typical jet black in colour. There is considerable
variation in colour amongst these snakes, however,
from brown and spotted to a lovely rusty colour-
ation. After not finding much more, I decided to
leave for the next spot. That night between Narrabri
and Moree I saw a small snake crossing the road. I
quickly pulled over and ran back – it was a hatchling
Spotted Black Snake. This was something I had
never seen before. I scared the snake off to the side
of the road before it got hit by a car or a road train. It
was a gorgeous blue and grey colour and was
hands down one of the nicest-looking
snakes I have ever seen.
The next day I stopped in the town of St
George, in South East Queensland, which is
known for its excellent freshwater fishing on
the Balonne River. My target was the
famous St George Mulga Snakes, which are
a beautiful red in colour. I spent a couple of
days in the area, but the weather was cold; it
had also been very dry for some time and it
was difficult to find anything. I did manage to
locate one juvenile Mulga Snake. It was
quite a defensive animal, but it was nice to
tick a species off the list.
I headed further west to Windorah, in
Central West Queensland, where I was to
begin my hunt for the Fierce Snake. I spent
four days searching; it was very hard going and I
didn’t find anything, which was a shame. I was
having minimal luck spotting any animal life, and in
fact I didn’t find my next snake until after my arrival
in Alice Springs. Well known as being the gateway
to the ‘Red Centre’, Alice Springs is almost
equidistant between Adelaide and Darwin, and is
referred to as Mparntwe by the traditional owners,
the Arrernte people, who have lived in the region for
around 30,000 years. The nearby MacDonnell
Ranges create a variety of different habitats,