Out in the Back Country
The Kimberley Region of North West Australia

"I dumped some gear just before: clothes, powdered milk and dog food. I figure that Kanch and I can share my food until we reach the next food drop and, if necessary, I can catch some fish. Hard work, but my spirits have risen and Kanch seems to be oíkay. I'm praying that he can hold out until we reach water. As the sun drops, we will really go for it. Took a nasty fall before in some Spinifex and took a fair bit of bark off my leg on a boulder. As I said, I expect this section to be the hardest of the trip because we cannot consume much water in the process".

Together with dehydration, the symptoms of exhaustion proved a major obstacle. Things that one would accomplish easily in daily life become major tasks and it was imperative to ensure the direction of full concentration to every step. The onset of nightfall saw our arrival at water in a tributary of the Charnley as the sandstone changed in colour from a washed out orange to a fiery red colour. Nearby, the following faded example of what appeared to be a Barramundi painting was present. Upstream, was the brutal gorge around which I had detoured.

"To say that I'm a physical and aesthetic wreck would be a big understatement. I took two nasty falls on that portion, including one face plant into a small canyon. That's what severe exhaustion and dehydration do to you! Having said all that, Kanch was absolutely fantastic. He did incredibly well through what was very punishing terrain. We're both covered in spinifex sap, which is quite sticky, and Kanch, particularly, is black. Getting through that section today has given me some confidence, as I had been worried about it from the start. I'll be even happier when we get back onto the Charnley some time tomorrow. We're now about a mile up a tributary of the Charnley and it is quite beautiful. To get here meant a difficult climb down a scree slope to Pandanus Palms and a small stream".

By the end of day eight, I was two days ahead of schedule and sitting at the junction of Synnot Creek and the Charnley. The preceding two days had been relatively good walking, and I had enjoyed a camp at the base of a beautiful waterfall. Upon leaving the river and hiking to the top of a saddle to cut around a gorge that dropped straight into the river, my anxieties were heightened when, while walking down a dry creek bed, I nearly stepped on a snake. It is always difficult to tell the species of snake here in the Kimberley as colorations vary markedly but the encounter had been too close for comfort: especially given that I was moving downhill and the pack weight kept pushing me forward. I had struggled to miss it, although Hann had enjoyed an even closer experience in this area in 1898: "A new kind of snake went over my feet, killed him, a most deadly description of snake, had he bit me it would have been all up with me. I could not finish my map".