Tag Archives: Fishing

Northern NT

Heading Out Of The Gulf & Into The Territory!

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The next stop on the list was the old gold mining town of Croydon – not at all similar to the one in Victoria!  The information here was in abundance.  We visited the Old Chinese Temple Site in North Croydon which was Chinatown.  The Chinese excelled in mining during the gold rush of the north.  Being the racists the white settlers were, they didn’t allow the Chinese to work in a mine that was less than 3 years old!  This didn’t stop them walking 1,800kms (as other means of transport was too expensive) from Darwin and another great hike after leaving the Palmerston Gold Rush (Cape York).  Most became established bakers or fruit and vegetable growers and excelled in their trade.

Back on the main street we explored the Heritage Precinct consisting of old refurbished buildings from the mining days.  It was extremely well presented and we learnt a lot about the police station, town hall and courthouse.  A light and sound display of a trial back in 1903 was a highlight.  A lady was sentenced to 2 months jail for swearing in public, where the next case also recieved a 2 month sentence for drug trafficking – crazy times!  One last stop at the oldest store in Australia which was established in 1891 gave us an insight of how they roughed it in the bush.  Funnily enough, from the photos around the store we weren’t sure if they were taken yesterday or back in 1891.  The store still had its original shelves, benches and memorabilia.  Exhausted by the heat and history overload we retired at Normanton as we said ‘Hi’ to Krys the croc (a life size replica of the largest ever captured croc) on the way to the river.  It was hard to believe that a beast of 8.63m existed in our Age.   After marvelling for a while, we tucked ourselves into a magical spot by the river and had the camp all to ourselves!

 The next day we were slightly disappointed to be told that the Barra season had finished 2 days prior to our arrival at the fishing Mecca – Karumba!  To lighten the mood we spoilt ourselves with some fresh prawns caught that morning.  They were delicious!  That arvo Mark tried his luck in catching something decent but only managed to pull in a couple of small ones.  He was still having a blast.  

Having the sun set over the ocean at Karumba Point, only meant one thing… beers at the perfectly positioned beer garden that overlooked the ocean.  This pub really utilised it’s surroundings.  While returning to camp we were suprised to see the uncountable number of hermit crabs on our NMBWE (Nocturnal Marine Biology Wildlife Excursion).  There would of been hundreds of the little buggers, some even too big to hide back in their shells!  Shooting back out for a night fish Mark wasn’t very successful again and had his line snap from an unknown monster of the ocean.  It was still a great experience to fish under the stars while waves crashed against the shore.

Departing the following day, we sped through the hundreds of kms ahead of us.  We stopped by small points of interest along the way being Burketown (near here was Camp 119 – Burke and Will’s final camp), Doomadgee Roadhouse and Hell’s Gate Roadhouse which all had small glimpses of history .  Finding free camps wherever we could, it wasn’t long until we hit the NT border where Mark dug one last hole in QLD.

To enjoy some cool weather, we were up at 6:00am as we quickly discovered this was the coolest time of day, at 20 degrees.  It wasn’t long before 9:00am rolled around and it was already 30 degrees and rising!  Crossing through plenty of creek crossings to our next destination on the unsealed road, it was easy to see how this area could flood with rising water levels.

Just south of the small outback town of Borroloola, which back in the day was known as a ‘lawless town’ as it was so remote, we drove in to Caranbirini Reserve for the night.  Dodging the heat we were up early for the walk around The Lost City.  The city consisted of eroded sandstone formations which were made millions of years ago in shallow water, sand hardening layer upon layer.  They know this because when the rock is dissected horizontally (split) it has the same ripple effect as sand does in shallow water at the beach.  Over time water has eroded the sandstone down to create a ‘city’, where in some places it was quite a squeeze along the path.

Returning to the air-conditioned car to dodge the radiating heat, we smashed through the last 400kms to make it to Daly Waters.  This pub had character beyond belief.  It seemed anyone who wanted to could hand in a personal item to hang around the pub; their shirt, hat, undies, bra, thongs, anything!  Sadly since the dry season was over there wasn’t entertainment but we still enjoyed a date night and ate out.  


