Na een eerder beschreven eerste reis door Australië in 2009-2010 besloot de auteur dat een tweede reis niet uit mocht blijven. In 2012 werd de maand september in Australië doorgebracht, met name om de deelstaat Northern Territory te ontdekken, aangezien deze regio tijdens de eerdere reis volledig overgeslagen was.

Australia, a new journey

The author travelled in September 2012 through the states South Australia and especially Northern Territory. Despite the suboptimal climatic conditions (the nights were too cold in the south/central parts, generally too dry in the north), he found several interesting reptile and frog species. He rented a car from Adelaide airport, and followed largely the route Adelaide – Alice Springs – Katherine – Darwin – Kakadu NP – Alice Springs – Uluru – Yorke Peninsula – Adelaide. Emphasis was laid on the areas around Uluru-Kata Tjuta NP, Alice Springs, Nitmiluk NP (Katherine) and Kakadu NP, presenting a large variety of landscapes ranging from spinifex deserts with sand dunes to river gorges and vast wetlands. This also brought a large array of species. Several interesting geckos were found, among others Strophurus ciliaris and Nephrurus laevissimus in the southern deserts and Oedura marmorata, O. gemmata, several Gehyra sp. and Heteronotia planiceps in the rocky northern areas. Considering agamids, the most spectacular finding was a Moloch horridus on the road, while also several Lophognathus species were found. A Varanus giganteus was found in Kata Tjuta, while lots of saltwater crocs were present at the Yellow Waters in Kakadu NP. Some elapid snakes were found, such as Pseudonaja textilis, Pseudechis australis, Suta suta and Furina ornata, while tree snakes (Dendrelaphis punctulatus) were common in the north. Despite numbers of individuals per species were low, it was again an amazing trip down under!