Cardwell 23 October to 1 November 2012

Cardwell – 23 October 2012
 
We took our time packing up the van this morning before our drive back down to Cardwell. The girls had a final play on the Wii in the games room, before we headed off at around 11.00am, without the tinnie. I would return to pick it up later and save myself a couple of hours of packing up and re-setting it up in the process.

We pulled into the Kookaburra Caravan Park at Cardwell, where we were greeted by our friends Heidi and Leon, who own & operate the park with Heidi’s parents, Peter and Denise.

We set up the van and then went into town to check for mail at the Post Office. We finally received a package that we had re-directed from Broome. It should have arrived there 2-3 weeks earlier. I left Sue and the girls in town and drove back to Kurrimine Beach to pick up the tinnie. The girls checked out the shops and bought a couple of goodies at the bakery before returning to the park.

Heidi and Leon’s twin 8 year old boys, Blake and Mitchell, returned from school just before 4.00pm and while initially a bit shy, all the kids soon picked up where they’d left off 2 years earlier, playing happily together. Heidi and Leon’s youngest son Brock is about 18 months old, having been born not long after Cyclone Yasi devastated their caravan park. We certainly noticed the difference in the park, with a lot less greenery than what we remembered.

We didn’t get together with Heidi and Leon and the boys that night because the older boys had a taekwondo class, so we had dinner in our van.

Cardwell – 24 October 2012

After a bit of rain during the night, we had breakfast and then headed down to the marina, to check out the water conditions. We had planned to go fishing but it was very windy and we thought we should check it out first. The Hinchinbrook Passage was chopped up pretty severely with the onshore wind, so we decided to give it a miss and returned to the park.

Sue went into town to have her hair cut while the girls and I stayed in the van and chose some photos for inclusion in their powerpoint presentations for school.  After lunch, Sue made a potato bake and the girls played with the boys when they returned from school.  Both families enjoyed a bbq dinner in the camp kitchen after which the kids put on a magic show. 
 

Many feats of amazing magic were performed . . . . how do they do it?


Cardwell – 25 October 2012

After a lazy breakfast we piled into the car and drove 25km south to the Fishers Creek boat ramp. We launched the tinnie and ventured out into many creeks of the Hinchinbrook Channel. We struggled to get live bait early, but finally managed to put a few in the bucket. We fished the livies at a little creek junction and scored one good hit on a live bait. I also missed a strike on a cast lure, but we failed to hook anything. We left that creek and tried a bit of trolling out in the passage itself after we’d seen some bust-ups on the surface. No luck with the trolling either, so we tried a little more live baiting, before pulling the pin and returning to the ramp at around 3.00pm.

Back at camp, the girls took off to play with the boys, who had just returned from school. I cleaned up the boat and showered, as did Sue. The boys had another taekwondo class tonight, so we enjoyed a feed of spag bol in the van.

Cardwell – 26 October 2012

I got up before dawn for another assault on the fish at Fishers Creek. Sue and the girls chose the remaining photos for the school powerpoint presentations and after lunch went for a walk/bike ride along the waterfront. When they returned, they played in the pool with the beach ball until the boys returned home from school.

Out in the channel I picked up a few fish, including 2 barramundi casting lures, 3 grunter on live herring and 2 catfish on live mullet. Unfortunately all fish were undersize, but I still had a great time on a virtually windless day. I finally returned around 4.30pm and tidied up the tinnie before showering and cracking a cold one. After happy hour, we joined the other crew for dinner again at the camp kitchen. This time Sue cooked up a feed of mackerel in beer batter, while Heidi provided some beautiful chips to accompany it. After the meal, we attended an auction put on by the rugrats, where we bid on items of art work they had created during the afternoon.  All the adults went home with many fine treasures.

