Wycliffe Wells - UFO capital of Oz

A few caravan parks get a bit organised and raise their profile with a theme. A darn good idea I reckon. Wycliffe Wells is a good example. As you approach the place you can see nice green grass, plenty of trees, and a lot of pictures of Aliens. The selling point being they have had plenty of sightings and a log of what is reported.

Of course, the last sighting was the night before and as it turns out the 2 nights we stayed had no events even though I doubled the Ouzo intake on the 2^nd night. But aliens aside, this is a well maintained park and it has plenty of other features to enjoy.

First of all, they have built 2 dams and the well water is pumped into one of them. Geese live here and have night sleeping quarters in the middle of the dam to keep the dingos away. You can catch Red Claw (a freshwater crayfish) and cook it up for tea. The 2^nd dam is unable to be used because the Red Claw dug through the clay pan when the level was low and caused the water to drain away.

A couple of emus live up the back and the female is in the process of laying a batch of eggs. So far they have 4 and they usually lay 6. The male will start sitting the eggs after Mum has finished laying. Apparently the males even test the egg temp on their cheek once the process starts proper. At the moment he doesn't sit the eggs. Something about keeping the hatching time close together.

All around the camp ground you can see alien art. A number of campers have stayed a couple of days to expand the collection with the end result of just about every building has a great paint job.  Now that’s my kind of tagging!!

While we were waiting for dusk to fall the first night, the Manager strolled past with a rifle tucked under his arm. We heard shots earlier that afternoon as he sighted it in. I had to ask what is was. The barrel was bigger than a standard .22 but smaller than the RAAF’s .303. It was a rimfire .222 don’t know the brand. I would have liked to feel the weight and fire a round but I didn’t like to ask.

This guy is also the train driver as well as having to do just about everything outdoors. At 4 pm each day he drives an old diesel loco out to the dam and back. I was pleased to see him do a 2^nd trip when some kids turned up too late for the daily run.

Great place with down to earth folk with plenty of time to chat.

Photo 1 a bridge across the gate between the 2 dams

Photo 2 the camp kitchen and art work on the toilet block near the covered pool

Photo 3 the Femalien toots

Photo 4 the train ride