After picking up our delicious prawns, we headed back into town. Passed a few wildlife of note along the way, including the first of probably 20 to 30 emus we saw on the day. This group was a family - three chicks, plus dad (who apparently does most of the chick rearing while mom goes and hangs out at the bush day spa).
You can just see two of the chicks here next to dad.
A little further down the road we also encountered this giant spider, which was maybe six inches across when you count the legs. She (the males of these orb weaver spiders are tiny) was situated in the middle, largest web of a whole complex that our guide said was probably her daughters. There was also a really cool photo opportunity of an osprey sitting on a windmill eating a fish - but it was just a tad bit outside my optimal zoom range.
Our next stop was the old US Army base just north of Exmouth. The place shut down in 1995, but the US military still maintains a small presence as it operates some seriously impressive radio towers in the area (there was something like 14 of them, all taller than the Empire State Building). Being on the base meant that technically we were on US soil, which was a bit odd. But since no one really goes there anymore, the local fauna seem to have made themselves at home:
After the army base, we headed down a dirt track looking for more big red kangaroos, but it was getting close to noon and none were really out (we saw a couple, but they were laying down a good distance away). I did get a good, up-close-and-personal look at this little bug(ger) though:
He hopped on to the window next to me when we were probably doing about 25 mph, and was clinging on for his dear sweet life. He managed to climb up to the top of the car eventually, though what happened to him from there I do not know. Judging by the number of grasshoppers and other insects we had to clear out of the front grill of our car after our trip, my guesses are it wasn't pretty.
We next proceeded to Turquoise Bay (apologies for the lack of pictures) where we snorkeled and had lunch, then it was on to Yardie Creek and our boat tour!
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