Cardwell – 27 October 2012

We planned a day at home today, so the kids could spend plenty of time together as the boys weren’t in school. Blake and Mitchell came down for breakfast at 8.00am and enjoyed a feed of scrambled eggs with our girls, then took off to play. Sue and I had a lazy morning, then left the kids in Heidi’s care while we went for a walk into town. Sue bought a dress at a small boutique where we chatted to the owner for about 30 minutes, as you do when you're on holidays. We stopped at a café for lunch and returned to the van at about 1.00pm.

We both went up to the house and spent the afternoon with Heidi and Leon. Heidi kitted Sue out with a cocktail dress and all the accessories for my work Christmas party.  Sue & Heidi popped down to the IGA to get some supplies for dinner before happy hour. The kids hopped into some cocktail franks while we adults enjoyed a beautiful 2 course curry feast prepared by Heidi. After dinner Heidi surprised us with a delicious and potent cocktail each. It rounded off a lovely evening. We returned to the van at around 10.00pm.

Cardwell – 28 October 2012

After breakfast, Sue, Heidi and her mum Denise drove to Mission Beach where they browsed the Sunday Monster Market. Sue picked up a scarf for herself and some Halloween muffins for the kids. Heidi and Denise had decided to put on a surprise Halloween afternoon tea for the kids, so all the girls picked up a heap of Halloween knick-knacks and novelties for the kids at the $2 shop.

Georgia, Kelsey, Blake and Brock stayed at home under Leon’s watchful eye, while Mitchell and I took the tinnie down to Fishers Creek for a day of fishing. Earlier in the week Mitchell has asked if he could come out fishing with us, so we decided to go on this Sunday. Hopefully, he would have some stories to tell in class the next day. We again struggled to get livies early on, battling a high tide, but managed to get a few in the end.

We spent quite a few hours fishing unsuccessfully with the live baits before I decided it was time to pull the pin. I thought a half hour troll back to the ramp might be worthwhile, so we set off with a couple of shallow running lures out the back. We trolled unsuccessfully for a while, and were almost back at the ramp, when we struck a purple patch. Over the next half hour, along a 300m stretch of bank, Mitchell caught a 40cm estuary cod, his best barramundi, at 62cm, and his first two ever mangrove jacks at 45 and 38cm. To say he was rapt was an understatement.  We exchanged many high fives as he put fish after fish into the kill bucket. In the end he declared it the best fishing day of his life, and  I was very happy to have shared it with him.

The fishin' magician returned home to show off his catch to the rest of the crew and many photos were taken. I cleaned the fish while Mitchell took off to play with the rest of the kids. 

 














Mitchell's best barra - 62cm - almost as big as that grin . . . .

Mitchell's big catch


Mitchell requested that his prize catch just had to be cooked in Sue’s tasty beer batter. Sue prepared that while Heidi whipped up a large batch of delicious special fried rice.

Sue and I both agreed that the mangrove jack was the best fish we had eaten since leaving Brisbane, and even Kelsey ate the fried rice, testament to its quality.

Cardwell – 29 October 2012

We had planned to go fishing today, but a morning on the phone to Optus, organising our new home phone and broadband in Brisbane, waylayed us a lot longer than expected. That and a couple of other phone calls saw us through the morning and into the afternoon. When finished, we took the kids and went for a walk into town, where we dropped into the Visitor’s Centre and bought a t-shirt for Kelsey. We wandered around the shops with the kids for a bit and then returned to the park, where we had happy hour with Leon. Heidi invited us up for dinner, so we all had a feed of chicken and potato bake at the house.

Cardwell – 30 October 2012

Today we all went fishing down to Fishers Creek again. We concentrated our efforts on the stretch of water where Mitchell and I had done so well on Sunday. We trolled up and down the same stretch of bank and had immediate success, with a really nice mangrove jack for Kelsey of around 45cm. Her first, and what turned out to be our best, for the day.  

