Another Ramble from Mr Red Elephant
This has been an amazing trip and something I will always remember, today I went out and did a half day fishing charter, trying to catch that big Barra. No barra was to be seen but I did have some big hits.
I did this guided tour in Cooktown and it was a great morning. I thought it would be a good way to learn off the locals who know where to go and what to use in these areas as I soon found out that the fishing rigs you use up here are very different to the ones that I use when fishing with the kids when we go to the coast.
First of all we used live baits which were little herron and pike which were about 15 to 20 cm long, that was very weird as that is the size of the fish I normally catch with the kids when we go fishing so to use these as bait was strange, the nexted thing was the size of the hooks we used which were very big compared to what I use with the kids when fishing.
We started off the day meeting at the local boat ramp at 7am, their was myself and another guy and the fishing guide. We then set off down the Endeavour river to find our first fishing spot, we were in a 5-6 meter punt which is a small estuary boat. As I sat at the front of the boat as we were going down the river I sat and admired the beautiful land and river that this great country of ours has to offer, the scenery was just magnificent with the mangroves lining the river, the water so flat, no wind and beautiful wildlife all around us, giant sea eagles, turtles and of course the croc. As we came up to our first spot our guide looked at his sounder and said we will stop here as there was a lot of action on the bottom (meaning fish around).
This was another interesting way of fishing as we had two anchors, we had one dragging on the bottom at the back of the boat and the other hooked around a snag (tree on the shore) at the front of the boat, so I was a bit of a decky for the morning which was great. So we would be side on to what they call a hole which is a deep part of the water where the fish are, these holes ranged between 6 to 8 meters deep.
After that we got our lines ready in which the guide would hook our baits on for us and then he would tell us where to cast. Like I said it was very strange throwing out a live bait that big to catch fish, the bait would swim around on the bottom where a variety of fish would be lurking, mangrove jack, barra, cod, bream, fingermark etc
I soon learnt that the fish up here in QLD like to eat, when I got a bite it was not the usual little bream nibbles it was bang, bang and then the fish would take it and all of a sudden your rod is bent over and looking like it is going to snap. There is nothing better then feeling bites like that as for me it was a real adrenelyn rush, (people who fish knows what I mean). All in all I caught 5 fish and probably lost about another 3, the fish I caught were bream, mangrove jack, 2 cod and a trevally.
You see when you fish along what they call the snags, which are like tree roots under the water the fish bite and then when hooked you have to make sure that you strike straight away otherwise they will cut you off as they head straight for the snags. A bit like catching a mouse you first have to draw him out of his hided hole and then let the cat pounce on him.
I did not catch a barra, may be it was one of those ones that cut me off, but at the end of the day I still had a good day, our day was filled with getting fishing knowledge of the local fish and the local area, some good laughs and of course catching fish, I was on a high when I got home about the fishing that I did and even 48 hours later I can not stop thinking about it. Mrs Red Elephant thinks I am stalking the guide as every time we go down to the water I am looking for the boat and where they are fishing.
I am really glad that I had the chance to go out with a guide and learnt about this type of fishing, the only problem is that I am chewing at the bit to do more fishing like this. You never know Mrs Red Elephant might give me another chance at Karumba to try and get that Barra.
4th August 2014
Well what a trip this has been so far, spending time with my family travelling around exploring and finding out about different places. Well today was a special day as I went back to the school where I was in kindergarten. The school is called Lakes Creek School which is located just out of Rockhampton in QLD, yes I am a Queens lander.
This brought back a lot of memories, as soon as I walked in the gate I had flash backs of running around the school back in 1975.
The school has not changed, we went in to the school office and I spoke to the receptionist and I told her that I went to this school in 1975 and she showed us the school book which showed the different classes from the years gone by. Then the Principal arrived and said would you like to have a look around the school, in which we did with our passes around our neck.
These pictures might seem boring and just a school for some but to me it was great to go back and visit.
I walked out that gate feeling a little emotional but in a good way.
It was really good to show my family where I started my first years of schooling.
21st July 2014
The day out at the Zoo.
Today we started by getting up really early, well early for us 730am as we had a big day ahead of us as we were going to the Australian Zoo. We had to rock up at 9am as we had to register at the info desk for our red panda experience and what an experience it was. I think we were the first people at the zoo and we were the last to leave as it was dark when we left.
To start the day we had a great experience with the red pandas, what a beautiful and cuddly animal they are. Firstly we were introduced to the animal handlers and they would explain how to feed them and also where to pat them. The pandas names were yoda and zara.
We all sat down on these little stone stools and put a towel across our legs and then the trainer would hand us the food which was fruit and veges sliced up into little pieces. They would jump onto our laps and sit while they ate out of our hands while we stroked their fur on their back. We got some great photos which are below. Did you know that they sleep 16 hours a day, how good would that be, eat some food and then go up into the tree for a nap. We have a friend who slept ten hours and would have a lot in common with these guys, you know who you are.
Please jump over to Belinda's blog page for some more detailed info about our day.
This is my first rambler on our blog. Firstly let me say what a great job my wife has done in getting this blog organised and ready for our trip, now that I have some browney points, let me share with you a caravan story that my wife got caught up in LOL. One morning while we were packing up from the coast we were doing our usual jobs, normally Belinda does the inside of the caravan and I do the outside. We were going really well for time before we came to our dreaded awning something my wife and I always have trouble with when packing up. We can never remember which steps to do when rolling the awning up. Well on this occassion my wife decided to include another step, when we were rolling the awning up my lovely wife, god bless her, holds onto the awning strap so it does not fling up when she got her thumb caught in the strap and then got wound up with awning. There she was stuck with her thumb in the strap and on her tippy toes tied up, with me in stiches laughing on the ground and yes she was okay. So as you can see we are very experienced caravaner's,but we would not change anything.
Daddy Red Elephants second blog 12/07/14
Well after a great day walking through the Dorrigo national park rainforest James, Grace and I decided to throw in a line to see if we could catch a fish. They have been nagging at me to go fishing and finally this afternoon we did. It was a great afternoon sitting beside the river with the sun going down. The kids were all excited about trying to catch the big one. We baited up our lines through out for about 20 mins when James and Grace decided to try a different method of fishing, first they got a hand line and were trying to catch little penny fish and then they thought they might try out the mullet trap with some bread, in which they caught two prawns. After a while I decided to have a fish myself and then WAMO a fish took the bait and my drag was going bananas, well it sounded good but it was only because it was loose but it sounded like I had a big fish. I called out to James and he came over and reeled the fish in which was a bream about 25cm, yes we did throw him back as it is always just for fun.
I am sure that the kids will nag me again tomorrow to go fishing in which we will as we always enjoy catching anything.
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