HI DE HI CAMPERS - BENDIGO

Hello there ... we are just about to go on the road again this time we are heading over to Streaky Bay South Australia.

Yesterday Neil drove up here to Bendigo with our equipment and dog and he drove back (without the dog!) and then today we caught the train with our bikes to Bendigo and then we rode out to Leannes' place which is in Epsom ... normally I wouldn't blog about today but we have a fabulous story to tell you and I have to admit we have never had such a spectacular start to any cycle trip as we have for you today.

So arriving at Leannes mid afternoon and entering through the gate at the side of the garage Neil is ahead of me and I hear a rustle under the lemon tree and think oh Kouta is there ... meanwhile Neil is saying stop there is a snake (he/she must have been sunbaking!) and at that moment I see the tail flick and disappear, so Neil continues on to tell Leanne that she has a snake in the garden and we have lost it, meanwhile I am still at the gate trying desperately to see where it has gone.  After a while passes I go through and Leanne has gone and rung for a guy to come and see if he can find the snake ... he will be there by 3pm.

So we sit down for a cuppa and a few minutes later he has turned up ... his name is George and quite a relaxed fella!

Neil shows him where we saw him and this George dives straight in ... no apprehension what so ever! dig around the water tank (as we thought the snake may have gone under it) and no there was nothing.  It is not until I look at the end of the brick wall next to the water tank that I see that it is open ended and I said that it may have gone in there.  So Leanne gets a crow bar and George  takes of the top tile and breaks a hole in the brick and then digs down in with his hand  and no still no snake but reveals that the whole wall is hollow so it might be somewhere along there ...

George breakin the first brick

 and here is George breaking nearly all the bricks along the wall!

 okay I took this photo this close AFTER he had removed the snake to show you how it was hollow all the way along and it was a fantastic home for the snake ...

So after making so many holes and getting glimpses of the snake and telling us that 'oh it's a big one!' he finally dives in again with his hand to grab the tail of the snake ... Neil tells me that he had the tail and the head was coming out the end of the row of bricks ...

 here is George grabbing the tail and pulling it out ...

 and here it is all the way out!  It is a whopper and I am very excited and clicking away and all I can hear either side of me is Leanne squeaking and wimpering (or was that Neil?) LOL and Neil is gasping at the size of it!

You can see Georges' friend in the background going off to get a bag for the snake to be put in ... meanwhile George is .... not sure what he is doing ... I think 'playing' with the snake! ...

by now the snake is really, really angry with George and thrashing about ... at this point I am thinking this snake is about  1.3m long or 4 feet long

 unfortunately Georges friend sort of forgot to open out the bag so poor George has the snake in one hand and trying to open the bag with the other ... meanwhile none of us can say 'oh here let me help you George!'

So George manages to get the snake in the bag ... but not before the snake tries to have one last go at George ...

... there we go safely in the bag!

here is a close up of the snake ...

gosh it was exciting to watch George (the only licensced {spelling?} snake handler in Bendigo).  He tells Leanne that the snake may have been there all winter!  That is probably not something she wants to hear as she was working around that area the other day ... quite unnerving to know that the snake may have been there!
So that is our start to our cycle journey ... Tomorrow we are off to Inglewood.