It was another cold morning in Tembagapura, the usual mist had already closed in on the surrounding cloud forests. On this day we were heading out with Dr Colin Tilbury to head up the Zaagham walk above Tembagapura to see the waterfall that Gaffey had spoken of a few nights earlier. Rowan, Jo and I had crawled out of our beds in the apartment and made our way down to the Flamboyant for breakfast. It was also Indonesian independence day. Armed police with bullet proof vests and assault rifles stood strategically around the celebrations being held at the school. More like army men in blue uniforms than “normal” policemen, they had water bottles, ammo and everything needed to be deployed in an instant in the jungle for a gunfight. They weren’t there for show either. Colin had explained that it was all for real.

“The OPM (Papuan resistance movement) have been active. They give the Indonesians the real heebie jeebies. They have attacked here before, smashing windows and killing people on the streets. Flying the OPM flag means an instant death sentence by beheading. If there was to be another attack, here and now would be perfect for them.”

Meanwhile, the children continued their Independence song and dance for the watching crowd. I saw many red and white Indonesian flags being carried by both Papuans and Indonesians. Every mine vehicle in sight had a flag on each front corner. The whole place was decorated for the celebrations. The children began marching in time and saluted. Rowan commented:

“Gee, they’re children not soldiers.”

I thought nothing negative of the marching and saluting. After all, I had to do the same in Primary school.

Soon we made it to the Flamboyant. My universal ID card would not read in the machine, so a guard swiped his and nodded me through. The usual menu was laid out before us: eggs, pancakes, sausages, fruit, bread, drinks and so on. I noticed in a tray, a heap of smallish fish that had been baked until they were brown and shrivelled. Upon closer inspection I noticed they were the vegetarian Milkfish (Chanos chanos.) Basically never eaten in Australia, they are a prized source of protein in Asian countries. They grow big too, around five feet or so. I decided to try one. We met, for the first time Michelle, who is an Australian that works in Tembagapura, in the medical side of things. At the time, her husband was fighting in East Timor. Olivier was another acquaintance we made for the first time. He was in his late twenties, a tall man with dark hair who had a strong French accent. He works for ISOS, setting up medical bases. Also a keen photographer he had a lovely Nikon DSLR with an assortment of expensive lenses. His next mission was the Congo in Africa. Rowan, Jo, Michelle and Olivier and I all sat down at the table and enjoyed breakfast. I nearly choked on some red-hot, toxic chilli noodle dish that was plain evil, but enjoyed the milkfish, which I thought would be pretty ordinary- if not plain bad. After we had all finished, we walked back to the apartment where we were to meet Colin with his vehicle. I asked the others if anyone had a plastic bag. Nobody seemed to, so I went to the apartment to grab one. I needed it to protect my camera gear in the approaching rain, even though my backpack is basically rainproof.

Colin arrived with his Landcruiser and we all piled in the back to start the short drive. Winding our way up very steep hills we passed an old Army post and soon arrived at the start of the Zaagham walk.

We parked on the only level piece of ground, climbed out and started the walk. In minutes we made it to a stream, gin clear and rushing over multicoloured round rocks. We continued along it, wading some of the way. A thrush-sized bird boldly coloured in black and white flew into view. It landed on a mossy branch over the water, incessantly wagging its tail from side to side as if overdosed on caffeine. It leapt to another branch and continued wriggling about. I instantly recognised it as a Torrent Lark (Grallina bruijini.) This bird is very close to the Magpie Lark or Peewee of Australia- same size and similar patterning but totally different habitat. This bird likes fast flowing mountain streams. It flew away. Colin commented on the fact birds are rare here- Papuan kids slay them all with slingshots. And eat them!

I noticed everything that was not underwater was coated in moss and epiphytes. We were in a cloud forest after all. Australians that have never left their country would not know of cloud forests, unless they had been to Lord Howe Island- the only place in Australia with a true cloud forest. True to the name these places are high up mountains and shrouded in near perpetual mist. Everything is wet to touch, rain or not. The damp conditions allow many plants to thrive- especially mosses, orchids and other small, delicate plants.

Further up, on a tiny hill, I noticed a lovely pink orchid, it was a Spathoglottis. It looked like the other orchids of its group, except the petals and sepals were pointed, not relatively rounded- it looked like a pink star. I assumed we were returning the same way, so I left it to photograph later.

We reached a part of the walk where the “track” left the stream and went up a small, steep, muddy tributary. Somebody had tied ropes to the trees further up to use as climbing aids. Colin left his lizard-bag at the bottom and one by one we climbed up. If a rock was dislodged, the person to first be aware of it would yell “BELOW!” This was to ensure nobody would be killed by loose rocks. When it was my turn I noticed we were in a green tunnel of moss, it had quite a surreal feeling, the combination of mist and a tunnel of moss continuing ahead created a Middle Earth feel. I am surprised we encountered no leeches at all (or Hobbits for that matter!) After a hundred and fifty metres or so, we exited the tunnel and rejoined the main stream. Putting my backpack on the rocks for a moment, I noticed the others had already done the same. Olivier was taking pictures of everything in sight. Michelle and Jo had a quick chat while Rowan ran off for a minute or two to explore the cascades of the stream. Colin got my attention:
            “I found a Pitcher Plant in the rocks one time in this area somewhere. It’s on this side of the stream. I’ll see if I can find it.” He mentioned.