As we left Daly Waters we travelled along the historic trail that informed us this small establishment was actually the first International Airport!  Qantas flights would refuel, restock and grab a feed here before heading overseas.  This was carried out by the husband and wife at the homestead in the early 1940’s.

We were officially back on the main north-south artery in the NT.  Burning into Mataranka (home of the ‘Big Termite Mound‘) we visited the replica of the Elsey Homestead which was built for the movie based on the novel ‘We Of The Never, Never’.  Although the actual homestead has been demolished (due to roadworks) we were still able to visit the Elsey Cemetery which demonstrated the hardships they had the endure in the outback in the early 1900’s.  After the history lesson, it was time to relax in the thermal pools.  Being out of Grey Nomad season we were all alone except for the 200,000 bats that had migrated here for the months to come!  There was bat poop everywhere!

Still in the Elsey National Park we visited the Bitter Springs.  This was absolutely breathtaking.  It was the most natural 34 degree river that we’d ever seen as it had minimal impact from humans.  With a slow current we drifted in the crystal clear water along the stream until climbing out to walk back to the start.  The second time around we decided to grab our snorkels and an entirely new world appeared before us!  Sun glistening through the water lead to a picturesque sight, plus there was an added bonus of seeing at least 10 turtles!

As there were no free camps around Mataranka we decided to disappear further north as it was getting late.  We burnt away with a stunning sky displaying the colours of sunset.  We were fully refreshed after the visit to the springs as we found a perfect spot to call home that night.  Moments like this reminded us that it’s such a great feeling to be free on the open road…

08/10/2016 – 13/10/2016

Far North Queensland

The Final Adventures At A Home Away From Home

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After the intermission back on Thursday Island,​ we restocked the boat, left Steve’s baby ducklings at home and made our way back to Prince of Wales.  This time Mark and Rach joined us.   As we docked on the beach, Steve spotted birds hunting bait fish on the surface about 300m away.  Seeing this only meant one thing, bigger predators coming up to eat them!  As we shot back out with our fishing gear, Steve threw a lure in.  Within 2 seconds he had a fish on the line and reeled it up onto the boat.  Catching a reasonably large queeny, lead to us repeating the process and chasing groups of birds.  After sucessfully catching 5 big queen fish, Mark, Stu and Steve retired for dinner.

Dirk and Tanya had the three of us over for a meal that night where they put on a delicious spread.  After enjoying marinated pork wrapped in lettuce for entree, the real unique dish was for mains.  A tasty turtle soup was cooked by Dirk. We definitely didn’t let any of the suprisingly chewy sea creature go to waste.

As our cruisy lifestyle continued on P.o.W, we disappeared into the bush for a wood run taking the old island bomb of a car (both front seats weren’t bolted in).  As usual, the hand reels were already in and were left in Steve’s more than capable hands.  Only minutes prior to our return, he had pulled in a giant Cobia!  This fish is rarely seen swimming around the shallows where we had caught it, it was definitely a treat!  The next wood run we did, we generously hung his Cobia skeleton in a tree as a trophy for any others to gawk at as they pass by.  

As the tide was at a perfect height, we had a crack at skurfing.  After seeing a croc and catching deadly sharks in the same waters, we were slightly unsure.  Reassured by watching both Steve and Mark (brother) standing up on the surfboard being towed by the boat, we gave it a go.  Not being able to stand up after giving it a solid crack, our arms ached after some classic stacks.  Mark making it to his knees was an accomplishment.  We definitely felt like sitting ducks after coming off the board in the ocean.  The boat seemed to take forever to swing back to pick us up.

One last boat fishing venture to catch more queenies lead to bundles of laughter.  We had to traul with the rod as it was choppy with a big swell causing water to lap continuously in the boat.  With every fish we pulled in, we gained more and more water.  On our forth catch, we bled him out and could swear it was still swimming as the water level was so high.  As Mark pulled in another, a dark shadow loomed around the fish and before we knew it, it jumped 2m into the air!  A quick realisation was that this ominous figure was a shark chasing Mark’s fish, but managed to pull it in before the shark had a meal!  Stu wasn’t so lucky as the shark returned and took his entire fish, lure and all!  Having taken on too much water we had to return, still having a successful catch!

