Split Rock Dam & a Bit More

16th to 18th March 2025

Reluctantly, we left Mungo Brush campground and continued our round-a-bout trip to Split Rock Dam. We had two overnight camps along the way, one at the Scone Golf Club, the other at Manilla Freedom Camp. We’ve stayed at the Freedom Camp a few times before and I always feel like a bit of a rebel when we stay there.

The following day we made it to Split Rock Dam.

Split Rock Dam was not as we remembered it. The water level was considerably lower, leaving a muddy dirty looking foreshore, a lot of dead Carp, (a pest in Australian waters,) and all the rubbish left behind didn’t help. I said to Peter one day that I felt as though we were camped on the edge of a landfill. Exaggerate much? Maybe a little. 😊 After Peter had done a rubbish pick-up and got rid of 15-20 kg of rotting fish it was workable for a couple of nights. Previously we were nestled amongst the trees, with green grass leading to the water which was only a few metres away.

There was however, something here this visit that wasn’t there last; Dragonflies. So, I took my bum rest, the caravans folding step, my trusty camera, and I went to sit at the water’s edge for a few hours. I think it was time well spent.

My bum was beginning to go numb, and I was thinking about calling it quits when a pair of mating dragonflies landed near me, so I ignored my bum and kept on shooting. I’ve never seen Dragonflies this colour before, so that was special and after seeing them in the act I became curious as to how they actually mate.

This is how I understood it. The male (we’ll call him Bruce) will fly around until he sees a female he fancies (let’s call her Sheila). Bruce has two little hooks (clasping organs) protruding from the end of his abdomen. He grabs hold of Sheila, just behind her head, and continues to fly, dragging poor sheila around behind him until she is ready to mate. This can take quite a while. When sheila is sufficiently in the mood, she will then raise her abdomen up under her body, and attach herself just underneath and behind Bruce’s thorax. This is where Bruce’s secondary reproductive organs are. This whole process takes a lot of time and Sheila must perform some precision moves as she often needs to fly to position herself, while Bruce just sits on his rock.

But wait, there’s more. After the eggs have been fertilised, Bruce still might not free Sheila. If he’s feeling insecure and wants to make sure no other male can mate with his Sheila, he’ll hang on to her until she has laid her eggs in the water. Once Bruce knows his progeny is safe, he’ll let her go with a promise of a phone call the next day.

We stayed at Split Rock for two nights, then moved on. Pleased to say nothing has changed with how we travel; plans are made to be broken.

See you out there somewhere

On tow and on the go!