fathers raise the babies alone while the mother recovers from her pregnancy! Nice daddy.
The drive was lovely, and our destination was Wilpena Pound, only a few hours away. The first thing we saw when we started our hike were wallabies! Just hangin out, munching grass by the trail. They are so used to people in this park that they aren't skittish at all. I got some decent shots of the female with her joey peeping out from her pouch. Roos and wallabies have adapted to the sometimes dry and sometimes wet climate by increasing or decreasing their reproduction. when water is plentiful, a mother will have an adolescent nearby, a joey in the pouch and a fetus growing - all at the same time! That sounds exhausting. But in the dry, they will only have one joey, if at all, and it will remain in the pouch longer.
Anyway, as we hiked we saw many, many more. We came upon a group of a dozen or so at one point and were able to hang out with them for a while, and Charles practiced his hopping abilities...with great success and was accepted into their group.
We also came across feral goats! They were so cute and fluffy looking. We even saw two males fighting - one would rear up and bend down head first and crash down onto the other male, who was bracing for the blow. Fun stuff. The rangers are trying to capture and relocate them to help save the habitat of the endangered Yellow-Footed Rock Wallaby. I'm not sure why they would cause harm to one specie and not to the other wallabies, which seemed to be doing just fine, judging by their numbers.
The hike itself was beautiful as well and we really enjoyed ourselves. It was our first real hike since Hawaii except for a short one in Bombala, so we were happy. The drive back at dusk was a bit sketchy because there were so many dead wallabies on the sides of the road, but luckily we made it, and so did the wallabies.
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