As the others had to return to Thursday Island, we continued our stay for more lazy days.  That evening we kept getting baited on the hand reels.  Mark using a smaller hook caught one of these buggers.  Throwing him in whole as bait, it wasn’t long until the reel went off and Stu was pulling in another decent shark!  Having tasted everything else from the ocean, we decided to fillet him.  The next morning we had the most freshest beer battered flake that we had ever tasted.  As we fried most fish from here, it was a little change from our previous numus feeds (queen fish in vinegar, onions, tomatos, soy sauce and chilli).

On our final day at Prince of Wales, we went to visit the old homestead and waterhole.  Only a stones throw away from the house this was a great expedition.  Stu got us onto Roothy’s 4×4 fire pie that we had to try!  We opened up the frozen pie and filled it with onion, ham and cheese, wrapped it in foil and chucked this marvelous creation into the fire.   Lets just say, it has become a camping tradition.  Dirk came around to say goodbye and have one last hoorah as we sunk froffies around the fire on the beach.  Steve greeted us the next morning with his boat, unfortunately at low tide.  Feeling a little rusty, we had a small mission loading the car and carting our bags down the beach, out to his boat.

Back on T.I the Winds of Zenadth Cultural Festival were in full swing.  Going for a stroll down mainstreet there were random dances happening through the town, anzac park and later in the evening on the footy oval – set up like a school fete.  Exploring through a small display village with huts of various sizes made for a good look into their history.  It seemed like the entire Island congregated together at the oval as night fell.  With all the Islanders dressed up in their costumes, we were in for a treat as this festival only happens every second year!  Even the Injinoo tribe from mainland came along with their fascinating dances.  As this spectacular event was happening before us, we were entertained while Will was bopping everyone with his blow up bat.

Hearing Horn Island was enriched with WW2 events, we paid $65 for a tour over to this historical location.  As the ferry slowly chugged over, we were met with disapointment.  We had a ‘cafe’ lunch consisting of a basic take-away sandwich with a lamington and drink included in the price.  After eating, we were dumped in the museum for an hour to be bombarded with a ridiculous level of small text.  Skimming through here the tour guide then took us for an hour around the Island.  Feeling we weren’t at points of interest for very long, he was keener to talk about how a Bendigo Bank was declined on Thursday Island than the war history.  Pointing out some information along the way, it definitely would of been interesting to go into more depth.  One fact we did learn was that barrels were rolled onto the airstrip in war times so enemy pilots couldn’t land without crashing. Good information but wasn’t $65 worth.  Oh well, we wouldnt recommend this one.

After one last homemade meal by Jess, we had a final mission to jag some more mud crabs.  As full moon was approaching, we went out at night during low tide.  We waded around in the shallows (after doing a quick croc check), torches in hand and spear with the designated hunter.  Out for a solid 3 hours we all had a crack at spearing with a bounty of 3 shovel head sharks and 5 crabs.  Two crabs unfortunately escaped as we were trying to grab them by hand, learning next time just spear it!  Cooking them up on our return, it wasn’t until 1:30am we were devouring an awesome mud crab feast.

The last full day on Thursday Island had came along too quick.  Being traditionally late with ‘T.I time’, we watched a parade down mainstreet and model canoe races as the festival was wrapping up. We went for a final explore around the Island and then played cards after a cheap $10 lunch.  One last pub meal with Jess, Steve and the boys, found us kicking on to watch the Doggies destroy Hawks in the semi finals.  What a night we had to remember…

As all good things must come to an end, we packed our bags and said fairwell to our lovely hosts.  They were very accomodating and we had an absolute blast during all of our moments shared with them on T.I and P.o.W.  This was definitely a one of a kind experience.

Departing back on the Peddel’s Ferry we made it back to our faithful beasts left at Loyalty.  Happy to see Big Red had been guarding them the whole time, they were untouched as we went to tick them over.  Unfortunately Stu was getting no response from Woody.  Being able to roll start him and make it to a camp spot, it seemed like we may be staying on the Cape for a little longer than planned…

10/09/2016 – 19/09/2016

Far North Queensland

A Great Mission To Thursday Island & Prince Of Wales

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Having to wake up at the crack of dawn to pack our bags, we left Buzz and Woody at the Loyalty Beach Campground – free of charge!  With only a $5 shuttle bus fee we met the Peddels Ferry at 8:00am that took us over to Thursday Island.  As other tourists went to meet their tour buses, we had Marko’s cousin Jess, her partner Steve and their beautiful boys Will and Ed meet us at the wharf.

