Back Out to the Outback

I'm currently making a 4-day trek west from the Queensland coast to the Northern Territory, and then up to what they call the Far North. My schedule gives me one extra day for either transportation or camping. That's turned out to be a very good thing.

Kaboom.

The highways of the Outback are littered with roadkill kangaroos. Like, one every hundred yards. And the freshest bodies are swarming with carrion birds--crows, hawks, and big, heavy wedge-tailed eagles. The birds almost always take off well in advance of your approaching vehicle. Almost always.

About 80 kilometers outside the nowhere-town of Winton, Queensland, an eagle took off from a carcass and flew straight into my windshield. Luckily, the only auto-repair shop in town happens to have the right size glass to fit the Princess, but I have to wait in a shabby motel while the adhesive sets overnight. It could have been worse--I could have had to wait a week if they didn't have the part. (I also could have had a half-dead eagle flailing around in my passenger compartment, but luckily it bounced off and the safety glass remained intact.)

Here's to this being the biggest speed bump of the journey.