Kelsey with her first mangrove jack - a beauty too - 45cm


We picked up 2 other smaller but still legal jacks, one each for Sue and I. Sue also generously handed over another fish she had hooked to Georgia, who was fishless to that stage.  Georgia expertly fought and landed a really nice barra of 67cm, her first keeper barra. She was a very happy girl. Besides the four fish we kept, we also picked up a handful of small cod, which were all released. We also missed quite a few other good strikes. After a great session, we retrieved the boat around 5.00pm.

Georgia's first keeper barra - 67cm

And another nice little jack for Sue

Our afternoon's effort . . . . . well worth the trip


On the way home we had a phone call from my contact in Perth regarding some drafting work. While he couldn’t promise anything, he said the chances were pretty good for a possible start in Darwin in the new year, and asked me to call him next week when he might know more.

When we got back to the van, I cleaned the fish and we had dinner at home.


Cardwell – 31 October 2012

I got up at 4.30am and launched the tinnie at the marina for a run over to the northern end of Hinchinbrook Island, at Hectate Point. Within the first hour I had picked up 2 barra. The first, at only 30cm, was released, but the second was a healthy 62cm fish and found its way into the esky.

62cm barra on a cast Gold Bomber, now looking a little worse for wear


I spent the rest of my day on the water casting to snags and trolling the edges without putting another fish in the boat. I also missed at least 4 strikes from pretty good fish. I bashed my way back to the ramp through a short, sharp chop and cleaned the fish on the water before retrieving the boat.

The tinnie on an isolated stretch of Hinchinbrook shoreline

A lone houseboat enjoys a glassed-out Hinchinbrook Passage

After breakfast Sue and the girls walked into town, to the hairdresser, where the girls had a trim and had feathers put in their hair. They dropped into the Op Shop. Sue bought some clothes and the girls got a heap of fluffy toys, all very cheap.

Sue made a banana loaf in the afternoon, before joining Heidi in the house to prepare for the Halloween afternoon tea. The boys returned home from school, and our girls joined them, to find a lovely surprise when they entered the house. Sue and Heidi had done a great job with streamers, balloons, skeletons and all sorts of ghoulish decorations on the walls. The kids had a ball getting dressed up and having their faces painted. We took many photos of the little monsters. We all enjoyed heaps of party food, which continued on to become dinner, and we returned to the van around 8.30pm.
 

Sue and the Halloween table before the onslaught

School's tough in North Queensland

Our two little ghouls . . .

Georgia with a real bad headache

Blake minus the chalk outline . . .

Brock with his witches hat

The girls enjoying a quiet wine after the mayhem


Cardwell – 1 November 2012

A slow morning in the van saw us working on the blog and selecting photos for same. After lunch I prepared the boat, while Sue left the kids with Heidi, who had generously offered to babysit for us. Sue and I headed down to Fishers Creek for an afternoon on the water.

We hit our favourite patch of creek again, and while we had 2 big hits on the first run, we experienced no joy thereafter, only boating some small grunter and cod. It was nice to be out on the water  with just the good lady wife again, something we hadn’t done in over 10 years.

We retrieved the tinnie and picked up a few groceries on the way back to the van. We all had takeaway burgers and chips for dinner, our shout.

As this was our last night in the park, and Heidi was busy the next morning, we said our goodbyes to her and the boys before returning to the van.

Kurrimine Beach - 17 October to 22 October 2012

Kurrimine Beach – 17 October 2012

We got up at 6.00am and left for Townsville at around 7.30am. Arriving in Townsville, we parked opposite the large shopping centre and while I returned our old water purifier for a refund at K-Mart, Sue went across the other side of the road and purchased a new one from Big W. We grabbed a few more groceries and then left town, stopping at a few grog shops on the way to source some vodka cruisers for Sue. 

We had lunch on the road and arrived at Cardwell around 2.00pm.  First stop was the post office, where we checked for mail and then Sue booked herself in at the hairdressers for next week. We left Cardwell and arrived at Kurrimine Beach at 3.30pm.  The girls immediately went and checked out all the great activities for kids. There was a jumping pillow, great playground and best of all a massive pool full of humongous pool toys. They were in heaven! There was also a games room with a Wii for them to use, and as they were the only kids in the park, they had it all to themselves.

