First published in Scales and Tails Australia Issue 41 -May 2015.

I fell in love with Alice Springs the minute I got there. The brilliant red rocky hills and escarpment surrounding the town drew me in straight away. I was in awe of the place and my imagination was running wild wondering how many Spiny Tailed Monitors (Varanus acanthurus) there could be in the surrounding rocky hills only a kilometre or so from the Todd Mall, the heart of town and of course, the civilised coffee capital of central Australia. 

This was my first experience of Alice and I was on a mission to get back to Darwin (where I had been herping and living for the past year) after leaving the small town of Dubbo, Central West New South Wales, where my partner resided.

After driving all day from Port Augusta, by 9:00pm we ( my partner Julia, Josh and I) had just about reached the turnoff to Alice, a 1300km drive.  Suddenly, I spied what i thought was the first snake of the trip and slammed on the breaks of my friend Josh's Triton 4x4. I was greatly disappointed to find that the long, thin reptile was, in fact, a Western hooded scaly-foot (Pygopus nigriceps). To add insult to injury, if you will pardon the pun, it had been run over by the car in front of me and was in its deaths throes and obviously in a great deal of pain, so I did what had to be done and put it out of its misery. What luck- after driving almost 3,000kms from Dubbo the first reptile we find is someone else's road-kill! Oh well that's road trips for you, and I thought that things can only improve!

We were to stop in Alice Springs for two days for some much anticipated herping, and supposedly, some rest. The next day I woke up as excited as a kid at Christmas. The adrenaline was pumping and it was a beautiful day, so I did what any herper would do first to get a bead on the locality, and headed to the  Alice Springs Reptile Centre. This place is great and a must for any herper visiting Alice. I especially enjoyed seeing my first ever Thorny Devil (Moloch horridus) outside of a 'Wilson and Swan'. I fell in love with the local King Brown Snake (Pseudechis australis) that was on display and Pete the Perentie (Varanus giganteus) had me thinking how great it would be to encounter this great lizard in the wild! I asked around at the park for spots to herp and was told of two roads to look at. Night couldn't come around quick enough, so I could set out to spotlight, but I contained my excitement by driving around looking for dragons. I can't believe how many Central Netted Dragon (Ctenophorus nuchalis) there are around Alice Springs; they are everywhere! Any little mound that sits up on the side of the road south of Alice had one of these pretty little dragons on it, surveying the surrounds and waiting for a small insect to fly or crawl past. It would then jump off the perch, race over to the unsuspecting bug and eat it before heading back to its vantage point to keep an eye out for predators, like hawks, and stay warm to digest its meal. By late afternoon the dragons had retired into their burrows, which meant it was time for me to get ready for the main event - night driving!

I was almost shaking with excitement at the prospect of setting off on my first herp trip in Alice. We hit the road at 7:00pm and I spotted the first snake at around 7:30. It was my first wild King Brown Snake. This animal was gorgeous - a brilliant greeny -  gold colour with flecks of black. I pulled the car up in the middle of the road - which probably wasn't the smartest move, but there were no other cars around and with adrenaline in my nostrils I just had to catch the snake for a photoshoot. It was quite a well behaved animal that chilled out quite quickly. Next step was getting it under the hide for the shoot.  Meanwhile Julia moved the car off the road and came to help lift the hide. The session lasted a good half an hour. I wanted to stay for longer but the thought of missing out on more animals had me hurriedly taking one last photo and we were back on the road.

The night was starting to 'go off' and next up was a Curl Snake (Suta suta). In my opinion these are the worst snake  to photograph, short of stapling them to the ground the buggers won't sit still! After about 10 mins of trying to get it to settle under a hide I gave up and continued the drive.

Next stop was for a Northern Spiny-tailed Gecko (Strophurus ciliaris ciliaris) and a Marbled Velvet Gecko (Oedura marmorata)  crossing the road and, of course, entailed a quick photo session. I was amazed by the colour difference between the brown and red spiny-tails that I was used to  from Darwin and this dull grey specimen. The velvet gecko was beautifully marked and had a long slender tail compared to the fat round tails I was again also used to in the specimens encountered around Darwin.

Then came a gorgeous Stimpson's Python (Antaresia stimsoni) and again another photo session. By the time I pulled the car over, it was just off the road in a dried-up creek bed that consisted of a mix of sand and large pebbles. I scouted the area and found some nice rocks to pose the snake. This snake was beautifully marked and was also quite calm, making photography easy. 

