slim6y
Almost Legendary
I thought this would just be a nice little drop in for a real fun adventure I had with my daughter and GF plus her daughters... so yes... one male with four girls... I have certainly learnt when to shut up 
We had decided to go to Mount Surprise after someone had said they had loads of fun there.
So why not...?
The idea was to go frollicking and fossicking.... I get those two really mixed up (haha - just kidding) - the fossicking you require a license!
At Mount Surprise you can fossick for semi precious stones such as topaz and quartz. It is actually a lot of fun. And, other than the cost of petrol, it's inexpensive as well. You can find loads of interesting things. Admittedly we only found three or four semi precious stones (smoke quartz, a couple of topaz's and some other unusual quartz). But we came back with bag loads of rocks that looked 'coooool'!
But that wasn't all we got at Mount Surprise...
We stumbled across a fellow in town who had recently opened up and odds and sods museum and advertised 'Snake Show - On Request'...
So naturally I requested!!!
We were shuffled out to a display room with about 20 odd banked enclosures - looked just like any one's collection really. Sorry, nothing too special. They had just changed enclosures too. And a frantic mulga was searching round his enclosure looking for a familiar scent, but probably could find none.
We were shown the taipan tanks as well, also in a new enclosure and hesitant to come out. But we waited patiently for it and was pleasantly surprised when the darkened head of the inland taipan emerged from his hide.
Then also from his hide came the proprietor... Russell. A tall, bearded gruff man who greeted the kids in a friendly manner and quickly proceeded to get a BHP out of its enclosure. He quickly asked the kids if they knew what an interactive show was and they didn't have a clue, so he gave one of the girls a BHP and then walked off. They were quite excited by that (though a little scared, my GF's daughters have only really handled my spotted pythons before this). Then Russell returned with a second BHP and gave it to another girl and off he went and then came back with a BTS... Gorgeous BTS.
He was telling the girls everything about the snakes (stuff we all think we should know - so it was great he was telling them as well). The BTS was stunning and placid, perhaps one of the quietest snakes I've ever held.
He then got out his water python (so I quickly swapped the BTS for the water) - another stunning individual.
What I really wanted to say was we had a huge amount of fun and everyone really enjoyed themselves. My GF didn't want me to post photos of her - so other photos are as follows.
If you want more info etc - the Internet is a good place to start - we stayed at Bedrock Village - the camp ground was one of the best I've ever stayed at. We fossicked (and frolicked) at O'Briens Creek - which is about an hours drive in the 2WD Holden
Enjoy!
Russell and one of his BHPs
One of the girls giggling as Russell encourages his BHP
A well trained youngan and her new bestest friend!
The most beautiful of all the snakes, a wonderfully coloured BTS
Another shot of the BTS that was so calm and placid and lovely to handle.
The cheeky water python named Molly....
A beautiful sunset from the tent site at Bedrock Village.
A couple of bulls having a fight on the way up to the fossicking areas.
One of the only herps we found, a northern two lined...
Another sunset just west of Mount Surprise...
Innot Hot Springs, about 150km from Mount Surprise - very very nice to swim and paddle at, but be warned, some of the water is well over 70'C and can burn!!!
We had decided to go to Mount Surprise after someone had said they had loads of fun there.
So why not...?
The idea was to go frollicking and fossicking.... I get those two really mixed up (haha - just kidding) - the fossicking you require a license!
At Mount Surprise you can fossick for semi precious stones such as topaz and quartz. It is actually a lot of fun. And, other than the cost of petrol, it's inexpensive as well. You can find loads of interesting things. Admittedly we only found three or four semi precious stones (smoke quartz, a couple of topaz's and some other unusual quartz). But we came back with bag loads of rocks that looked 'coooool'!
But that wasn't all we got at Mount Surprise...
We stumbled across a fellow in town who had recently opened up and odds and sods museum and advertised 'Snake Show - On Request'...
So naturally I requested!!!
We were shuffled out to a display room with about 20 odd banked enclosures - looked just like any one's collection really. Sorry, nothing too special. They had just changed enclosures too. And a frantic mulga was searching round his enclosure looking for a familiar scent, but probably could find none.
We were shown the taipan tanks as well, also in a new enclosure and hesitant to come out. But we waited patiently for it and was pleasantly surprised when the darkened head of the inland taipan emerged from his hide.
Then also from his hide came the proprietor... Russell. A tall, bearded gruff man who greeted the kids in a friendly manner and quickly proceeded to get a BHP out of its enclosure. He quickly asked the kids if they knew what an interactive show was and they didn't have a clue, so he gave one of the girls a BHP and then walked off. They were quite excited by that (though a little scared, my GF's daughters have only really handled my spotted pythons before this). Then Russell returned with a second BHP and gave it to another girl and off he went and then came back with a BTS... Gorgeous BTS.
He was telling the girls everything about the snakes (stuff we all think we should know - so it was great he was telling them as well). The BTS was stunning and placid, perhaps one of the quietest snakes I've ever held.
He then got out his water python (so I quickly swapped the BTS for the water) - another stunning individual.
What I really wanted to say was we had a huge amount of fun and everyone really enjoyed themselves. My GF didn't want me to post photos of her - so other photos are as follows.
If you want more info etc - the Internet is a good place to start - we stayed at Bedrock Village - the camp ground was one of the best I've ever stayed at. We fossicked (and frolicked) at O'Briens Creek - which is about an hours drive in the 2WD Holden
Enjoy!
Russell and one of his BHPs
One of the girls giggling as Russell encourages his BHP
A well trained youngan and her new bestest friend!
The most beautiful of all the snakes, a wonderfully coloured BTS
Another shot of the BTS that was so calm and placid and lovely to handle.
The cheeky water python named Molly....
A beautiful sunset from the tent site at Bedrock Village.
A couple of bulls having a fight on the way up to the fossicking areas.
One of the only herps we found, a northern two lined...
Another sunset just west of Mount Surprise...
Innot Hot Springs, about 150km from Mount Surprise - very very nice to swim and paddle at, but be warned, some of the water is well over 70'C and can burn!!!
