Roo Two

Here's a follow up post to the last one with some Q&A to responses I've received.

What were the reporting requirements? None that I know of.
I was miles out of town on the only paved road that goes east-west into the outback. Apparently buses and trucks hit roos all the time and just keep going. It would be like hitting a skunk on Mt. Helix. If you reported it you would probably be laughed at.

Because we bought comprehensive insurance on the vehicle and it is damaged (including the radiator), I reported it yesterday to our insurance company by phone. When I told the person I hit a roo, she just said Ok. When I told her "It just jumped in front of me!" she said in a very matter of fact way, "Yep, they do that."

On Saturday, Ken and I happened to stop in at the car dealer where we bought the car to take of something else with the salesman and I mentioned it to him. His cheerful response was "No worries, there's millions more where that one came from!"

Are there warnings about the risks when you apply for a driver's license? No.
Well, technically, maybe there is, but we didn't go through the normal channels of getting a license. We each had a letter from the authorities at the Base directing the Motor Vehicles Registrar to issue us a license upon proof of our having a valid one from the US. All we had to do was show our CA drivers license and pay the fee. No test or anything.

However, in some of the materials provided to us by the Base, there was a note about the threat from roos, which stated they behave "like deer". Now, Ken and I frequently saw deer along Sanborn Rd and I am here to tell you they are nothing alike! Deer do NOT launch themselves in front of cars. There may apparently be something about roos' biology that prevents them from hearing approaching cars, and something about the lights that panics them leading to the launching behavior I saw. (These are things I read on the internet, after the accident.)

What happened to the animal? Carrion.
A Mazda weighing about 4500 pounds at 55 mph vs. an animal weighing less than 200 pounds. Mazda wins. Lots of other animals like dingoes probably enjoyed a nice breakfast. I didn't stop to watch, and would rather not put any more of a visual into *your* head.



Did you manage to complete your trip? Sort of.


I continued on to the turnoff for Standley Chasm, but was too upset to spend time there doing much photography and I couldn't take the hike to the chasm itself as they weren't yet open. (Here are a couple photos I took.)




















I realized the green fluid on the front of the vehicle might mean trouble (after briefly wondering if roos have green blood), so drove slowly back home (a distance of about 25 miles), keeping a close watch on the temperature gauge.



Will this affect my adventurous spirit? Definitely Not.


I have decided to consider this a badge of honor. Hopefully I have learned to drive more carefully (slowly) when out in the bush before sunrise.



Do people around there usually avoid travel in the dark? Hmmmm... good question. I don't think so.



There weren't too many other cars on the road, but then again, there's not much out there in the bush. We are very isolated here in Alice and the roos don't hang out in town; people do go places in town at night. I've been told there are frequently mobs of roos out by the Base (about 12 miles outside of town) and the shift workers have to watch out for them. That's apparently because in the winter, the road is warmer than the surrounding countryside, which they like.