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