We set up the van and had a peaceful happy hour. While we were relaxing, the groundsman, Gordon, bought over his four toy poodles for a visit. He had two whites, a black like our Zac and a phantom (silver with black around the eyes & nose). The girls loved them and each dog scored heaps of pats and cuddles.

Mega pool toys to keep the brats occupied

Kurrimine Beach – 18 October 2012

I spent the morning preparing the boat and tackle while Sue did some laundry. The kids of course did whatever, as you would in heaven.

After lunch Georgia and I went fishing in Maria Creek. Live bait was scarce, but we did manage to get a few herring and also saw a croc of about 2-3m in a side creek near the mouth. We anchored up on a couple of snags, but apart from the midgies, we didn’t score any bites.

Sue and Kelsey had a nice walk on the beach and a relaxing afternoon. Georgia and I picked up some hot chips from the local shop on the way home from the ramp to have with our fish dinner.


Kurrumine Beach – 19 October 2012

After breakfast I flushed the motor on the tinnie, then we all jumped into the car and headed north to Bramston Beach. Years ago Sue and I had caught some nice barramundi and mangrove jacks at the mouth of a small creek to the north of town. We thought we'd give it another crack.  Many wet seasons, and the odd cyclone since, had changed conditions a fair bit and despite our best efforts, we returned fishless.

We left Bramston and drove south again, stopping at Josephine Falls, where the kids had a swim in the icy water. They climbed a rock face with some backpackers and slid down a large section of waterfall into the pool below. Georgia wasn’t real keen and only went the once, Kelsey though, returned for a second shot.

Beautiful Josephine Falls

Kelsey was first to try out the rock slide below Josephine Falls

Georgia was next, looking even more anxious than Kelsey

Back on the highway we headed south again, and then east to Etty Bay. Etty Bay is only very small, consisting of nothing more than a surf club, caravan park and kiosk.  But what it lacks in size, it makes up for in beauty, with a pristine palm fringed beach backed by hills covered in thick rainforest. We bought icecreams at the kiosk, sat in the shade and enjoyed the view.

Leaving Etty Bay we drove a short distance south to Mourilyan Harbour, where the television series Sea Patrol was filmed. All the sugar from Tully Mill goes here for export to ports abroad.

Next we continued south into Innisfail and stopped at the chemist and supermarket for a few supplies, then continued south to another coastal settlement, Cowley Beach. At the northern end of Cowley Beach is a military training facility and at the southern end a caravan park. A few houses between the two completes the picture.

We left Cowley Beach and returned to Kurrimine for a well earned happy hour after a long day of exploring the area.
 
Kurrimine Beach – 20 October 2012

Following breakfast, we headed into Tully for the sugar mill tour we had booked. We stopped at the Visitor Information Centre first to pick up our tickets and ended up chatting to the staff for a spell. Old George really looked after the girls, giving them a free poster each, quizzing them and telling them interesting stories about the area.
 
We got to the mill just in time for our tour, which began with a safety briefing and was followed by the donning of hard hats and safety goggles. Along with 2 other couples, we were led through the mill by our guide and learnt all about the process of turning sugar cane into raw sugar. It was a bit hot and smelly at times but very interesting.

On tour in the Tully Sugar Mill















Steam rising from the Mill stacks

After the tour we drove north, just out of Tully, to the Alligator’s Nest, a picnic area which is located adjacent to a beautiful tropical creek. Here we enjoyed our lunch at one of the many picnic tables before returning to Tully to check out the Golden Gumboot.
 

Creekside at Alligator's Nest

Tully has the unenviable record of being the wettest town in Australia and as such has erected a 20m high golden gumboot in the main street to acknowledge the fact. A spiral staircase inside provides access to the viewing platform at the top where you can look out over the mill and the town. We took a few pics here.

