We went for a drive on Monday, making the most of Adelaide's pleasant weather, what with the recent floods and storms.We drove along the Barrier Highway, past such places as Riverton, Barra and Manoora.
For a time I thought we might actually make it to Broken Hill (interstate!), but I didn't have the required endurance to drive all 530 kms to get there.
I found myself amazed at just how vast even this small part of Oz is. Field after field rolled by, with no end in sight. I had presumed if we drove for a few hours we would see some desert landscape, a red haze in the distance, a glimpse of "the bush". But no, it wasn't to be.
What we did see, though, were locusts. Initially we saw clouds of them rising ahead of us, but we weren't sure what they were til they began smacking head first (yes, they were that big, I could see that it was indeed head first) into the car.
All I could say was "WOW!", as I took out hundreds of them.
I had seen in the news a few months ago that locusts were causing awful destruction to farmers' crops and to the countryside in general. But, when watching / reading the news, you never really think how close those events really are. I suppose it's the "it'll never happen to me" mentality.
Oncoming cars were painted in green and brown splats. And that is what our car looked like too!
Then, as happens on road trips, bladders let themselves be known. Manoora was swarming with locusts, well I think it was Manoora. But the little town had a toilet. So, brave and tough as we are, we decided to use the convenience.
Well, until Sam opened the car door.
He opened it, with a swarm all around, and stopped to say something to me. I pushed him out, screamed at him to close the door and had to stop myself from driving off in to the locust-free distance. I decided not to leave the car after all.
So, not only is Australia home to such things as snakes, spiders and crocodiles, Oz also plays host to locusts! And I've seen them with my own eyes! And hit some of them with my car!
Yikes!
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