Doing a quick drive-by down the small island’s mainstreet, we were shown everything we need to know, in particular where each pub was.  Arriving at their home we met Steve’s brother Mark, his wife Rach and their daughter Lily.  As we walked in their door at 10:30am, beers were flowing and there was plenty to catch up on.  After spending the day settling in, it wasn’t long before late arvo was upon us.  Agreeing to help Mark with a generator at their neighbours place on Prince Of Wale we headed out on the boat.

The plan was a quick trip to drop off a generator and show us around the place.  This however, ended up being an adventure of its own!  Before we knew it, we met their other neighbours Dirk and Tanya (along with their kids) and then a fire was lit up on the beach!  Becoming very comfortable we were lucky to share some Dugong ribs cooked on the fire and helped drink a couple of slabs with the crew.  As time flew by, it was 12:30am as we burnt back to T.I.  The night was so dark but as we gazed up to the night sky it was lit up by an abundance of stars.  We were even spoilt on our return as Jess had prepared and made us enchiladas for dinner!

Waking up a little sketchy the next day, we planned our return trip to P.o.W.  This time we were going to stay for a long stint with Jess & Steve joining us with the boys.  Thinking it was going to be a peaceful quiet rest from civilisation as we had the entire Collis Beach to ourselves, we were incredibly wrong as one activity flowed into another.

We pulled up on shore late arvo to do some unpacking and then headed straight back down to the couches where a fire on the foreshore became second nature.  Steve was quick to introduce us to fishing with hand reels from the bank.  We had three lines in and used a stick to stop them being pulled into the ocean.  After a few vb tins were consumed, we dropped them in the middle of the reel to make one hell of an alarm system.  Before we even had a chance to sink into the couches, the reels were going off!!  Beginners to this technique, I’m sure Steve had a laugh as we unsuccessfully pulled the first few in.  Snapping lines or the fish ‘blowing’ our bait was a common occurance.  Threading metal tracers on the end of our line to increase its strength, we were pulling in sharks before we knew it!  As they were only small, we didn’t bother keeping them but we were still having a blast. 

As we used the torches to light up the horizon, Steve spotted two glowing red eyes.  Unsure at first, he quickly determined that it was a croc!  Only 100m from us we slowly walked along the beach to get a better look.  As we were about 20m from him we had a decent view.  As he picked up on our scent, he popped up for one last viewing before shooting away.  Fortunately we didn’t see him again.

The next day Steve showed Mark how to use the casting net and was lucky enough to catch some small bait for that nights hand reels.  We had to drop back to T.I to grab some necessities left behind (frozen pies and dim sims!)  As we exited the boat at P.o.W, Mark totally misjudged the depth and face planted into the ocean with the esky and shopping bags.  Regathering ourselves, we went out on the boat for a short fishing venture.  Steve with his rod and the rest of us with hand reels, the tally was Steve 5 (including a coral trout), Mark 1 and Stu & Nay unfortunately 0, although they had heaps of nibbles.  On our return, we were greeted with some delicious varieties of homemade sushi that Jess had whipped up!

That afternoon Mark went for a walk at low tide along the rocks and spotted dozens of Blacklip Oysters.  Coming back with Steve, a hammer and large screwdriver, they began chipping them off.  Jagging enough for a good feed, we threw them on the bbq that night until they just popped open.  After enjoying an oyster entree, we cooked up the smaller fish from the catch earlier that day.  We couldn’t of eaten them any fresher!

The next animal on the menu was the tasty, yet elusive, mud crab.  Steve, keen for a feed, took us out to go hunting on low tide at Friday Island.  Creeping through the mosquito infested mangroves, we looked for freshly hollowed homes and went digging and lifting logs.  After about 1000 mozzie bites, we came out the other side successful!  With 5 crabs and a dozen snail shells (an interesting delicacy) we returned to P.o.W.  Just as we seemed to be running low on petrol, the tide still hadn’t had time to rise and we found ourselves jumping out and pushing the boat as Steve sat on the side.  Still a successful mission, we shot past the pearl farm on the way back before having a feast of crab on the foreshore.

