Mogo Creek, Camping with Goannas and Ants!

[iceman (Mike)]

Went for a drive to Koolang observatory yesterday, so decided to have a picnic lunch nearby, at Mogo Creek camping area.

I'd heard of this camping ground from Andrew Murrell and Gary Kopff, who have used it in the past as a dark sky observing field. It's about 10 minutes down a fairly smooth dirt road just near the Koolang turnoff.

As soon as we arrived, we were met by a couple of goannas, eating from the remains of a recent campfire. Next, we were met by ants.. lots of ants! Big ones too. The kind you don't want to sit anywhere near.

We eventually found a clearish spot (no ants, no goannas) for the picnic rug and had some lunch there, but it's not the kind of place the family would want to visit again, or camp there!

It would make me worry too, setting up the telescope there at night! You never know what would crawl up your leg!

It would be some nice dark skies, though

Anyway here's a few pics.

[vindictive666 (John)]

mike

those reptiles look allmost big enough two carry you away

[fringe_dweller]

Hi Mike, looks like you found the "Land that time forgot" hehe very cool reptiles
kearn

[ving (David)]

looks kinda cool there!
where are the ant pics!

[h0ughy (David)]

Hey is that Ken from Ballarat (BallaratDragons) . Come on Mike you could have taken a bight for the team to find out what it's like

[TidaLpHasE]

Cricky look at the size of those things.

Night time would be a worry, every little noise and russling would keep you on the go..........on the go outa there

[gaa_ian (Ian)]

Interesting playmates you have there
Our usual night time companions are packs of dingo ....
If you never never go ...youll never never know

[toetoe (Peter)]

Were your children spooked by the size of the Goanna's Mike??

[iceman (Mike)]

Surprisingly not, Peter! Eliza kept wanting to go closer and closer to it! I had to hold her back, knowing that if a goanna runs at you and gets onto you it will deliver some nasty scratches!

[toetoe (Peter)]

Originally Posted by iceman

Surprisingly not, Peter! Eliza kept wanting to go closer and closer to it! I had to hold her back, knowing that if a goanna runs at you and gets onto you it will deliver some nasty scratches!

As well as a nasty bite. Strange how some young children dont show fear until a later age.

[gary]

One of the joys of observing at Mogo Creek was listening to the grunting
of koalas at night.

Apparently koalas on the NSW Central Coast are rare.

Mogo Creek Campground is within the Yengo National Park which has
been the scene of one of the State's massive blazes and a friend
who volunteers with the RFS in the area reported that the signage at the
campground has all melted but they managed to save the structures.

Sadly he told me that almost certainly all the koalas there would have
been wiped out.

[Bart]

Nice goannas, decent size! Magnificent animals, primal and single minded.

[multiweb (Marc)]

Originally Posted by gary

One of the joys of observing at Mogo Creek was listening to the grunting
of koalas at night.

Apparently koalas on the NSW Central Coast are rare.

Mogo Creek Campground is within the Yengo National Park which has
been the scene of one of the State's massive blazes and a friend
who volunteers with the RFS in the area reported that the signage at the
campground has all melted but they managed to save the structures.

Sadly he told me that almost certainly all the koalas there would have
been wiped out.

I saw an RFS volunteer interviewed early morning on the ABC. He said he could hear them all screaming then it all went quiet. He said something him and his mates will never forget. Tragic