Mornington Wildlife Sanctuary, Northwest Australia, March-August 2010

What do you do when you’re stuck in the most remote place in Australia for five months straight?

Well, you order food once every two weeks on an Excel spreadsheet, and the supplies show up on a tiny plane which can handle a dirt airstrip. When you want some beef, someone gets in a helicopter and flies around trying to shoot a cow from the air. You sit in a creek (avoiding the crocs) when the temperature exceeds 110F, as it does most days. You sleep in a tent and try to keep the snakes out by stuffing towels in every possible crevice. You don’t go anywhere very far because there’s nowhere very far to go, or else the distances preclude casual travel. It’s a six-hour 4×4 drive to the nearest grocery store in the best, driest conditions.

And you watch a lot of birds, and wildlife, and outdoorsy stuff in general. Turns out, TV is kinda boring compared to the real live thing. At least it would be, if you had one…