That night with our steel tracers still on the hand reels, we had a serious bite as the tins went rattling.  Mark jumped on the hand reel and began pulling it in.  Giving one hell of a fight, the unknown of what was on the other end had everyone is suspense.  As it came closer to shore we discovered it was a dirty big shark on the end of the line!  Pulling him onto the beach for a photo, he was much too big to worry about filleting.  Mark pulled him back into the water by his tail and our shark mate sped away to live another day!  After this big boy was caught, Nay and Stu were next to catch two smaller sharks that also had the Rex Hunt treatment. 

Jess, Steve and the boys departed us after these action packed days.  Leaving us here for another couple of lazy days where we fished (a little successful), lounged on the deck and generally relaxed.  Their neighbour Dirk had a suprise for us and dropped by one night with some beers and crayfish!  He joined us around the fire as we threw them on the hotplate.  Before we knew it, another exotic seafood creature was being consumed!  Somehow the goon came out as Mark was napping on the couch.  Once Stu flashed this in front of his face, a second wind came about and we all partied until 3:30am!

Heading back to T.I for the football finals of Geelong vs Hawthorn, we also caught a glimpse of the Cultural Day of the local primary school.  We watched the students parade down the mainstreet and dance at Anzac Park.  Retiring to the Jardine Hotel for a meal meant we could use their pool as Jess and the boys joined us for an afternoon swim!

As Saturday rolled by again, we lazed around Thursday Island and checked out the historial Green Hill Fort along with the old cemetery (home of very impressive tomb stones of old japanese pearl divers).  After a week had flown by so quickly on this magical little island, we thought we’d stay for a second…

03/10/2016 – 10/10/2016

Queensland

A Fork in the Road..

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The next day we arose from our slumber just out from Tennant Creek with a slight buzz, for the morning ahead was to bring a well planned twist in the adventure.  Along the road was a place by the name of Three Ways.  After a discussion a couple of days earlier, instead of back tracking 800 kms south again after Darwin and heading north at Three Ways, we were heading east!!

This last minute unplanned twist added some excitement to the day as we were venturing into greener yet still unknown pastures.  Burning down the Barkley Hwy we had to pull over at the border to have another glamorous photo with the sign!  With the road blurring by at 100kms there was one lucky fellow who wasn’t quite ready to kick the bucket as he missed our wheels by mere centimetres.  A wild and displeased looking blue tongued lizard was hissing on the road when we chucked a u-turn.  Disgruntled as the lizard was, Mark was quick to pick him up and sneak him into the bushes not before a quick photoshoot.

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Once everyone was safe we were back on track to make it to our destination of Camooweal.  Here we were able to duck off the track beside a billabong where stunning water lillies were flowering and native birds were keeping us entertained around the water.  When the sun had dropped over the mountain range another friend emerged from the dark, the cane toad.  This was not the last we were to see of this plague as it unknowingly had a great impact on an event to happen in the near future.  Rediculous humidity also seemed to give us a slap in the face while entering QLD as you could see from the pic… Mark was sweating serious balls that night!!

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With a fresh morning we regathered from a rough sleep and set our minds on our next destination, Lawn Hill.  Leaving Camooweal we took a shortcut through unsealed roads where we arrived approx 100km south of Lawn Hill itself beside the O’Shannassy River.  Ducking down another 4WD track after sneaking past a caravan we arrived at our own littlr remote riverside getaway.  We spent some time here to relax and swim while Renee was throwing ideas of homemade scones for afternoon tea!  As the arvo passed Mark was using a creative rock and reel to catch dinner, sadly only caught a small fish not worth cooking.  As the days activities where winding up, Renee had indeed whipped up a scone mix and thrown it in the camp oven.  Before we knew it there were scones with jam and cream for arvo tea!

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After a change of pace from the billabong we were finding ourselves having another leisurely swim in the river the next morning.  Once refreshed we jumped back on the unsealed track that lead to Lawn Hill..