Eventually we reached the end of the road and turned around to head back to Alice. We found another King Brown Snake on the way back however this one was very aggressive and mother-in-law ugly. It was dark brown in colour with some gnarly old scars on it and I could tell this one was a survivor by its attitude- the scars served as graphic evidence. I decided a quick tailing session was enough for this old fighter and let it go. By then it was 10:00pm and Julia was sound asleep in the passenger seat, so I headed quickly back to Alice to get ready for the next day.

On the return trip, I also found on the road a dead gorgeous black headed Western Brown Snake (Pseudonaja mengdeni). I was understandably pretty cut as this was a key target for me to find, it was very fresh but also very dead. It still gave me hope to potentially find one on the half hour or so trip back into Alice.

A very successful trip ended with Josh frothing at the mouth for a cold beer and Julia still sound asleep; I couldn't have imagined a better night spotlighting.

The next day was spent around town doing all the usual touristy stuff, buying magnets, stickers and stubby coolers. I wasn't very impressed so I conned the team into a quick trip out to the Desert Park which has a very impressive nocturnal house. The majority of the group (everyone but me) decided that the night would be better spent relaxing at the motel, so to my disappointment I was forced to sit and flick through my field guide sulking over what could have been.

We started heading north to Tennant Creek at around 9:00am the next day. A quick stop at the Devils Marbles was considered a must, and I was secretly hoping to find an 'Ackie' basking in the morning sun. After spending an hour or so admiring the marvellous natural scenery and flipping rocks in search of these awesome monitors, we thought it was best we get back on the road, before it became too late to find a motel for the night.

We arrived in Tennant Creek at around 5:00pm and booked into the first Hotel we came across. After dinner at Woks Up, my favourite Chinese restaurant in the territory, and arguably the best in the universe, I was full of energy and decided a quick trip up the road to Three Ways (28km) and east on the Barkly Highway was on the cards. Julia sat this one out and stayed at the hotel for a decent night's sleep.

 It was at about 6:30pm and halfway between Tennant and the Barkly turnoff that I found my first Central blue-tongued skink (Tiliqua multifasciata)on the road. I was very excited, as I had I worked with this type of species before and was interested to see one in the wild. It was a typical grumpy blue tongue, so I got it to the safety of the side of the road and took  a few pics in the hope of getting an awesome tongue flick shot. A hundred or so photos later (you've got to love the digital age), and I decided to leave the blue-tongue and continue up the road.

We got  to the Barkly Highway at around 7:30pm and I felt like it was the perfect time for snaking. It wasn't long before I found a Northern Shovel-nosed Snake (Brachyurophis roperi) crossing the road. This was another species that proved difficult to photograph and it reminded me all too much of the curl snake a few nights earlier. The vibrant orange and black stripes of this animal were simply amazing, and the chisel-like nose was perfectly designed for burrowing. 

After about 15 minutes driving, Josh started getting bored. He was hoping for action asking me where all the snakes were and why it was slow-  after one night in Alice, apparently he  had become a seasoned herper! However, not long after he started top complain I spotted a snake on the road.

I  slammed on the brakes and pulled the car up in the middle of the Highway, and then the chase was on. I was running down the road like an Olympic athlete - Usain Bolt eat your heart out! Just as I reached the snake (which was some form of brown snake), it turned to defend itself, causing me to weave some crazy dance steps, I turned into a ballroom dancer trying not to get fanged. Who would have thought that road driving for reptiles could be so aerobic? It was a small one, only around 40cms and full of attitude. My heart raced  as I confronted this tiny elapid., and my mind kept telling me; "Phill this is too small to tail and you're in the middle of nowhere". I controlled the snake as best as I could with the hide to get it off the road. Then it was time to get it under the hide and get ready to do a photoshoot. By now I'm sweating bullets and trying to get the animal in focus in the camera view finder while wiping the sweat out of my eyes. It behaved perfectly, every time the hide was lifted it would recoil into an 'S', displaying its belly scales in a defensive posture. I spent a good half hour shooting this animal with Josh lifting the hide for me while maintaining a very cool composure for someone who isn't a reptile person and most probably never seen a venomous snake outside of a zoo before.

After being enthralled and entertained by the brown snake for well over half an hour I decided it was time to get back on the road. After driving for another half hour or so I thought it was time to turn back.

The trip back to Tennant Creek was pretty slow with only a dead King Brown Snake being found on the road 15 Km north of Tennant Creek. 

I certainly wasn't disappointed with my first trip though the red centre and I knew from that very brief encounter I'd be back for more red dust, rocks and reptiles.

I encourage readers to explore new herping territory and venture a little further than the local creek, tin spot or local bush tracks. We live in a beautiful country full of great characters and amazing animals. Happy herpin'!