Friendship on Fire

The view from the hammock

The next few hunts went smoothly. Lachlan and I proved to make and excellent team. Work out on camp is hard and the days are long, Down time is non-existent because professionalism is key. We are both very passionate about each and every client walking away with a smile on their face and an experience worth raving about, but instead of being hard it was fun. I loved when both Lachlan and the clients would return from their day of hunting, always with an exciting tale to retell and a tally of trophies they where more than happy to rave about. Lachlan was often just as excited as the client adding snippets from his point of view and explaining terms or things that he knew I wouldn’t understand. They would hand me the tusks they had acquired with pride their smiles growing each day as they brought home more or bigger tusks than the day before. Then they would slump in the camp chairs cracking an ice cold beer and sharing even more stories around the camp fire, as I cooked them dinner enjoying the camp and the bush. The transition from day to night in the bush is a truly magical time, the bush “music,” gets louder and its not uncommon to see big trophy boars or feral cats mosey on down to the river, the sunsets are amazing and best seen from the comfort of the hammock, all of this adds to the clients experience because it is unique.

There is something exciting about sharing that experience with someone, when you can see the pride and excitement in their eyes and you know that you are going to be a part of something they will most likely share with their grandkids.

I found myself looking forward to the transitions between camps when Lachlan and I had time to catch up, the drives in and out of camp were always filled with good conversation and when I wasn’t at camp I looked forward to being back out there. Our friendship soon developed from friendly work colleges to good friends and it wasn’t un-common for either of us to text the other on the days we weren’t at camp.

Although it was defiantly one of the more exciting times of my life out on camp, it was one of the hardest times of my life at home in town. I was still healing the broken pieces of my heart and trying to find my feet as a young single mother. I felt I was being judged by those around me, I was ashamed and felt that at times I failed my daughter and the worst thing was I felt so utterly alone in this big old world. I am not the type to scream out for help or confide in someone but at that point I just wished for someone to grab me by both shoulders look me in the eye and say “its all going to be ok,” or just ask me how I was.

I kept yearning for the sanctuary of camp, where I could take my daughter and escape from the pressures and failures that were constantly being thrown in my face but most of all I yearned to be with Lachlan. To be able to talk to him, to share with him and to confide in him. Perhaps then I had developed stronger feelings for him and I just hadn’t acknowledged them, perhaps I had feelings there since the first moment I met him. I really can’t pinpoint where they started however I can pinpoint the very moment those feelings and my crush stopped being small.

It was one night, Lachlan and the client returned completely exhausted from the last few days hunting and the client decided to go have a few hours sleep before dinner. Lachlan helped me make dinner and we sat around the fire drinking a few beers having a good conversation, he has a wicked sense of humour and I had forgotten what it was like to laugh so hard. The few beers developed into a few rums and the conversation got deeper, I started telling him about my struggles at home and I am not sure how the conversation went or developed but at some point he turned to me, grabbed me on the arm and said “Carly, it’s all going to be ok! You are such a strong, intelligent, charming girl. Look at how many people said you wouldn’t last by yourself and your out here in the Australian bush flourishing. Never have I met anyone so capable of taking on the world, you are a wonderful mother and absolutely beautiful anyone would be so lucky to know you, I know I am.”

They are by far the most beautiful words anyone has ever said to me and it was that moment I realised why they call it falling in love.

And then I farted – possibly the worst response ever!

A Whole Other World

One of the many resident Crocodiles that make our river home.

A few short weeks after falling in love with the camp Lachlan and I where heading out there together with our first clients. To say I was excited would have been an understatement, I could have peed myself if it weren’t for the fact I was in my very attractive bosses car, I am a firm believer that one should not pee in attractive bosses car on your first day on the job.

So there we were driving the bush beaten track that leads to camp and Lachlan behind the wheel and the conversation is flowing easily, very very easily. By the time we are almost at camp we have delved into each others life story, Im finding myself accidentally telling him really personal things, things that I would think twice about sharing with my best friends, yet with him its as normal as talking about the weather. I will admit I was developing a little bit of a school yard crush.

I was mid-sentence when we drove into camp, not only did it take my breath away, but also my words (and thats a big deal, because I very rarely loose words!). It was still deserted, bare, barren, rough and unforgiving but over the past few weeks Lachlan has made a few upgrades and it looked a lot different.

There was no longer just four posts, instead there was what we have affectionately come to call the “shack”, simply four sturdy steel posts with an iron sheeted roof. There were several camp tables set out, one off to the side to create a kitchen bench with the gas cooker set up next to it and a bucket for a sink. A rock fire place with a plate on top and a fire pit dug out next to it had been built 3 metres to the left. Two tin sheds had been built a good 100 metres out to the right, one of them was the long drop toilet and the other would be the solar heated shower, for now it served no purpose other than adding structure to an otherwise vacant landscape and it was the landscape that had stolen my breath and words.

The river sparkled brilliantly in the afternoon sun, the breeze blew softly rustling the dry leaves, carrying a soft scent of tea tree mixed with dirt up the ridge and cooling the sweat on our brow. Kangaroos drank tentatively at the waters edge and a big old salty sunned himself on the opposite bank fat from his years of being the king of the river. It was mesmerising.

“Beautiful spot, isn’t,” Lachlan said and when I looked at him I could see it, the same love, the same awe and the same respect. He knows this land, it’s in his blood. He has been hunting in the Australian bush for his whole life and I couldn’t help but feel a pang of admiration. The old world knowledge he knows just doesn’t exist any more. Yet here he was completely in his element, completely at home and I wanted so much to learn everything he knows and here was my chance.

I was going to be working and living in one of the true frontiers on earth, with no running water,no electricity and living in tents. It was the lack of convenience and comforts that appealed to me so much. How many of us truly know and understand the true value of water. We turn on the tap and out it comes, hot, cold or whatever temperature we please. That convenience doesn’t exist out there, you have to work hard to draw water and carry it to camp and if you want it hot you need to heat it. You start to respect the land and the gifts we so readily reap from her when you have to shed some sweat to earn it. You want to eat you have to go find the fire wood, light the fire and let it burn to produce the coals to heat your pot. A lot of you will read this and think that you prefer your way of life with your convenience and comfort, and your not alone, there is a reason convenience and comfort won out. Sometimes I wish I could flick a switch and have light or just turn on a tap. The Australian bush is a hard place, it requires respect and you have to earn your way in it or risk loosing your place at the top of the food chain… for me thats part of its beauty.

Having an afternoon fish a long our river.

Well Hello!

Hi, Im Carly and I am a hunting WAG.

Similar to footballer WAGs (Wives and Girlfriends) only crazier! Yeah there is such a thing, and yes at times I think there should be some 12 step program for us ladies crazy enough to get involved with a hunter.

If you’re wondering what this 12 step program should entail then your guess is as good as mine, I’m the patient not the doctor. But if like me your partner owns more camo than real clothes, your dates generally involve bringing down some sort of animal or you have some sort of animal part on your wall as a “trophy” than you my friend are also a hunting WAG.

Unfortunately there isn’t a 12 step program yet, and no I cant promise it will get better, or easier for that matter, but I can promise that if you read this blog we will get through it together, with a few laughs a long the way.

My name is Carly and this my blog – Adventures of a Hunting WAG. I will be sharing the highs and lows of being in a relationship with a hunter, from how we met, how we got together and hopefully how we will spend the rest of our lives together.
Enjoy!