The gills at the top of the Golden Gumboot with the Tully Mill in the background

Ferals invade the boot

We left Tully and drove south to Hull Heads and Tully Heads. There wasn’t much at Hull Heads except for a very small, and cheap, camping ground right at the mouth of the Hull River next to the coast guard station. Tully Heads was devastated by Cyclone Yasi with most of the beachfront houses wiped out. Signs of damage were still evident, with piles of debris still laying around and many new homes built or being built. We searched for an access point to the Tully River, where we’d been told some good jacks were being caught, but it wasn’t to be our day.  Our hunt turned up nothing, so the fish were spared.

We returned back to the Tully Visitor's Centre again, just before closing, and picked up a couple of souvenirs for Sue and Kelsey, then returned home.

Sue went for a walk along the beach, while I kicked back in the van. The girls did their thing somewhere in the park. Happy hour was followed by another fine feast of Spanish Mackerel in beer batter.
 
Kurrumine Beach – 21 October 2012

After breakfast, Sue did some work on the diary, while the girls did their journals and I started washing the car. Sue helped me finish the car and then had a swim in the pool with the girls. I watched a bit of tv with the girls over lunch and then Sue and I washed the caravan.

Later in the afternoon, Sue and I went for a walk along the beach, while the girls watched tv in the van. We returned and enjoyed a relaxing happy hour before dinner.
 
Kurrumine Beach – 22 October 2012

Today we headed off along Canecutter's Way, a tourist drive from Kurrimine Beach to Innisfail. We stopped about halfway, at Paronella Park, and got out to walk across the suspension bridge above the waterfall, and take a few photos.

The suspension bridge over Mena Creek Falls at Paronella Park

 

A view of Paronella Park from the suspension bridge

Continuing on our way to Innisfail, we planned to have lunch at a pub where we’d dined a few years earlier on a trip to Cairns.  Unfortunately the pub was now closed for good, so we drove out to Flying Fish Point, at the mouth of the Johnstone River, and had lunch at a nice little café opposite the beach.

After lunch we drove back through Innisfail and then west to the Mamu Rainforest Walk. The walk took us along a dirt track through the rainforest and then onto an elevated walkway above the trees. This continued for a few hundred metres, with interesting story boards along the way explaining how the rainforest was recovering after Cyclones Larry and Yasi. The walkway ended with a climb to the top of a 15m observation tower that looked out over the valley, to the Johnstone River below.



The elevated walkway to the observation tower at Mamu

The view of the Johnstone River Valley from the observation tower

We returned to the car, and back to Innisfail, where we stopped at Coles for some groceries and then again at K-mart for a bit of a look around, and a new broom. Back at home, Sue gave the grey nomad a trim with the clippers before happy hour and dinner.



Katherine to Bivouac Junction 7 October to 16 October 2012

Katherine - 7 October 2012

We enjoyed a good sleep in this morning, our first for a while and after breakfast I rang a few friends in Brisbane to suss out the job situation. Things weren’t good with both the coal and iron ore markets in a slump. Apparently people were being put off on both sides of the continent. Sue did some work on formatting the blog. The girls went for a swim and later had a game of chess at a picnic table in the park. We had lunch and then went into town to pick up a few supplies and top up with fuel. When we returned, we took the girls down to Katherine Springs for a swim and a swing from the rope. They had a ball and resisted leaving, as we had expected. Eventually we returned home late in the afternoon. 

Katherine Springs rope monkey

And the monkey's sister

The girls put on a magic show while Sue and I had happy hour and later, after dinner, we worked on the blog to the wee small hours of the morning. We managed to get it up-to-date for the first time since leaving Brisbane.

