My first snake of the season: an endangered Broad-headed one!

I really like snakes. Don't see nearly enough of them, despite being out in the bush so often. So far this snake season (the warmer half of the year) they've just about eluded me.

But last week, on a rocky outcrop above Victoria Brook just outside Mount Victoria in the Blue Mountains, there it was: the first of the season. And it wasn't a common old brown snake, a red-bellied blacksnake, or a diamond python. It was the rare and endangered broad-headed snake (Hoplocephalus bungaroides). My second ever such sighting, and both out in the western Blue Mountains area.

They used to be common throughout the Sydney Basin, though they were always endemic to the region. Now they are only found in some of these remoter areas. Click here for: Wikipedia article

It seemed oblivious to us for a while, but eventually it woke up when we started pointing our cameras at it. It reared up, looked threatening for a moment, and then slithered into a hole under a rock.

It is indeed rather venomous, I gather. I always forget to be frightened though.


(Photo credit below: Angela McArthur)

Flying Carpet!

I know, this blog is supposed to be about exploring Sydney. As in the relatively unknown suburbs and odd little pockets and attractions in and around the city. And I will get back there, honestly. But I keep getting distracted by terrific bushwalking experiences, spectacular discoveries, plus the odd overseas journey.

This week's distraction was the amazing Flying Carpet, a fabulous, and to some, slightly terrifying, rocky outcrop in the Gardens of Stone National Park. It juts out of the cliff line above the Carne Creek valley, part of it is only a metre or so wide, and there are cliffs stretching hundreds of metres above and below you!

And it does indeed seem a bit like you're flying on a magic rocky carpet above the valley.

Six of us headed out very early in the morning, and drove out to a secret parking spot where the adventure begins. Such is the quality of this amazing wilderness experience that I'd like to do my bit to keep it relatively unknown, so I'm not going to divulge the exact location!

We consulted our various maps, track notes, and GPS devices (no two of which ever agree on much!) Then off through the bush, down an easy pass through the cliff line, and hugging the cliff bottom, we progressed along ledges, and past photogenic caves, canyons, and slots.

We came across an interesting little snake that none of us could immediately identify. Looked a bit like one of the (non venomous) pythons, but smaller and with somewhat unfamiliar patterns. It turned out to be a Broad-headed snake, Hoplocephalus bungaroides. According to one Sydney University site I consulted, it's Australia's most endangered snake, and there's some suggestion that venomous snakes such as this one evolve to mimic non-venomous ones, so they can surprise unsuspecting prey! (And I'd been unsuspecting at the time, confidently taking my photos until it ran away.)


Rounding one of the protrusions out of the cliff above, we looked up and identified our prime destination. Then it was a steep scramble up, aided by climbing tapes affixed first by two of our more assured freeform climbers, and onto the platform itself.

There's a slightly tricky bit as you walk out onto the thing, and some of the party members weren't too proud to accept a bit of help here. Some were fine with it all though, and one fellow couldn't resist hamming it up slightly for the camera, as evidenced below!

 (Some photos courtesy Saf Barbour)