We searched around and sure enough there it was, a marvellous Pitcher Plant. It had a couple of “Pitchers” with their lids open and full of digestive juices, ready to trap any unsuspecting creature unlucky enough to fall in. One or two stalks were ready to convert to pitchers also. I took plenty of photos of this fascinating plant and noticed a mauve flower looking helpless on a rock next to the stream. The lowest petal was massive, the others were tiny. It looked like the Bladderwort, or Fairy’s aprons I had seen in Australia. It turned out to be just that. Not a helpless fairy, it too is a carnivore, using tiny “bladders” in its root system to trap and digest prey in the water. Ah yes, beauty hides a killer. I guess the constantly wet conditions had leached the goodness from the soil, so some plants have to catch food to make up for a lack of nutrients in the soil. Luckily there was nothing big enough to ensnare us there. I’d sure hate to be match-head sized around there. As we continued, I photographed more flowers, including more orchids and some tiny pink and blue unidentified flowers growing on the mossy rock faces. Colin soon called us over. He had found an Ammonite, a coiled shell-like fossil. Apparently Ammonites were very common in Papuan fossil beds they are supposed to have contained a squid like creature when alive, much like the Nautilus we have on our reefs today. The fossil was not in the best condition, still good to see one anyway. We clambered our way up and over cascades and rock faces and all of us were saturated in no time at all. Eventually we reached the base of the waterfall which had by now been visible in the distance for some time. It plunged down from a cliff above, seemingly out of the mist itself. In fact there were several smaller waterfalls emptying into this gorge. We decided to celebrate by going in for a dip- well Colin and Jo were quite happy not to. Olivier, Michelle, Rowan and I all went in for a swim. Just remember where we were- four degrees south of the equator. Yet the water itself would have been about that temperature. Ouch it was cold! Well it had just come off a glacier, after all. With great haste I exited the water and put my warm clothes on in an instant.

Soon we were making our way down the gorge again back to Tembagapura. On the way we took a slightly different track. I was behind the others and noticed a glint of red on my right. Ignoring it at first as a red leaf ready to fall, I had another look. It was an orchid, and what a specimen it was. About postage stamp sized, the two flowers were the most brilliant red I had seen yet. They looked a little like a flattened alien squid and had a glossy, enamel like coating. I assembled my camera and flash units in the rain while Rowan helped me keep them dry. To this day, nobody that has seen the photo recognises the orchid at all. I trust it is a previously unknown species. I nicknamed it the “Red Squid Orchid.”

By now the rain had set in and we were desperate to get back to the car. We did not go past the pointed Spathoglottis orchid again, but followed a path on the other side of the stream. Colin dropped us all off and went home. Before leaving, he mentioned he had found a burrowing frog in the moss up high at an old guard post. I asked if I may photograph it later.

After lunch, we met with Michelle and Olivier at the apartment to exchange photos. I turned on my laptop, and we swapped images from the walk.

            Later in the afternoon, Rowan sat back to read the latest Harry Potter. Thoroughly determined to do things I cannot do in Australia, I walked to Colin’s house. Jo came along as well. Colin greeted us at the door and allowed us into his house, a proper house, not an apartment. Being a reptile fanatic, he had pictures of African chameleons, all he had taken himself. One species was the one he had discovered himself and saved it from certain extinction. We went through photos on his computer. He had pictures of curious green Forest Dragons (Hypsilurus sp,) Mountain Keelback snakes (Tropidonphis spp,) emerald green skinks, assorted Tree Snakes, some were possible new species (Dendrelaphis spp.) Also in his image collection were the only two dangerous West Papuan snakes in the area- Papuan Death Adders (Acanthopsis spp) and the Papuan Small Eyed Snake (Micropechis ikaheka,) a stunning white, black and orange barred species.

            Colin then went to the refrigerator, producing a margarine tub full of moss. In this tub was the burrowing frog he had found. We worked out, using a book he had that it was from the genus Xenobatrachus. I set up my flash guns and the cords and we photographed this species on the moss outside. Jo commented that it was ugly. I looked at him (it was a male) and I don’t know how the stubby little arms, baggy legs and pointed head could possibly be ugly. Quite a cute critter in fact, this species is from the Microhylidae family. On the lawn, I noticed conical holes, each just big enough to fit a thumb into. I asked Colin about them, he said they were from the resident Raffray’s Bandicoot (Peroryctes raffrayana.) I am surprised that there are any left here. Maybe their nocturnal existence has kept them safe from hungry children with stones.

            Colin will catch animals to photograph, but will always return them to where he found them afterwards, feeding them if they are to be at his house for extended periods. It was now time for dinner, so we had to get going after thanking Colin for his hospitality.