Daly River – 8 October 2012

After breakfast I made some more phone calls to contacts in Brisbane re the job situation and then packed up the van to leave Katherine for the Daly River. We stopped off first in town at the tackle shop to buy a couple of cherabin pots. The girls also bought some soft plastic lures from the bargain bin.  Leaving Katherine, we stopped for fuel at Hayes Creek before turning off the highway onto dodgy Dorat Road, which is only one lane wide and gets very interesting when a road train approaches from the other direction. Eventually we got onto the upgraded double lane road into the Daly River and we arrived at Woolianna at 2.30pm.

We chatted with the caretakers, Russell and Jill for a while and then set up the van. It was very hot and steamy, so Sue and the girls hit the pool for a swim, while I laboured away preparing the tinnie, downing about 2 litres of water in the process. We had a late happy hour followed by a delicious meal of bluebone in beer batter.

The only van in the park at Woolianna

Daly River – 9 October 2012

After breakfast, I continued getting the fishing gear ready and also prepared the cherabin pots. Sue made a banana loaf with some lady finger bananas that Jill had dropped over the day before. We launched the tinnie at midday and dropped the pots on a couple of snags just upstream, then we headed downstream to chase a few barra. Again it was stinking hot under the midday sun, so it looked like being a short exploratory session only. The Daly is a beautiful river, but studded with snags and rockbars, and as a result caution must be exercised until you have sussed out the dangers. We found a couple of stretches of deeper water and trolled deep diving hard body lures over sunken snags, but without success. If the fish were there, they definitely weren’t interested. The weather got the better of the women folk and we returned to the pontoon at about 2.30pm, where we left the boat overnight.

That afternoon was spent relaxing in the pool before happy hour and dinner.

Daly River – 10 October 2012

We woke at 5.00am to the alarm and left the pontoon at about 6.20am.
 

The dawn patrol ready for another barra assault

It was quite pleasant on the water until the sun came up and we started the day casting lures to snags in the shadier sections. It wasn’t long before I got something, which turned out to be a rotten river whaler shark. I fought him for about 20 seconds before the hooks pulled and I retrieved the lure with a bit of shark skin hanging off the trebles. I was lucky to get the lure back. A couple of casts later Sue hooked and landed a small 50cm barra, which of course went back as the legal size is 55cm in the Territory.

Sue with a small barra taken casting to the snags

Sue hooked up again soon after, to what we think was a small barra, before another shark nailed it and took off. Unfortunately this time the shark got the fish and the lure. A few more casts at other snags produced nothing, so we again put on the deep divers and trolled the deeper sections of the river. After giving the trolling a fair whack without success, Sue and Kelsey had had enough, so I dropped them back to the pontoon while Georgia and I headed back downstream and continued fishing.  We sweltered under the hot sun for nought. The closest we came to a barra was watching a small freshwater croc swim off with one he had caught.

We returned to camp at 11.30am and had some lunch in the cool air conditioning. After lunch, Sue and I drove about 8km back up the road to Banyan Farm, to within Telstra phone range. We rang my step-mum Mary for her birthday, keeping the car running all the time to stay cool. We also tried to track down some mail that we missed in Broome, one piece of mail had arrived and we had it re-directed to Cardwell. A second item still hadn’t arrived from Brisbane after being posted 16 days earlier. We would have to try for that one again in a few days time.

Back at the van, we prepared for another crack at the barra and left the pontoon at 4.30pm. Even though most of the sting had gone out of the sun, the wind was very hot and dry, like standing in front of a hair dryer. We headed straight for the Golden Mile, about 16km downstream. Russell had given us a tip on where to troll, at a spot where he had always caught fish. We trolled small shallow running hard body lures over submerged snags in 2 to 4m of water. Georgia was first to hook up to a fish, a small 49cm barra, which was promptly returned. Kelsey was next, a 50cm barra on a blue spearhead. Again it was released.

