Sunday, 17 October 1999, 9.20 AM

I’ve pulled over at the start of the road to Corinna (C249). I feel compelled to write down what happened to me not half an hour ago.

At about 8.55 AM, while driving on the track from Sundowner Point back to the main road (C214), I rounded a bend and saw what I believe was a Thylacine. I only saw it for 2, maybe 3 seconds before it darted off very fast into thick scrub. It was moving across the track when I rounded the bend. I saw the general form of the animal but really only recognised the back half as its head and shoulders were, by then, obscured by undergrowth at the side of the track. It was about 15 – 20 metres away. It stopped briefly, as if it was looking at the car, before moving away. It was definitely the shape of a small dog (similar to perhaps a blue heeler) and moved both hind legs independently (ran away, it did not hop). The colour was that of beach sand perhaps slightly darker and it had 2 or 3 mid to dark brown stripes on its hindquarters, not many and not pronounced. The tail was long (full length) and rigid like that of a wallaby and seemed to be bony towards the end. The end was rounded rather than pointed. There was some hair on the tail, only a little, with a slight bit more at the tip. It was definitely not bushy like that of some dogs. The back legs looked slender and were a different shape to that of a dog. The lower part of the leg, from the ankle joint, was smaller than would be expected.

I stopped the car and got out then ran up to the spot where it entered the scrub. It was impenetrable (coastal Tea-Tree and Banksia) and I could not find any nearby tracks leading off the main track. I did hear it moving away at a fast pace with a fair bit of rustling and a lot of twigs breaking.

I left after a few minutes contemplating what I had just seen.

The weather was fine and sunny. I had a clear view of the road ahead with no glare and the windscreen was clean.