CAMPSITE # 100 - MUNGERANNIE WEEK # 2

14 days into our stay at Mungerannie, by day number 11 we had officially passed the benchmark for the longest period of time we had stayed in one place since commencing the trip.

I would say that the recent flooding and heavy rains this season have had a huge impact on the tourism, particularly over what should be one of the busiest times of the year – Easter long weekend. We were anticipating working our butts off for three weeks straight but unfortunately for us, it has been a struggle to push our hours just pass the requirements of one person, which is hard because obviously that means we’re only getting paid as one person. But, at the end of the day, we are having a great time and it’s all a great experience. At this stage, it looks as though we will be leaving here in about a week and venturing west pretty much straight away. It does mean for us that we will probably have to work again sooner than what we would have hoped to but we do still have a substantial amount of cash in the kitty (thankfully) that will keep us going for a while. 

Tom went to meet the mail-man for our mail delivery... who turned out to double as the Easter Bunny as well...

As we weren't working much on Easter Sunday, we were able to enjoy the day and celebrate Easter. The only catch was, we didn't have any eggs so, we had to improvise. Tom and I did a little Snickers Hunt around the hotel & campsite. I failed miserably at preparing a hunt for Tom who found his prize before he even finished reading the first riddle :( Looks like I might need to be taught a few riddle writing lessons from Tom, who somehow managed to have me scratching my head for at least half an hour...

This clue was very delicately (and sneakily) tucked underneath the handle of the fire hydrant...

Tick, tock... my Snickers is melting...

Bingo!!

Working at Mungerannie has so far been a lot of fun. Tom has had a great chance to put a few of his projects together that he’s been scheming up for a while. Phil's had issues with rats in the area and they seem to be working very hard at taking over the place.

While I find myself tip toeing around the place of an evening, the boys are in their element coming up with different conTRAPtions. Aside from your good old mouse / rat trap which is capturing a steady one per night, Tom and Phil have been coming up with their own little devices to get these little suckers.

 This is Tom's trap. It's a dual trap with the entrances at each end. The bait sits right inside the trap, furthest from the entry door and when they touch the lever near the trap, it releases the door on a spring and shuts the door behind them. Then, where you see those little blue bits at the front are the doors to let them out into a drum where they are given a not-so-gentle whack on the head with a plank of wood. This trap is catching at least one a night, if not more. He's tried two different baits - pork fat and chocolate... both baits have resulted in great success!

Phil's trap was quite different but (thankfully) still had the same result...

As you can see, I'm working very hard and Tom is busy taking photos... ;)

As you can see, Tom is working very hard and I am busy taking photos...

We are having a great time. It is a bit disappointing that there just aren't enough people here to warrant more hours but hey, that's just how the cookie crumbles I guess. We are still having a great time and we are being looked after very well and we are finding it very tough having to sit at the bar enjoying a few cold ones while we're not working. This is an experience we'll never forget but when the time does come for us to move on... I'm certainly not going to miss those bloody rats.