Kelsey's barra taken trolling at the Golden Mile

We finished trolling the run that Russell had recommended and turned for home, stopping only to cast at one good snag we had trolled past earlier. It looked too good to pass up and after a couple of missed strikes, Sue finally hooked another small barra and handed the rod to me. I landed and released another 50cm fish. That made one barra each for the day but all too small for the table.

We got back to the pontoon at about 7.00pm, in fading light. A quick happy hour was followed by a great feed of Spanish mackerel in beer batter.

A rufus night herron at dusk next to the Woolianna pontoon

Daly River – 11 October 2012

I woke to the alarm at 5.15am and left Sue asleep. I then woke Georgia, leaving Kelsey sleeping, and we had breakfast and left the pontoon at around 6.00am. Sue and Kelsey had opted for a morning at home after a big day the day before. They caught up on the household chores and had a swim.

Georgia and I started the morning casting and it didn’t take long before I hooked a fish and handed the rod to Georgia who almost landed a fish of about 45cm. I say almost landed because I was taking a photo of it next to the boat when it spat the lure and swam off. Georgia was not impressed. More casting produced about 4 short strikes, but no more hook ups. As the sun rose and got higher in the sky, the shadows disappeared and we began trolling. We trolled a deeper section upstream from Browns Creek and lost one lure when it snagged and the line became wrapped around the rod tip. The line snapped before I could reverse the tinnie.

We gave up and returned to the van at about 11.30am. Georgia was exhausted and hit the pool for a refreshing swim.

After lunch and a short snooze, we had ice creams and all hit the pool for a swim. Later in the arvo, I borrowed some cherabin pots from Russell and tied them off down at the pontoon. In these I used chook pellets for bait, as the dry dog food we'd tried so far had yielded nothing. Happy hour was had under the shade of a mango tree followed by a bbq dinner.

Daly River – 12 October 2012

I woke to the alarm at 5.00am and this time I left the lady folk behind, heading off on my own for another crack at the elusive Daly River barramundi.

Georgia had a really bad night’s sleep and woke up with a nasty headache and sore throat. Sue later spoke with Jill, who said Sue could follow her into the community health centre later on and get Georgia looked at.

On the river, I began my day by checking the pots, and again our pots yielded nothing, but I was lucky enough to get 4 cherabin from the two pots I'd borrowed from Russell. They went into the live bait bucket for later, as I cast to some good snags not far downstream from the pontoon. I was straight onto a small barra the first snag I fished but it wasn’t much bigger than the lure, at about 20cm. I photographed and released it and kept casting to the same snag. About a dozen casts later I hooked something a bit more solid, but it didn’t jump, leading me to believe it might be a catfish or another one of those rotten sharks. I was pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be a chunky little sooty grunter of about 35cm. It had acquitted itself a lot better than the larger barra we had previously caught. After a quick photo I released it to fight another day. More casting produced a few missed strikes but no more hook-ups, so I headed downstream to a snag Russell had told me of, where the bait fishermen regularly do well. 

I re-rigged the first rod for cherabin and dropped the first livie down amongst the timber. Minutes later, while rigging the other rod, the first bait went off and I quickly grabbed the rod before the fish tied me in knots down below. A short fight saw me bring a small barra of about 45cm to the boat. These cherabin go alright.

My next cherabin bait flicked off the hook without even a bite, so I sent my third precious bait out on the same rod. After finally rigging the second rod, I hooked up my last, and largest, cherabin and sent it to the bottom. The boat drifted sideways and the line took on a funny angle leaving me thinking I had wrapped it around the timber. I retrieved it to find the bait missing and was mighty peed off, as it had only been in the water for about 20 seconds. At least I had one cherished bait left, but upon checking it, found some rotten fish had bitten its head off without hooking up. Now I was more than just peed off and let everybody within ear shot know about it. I cut the bait fishing rig off and tied on another lure and began casting again. What else could I do?

I remember thinking to myself, that I was due for a change of luck and then next cast, a good fish inhaled by lure just below the surface, about 10 feet from the boat. My first thought was this is the one I want and I didn’t give it any headway at all. I muscled it out of the snags and brought it to the surface green, where it jumped straight into my waiting net. Bad luck fish, good luck me. It was a better fish measuring 70cm, and finally we had a keeper from the Daly. I fished for about another hour or so, picking up one other small barra of 50cm downstream from Browns Creek. 

My 70cm barra from the snags on a gold bomber

Sue was just about to leave with Jill when they heard me return to the pontoon, and so after cleaning the fish, we left Jill at Woolianna and headed in to the community health centre for Georgia. It was closed when we arrived, but would open within the hour, so we went to the store and picked up some sugar for another banana loaf.

To fill in time we headed to the Daly River Inn, where we had a great lunch. Sue and I had steak sandwiches, Kelsey had a plate of nuggets and chips, and Georgia scored the largest plate of chips we have ever seen. On a huge plate they stood over 4 inches tall and well deserved the photo that Sue took.

I got a call back from one of the engineering contacts I’d called during our lunch. He actually called from his job site in Papua New Guinea, and while unable to help himself, gave me the number of another contact in Perth.

At the health centre later, the medic confirmed that Georgia’s tonsils were swollen, but not really nasty, and one of her ears was a bit red. No pills were necessary and he recommended panadol and rest for the patient.

Back at camp I started on the pack up, while Sue knocked up another banana loaf and the girls watched some tv.

We later had happy hour, before home made pizza for dinner.

Dunmarra River – 13 October 2012

We got up at 5.30am to the alarm. After breakfast and packing up the van, we had a quick chat to Russell and Jill, and then hit the road for Katherine.  We did some grocery shopping at Katherine and bought a new pair of sunnies for Georgia. We got some fuel and hit the road again, heading south and stopping at Mataranka and the Highway Inn for fuel, before arriving at Dunmarra Roadhouse, our stop for the night.

Camooweal – 14 October 2012

We woke to the alarm at 5.30am, and after brekky and pack up, hit the road for Camooweal, some 800km away. Back to Queensland today. We stopped at Renner Springs, Threeways and Barkly Homestead for fuel. While wasting half an hour with dodgy gas pumps at Threeways, Sue was given a free watermelon from a friendly truckie. We had another stop at the border for a quick photo and arrived at Camooweal at around 4.00pm. Sue went over to the lovely pool with the girls and had a swim. The water was really cold, but the kids still enjoyed it.

Cloncurry - 15 October 2012

We had a bit of a sleep in this morning and didn’t get up until 7.00am. We had slept with the air-con on and it was really quite cool outside in the morning. We got going around 9.00am and headed for Cloncurry.

We got to Mt Isa and stopped at the bottle shop to buy Sue some cruisers. No luck. We got some fuel in town and continued on to Cloncurry.   When we arrived, we could only get half a tank of fuel, as the pump was playing up.

That night we decided to stay at Kurrimine Beach for a week prior to spending time with our friends at Cardwell.

Bivouac Junction – 16 October 2012

We got up early, at 5.30am, and headed off just before 7.00am for Bivouac Junction.  Before leaving town though, we returned to the service station to fully fill the gas tank. Thankfully this time it worked.

We stopped at Julia Creek for fuel, but couldn't get any autogas because of a dodgy pump. We continued on to Richmond and again had trouble getting gas, but thankfully it worked in the end, after a bit of mucking around. We stopped at Hughenden for more fuel and then again at Charters Towers.

We arrived at Bivouac Junction around 3.30pm and set up the van next to a cabin. Bivouac Junction is situated at the delta of the Burnett and Fanning Rivers, with onsite cabins and plenty of space for camping.  Sue and the girls saw a peacock with its plumage on full display, but it closed the show before Kelsey could return with the camera.  We also saw heaps of wallabies.  Sue and I went for a walk down to the riverbank and took a few photos, before returning for happy hour, which we spent outside one of the unoccupied cabins.