MT ISA TO MANDORAH

MT ISA TO MANDORAH

The eerie part to the story is that when the son arrived 4 days later he wanted to be taken out to where his father was last seen, so the Police took him out to the scene. He said out loud “Dad where are you” and he popped up at that moment.

We also met John & Lois who have been on the road for 9 years, relief managing motels. They have now retired and are travelling for the next three years looking for a place to live. Neville Bradley did all their TV connections at the Motel in Port Macquarie, which was on Town beach.

John and Joanne (Jo) were from Hobart East shore and have invited us to call when next in Tassie. John has a Harley Soft Tail and collects Hats and Knives.

Anne and Bob Priest from Blayney knew Steve Hillier and his ex wife Robyn. Robyn now lives at Ulmarra and Steve lives at Kempsey (ex King Bros Accountant).

Well it’s now Saturday and I have nearly finished the cabinet, I’ve only got to put on the internal lining and then the two vents in the outside wall. I expect that I will spend most of today fiddling with it. After that I have to build a flue above the fridge to the top vent, which is to take away the heat from behind the fridge.

I must be a slow builder as I fiddled with the remainder of the fridge jobs all Sunday and most of Monday as far as I could go until I had a measurement as to where to put the top vent. On Monday morning I went out to BNS to find out where the top vent goes. Also our Microwave packed it in so I had to find someone and drop it off to be fixed.

By Monday afternoon I had the top vent fitted but the fridge didn’t arrive as expected.

We extended our stay at Copper City Caravan Park until Thursday as I expected to take most of the day to fit the fridge and connect it to Gas, Battery and electricity. Electricity was easy, just had to plug it in.

The Fridge arrived about 4.00 O’clock on Tuesday afternoon. It was too late to start then so we waited until Wednesday morning when we took the van out to pick up the Microwave, which had only blown a fuse and then to BNS refrigeration where one of the employees helped me put the fridge in the van. I am pleased I allowed an extra 2 mm in the opening because when I pushed the fridge into the space that I had made it fitted as snug as a bug in a rug (Great).

It took me until 2.00 O’clock to finish connecting it up. I had to wait around for Brett to connect the gas but the battery wiring I completed myself. We then went back to the Van Park for lunch and to install the vents with mastic etc.

NEW FRIDGE

Steve the Park Manager bought our old fridge for $50.00.

Thursday morning we left the van park just after 8.00 O’clock to go shopping to fill the new fridge as we were told that groceries were expensive at King Ash Bay and Borroloola. Finally we left Mt Isa at 10.00 O’clock heading west. We stopped at Wonarah Bore, which is 43km east of Barkly Homestead.

WONARAH BORE CAMPSITE

Friday morning we went to Barkly Homestead Roadhouse to fuel up at $1.71 per litre. After leaving the homestead we left for Cape Crawford that is about 380 km’s north towards the Gulf. The scenery changes from trees and hills to open plains.

Just south of Cape Crawford we stopped at a Council Yard just after 4 bridges to have a look at the McArthur Rvr. We could have stopped here overnight but we decided to go into the Heartbreak Hotel at Cape Crawford as we were going to stay there for two nights. Cape Crawford consists of the Hotel and nothing else. It is situated at a “T” intersection, to the right is Borroloola and to the left is Daly Waters.

CAPE CRAWFORD

The main attraction at Cape Crawford is the lost city, which is only accessible by helicopter. We had a 15-minute flight over the lost city that cost $320.00. The Lost City is columns of rock eroded away over many years and is spectacular to see.

LOST CITY

Sunday morning we left for King Ash Bay, a short trip of only 140km’s or so. The last 20km’s is very dusty dirt road but was in good condition. King Ash Bay is a fishing village that has a Garage, Club and Mini Store. It is on the Banks of the McArthur River that flows out into the Gulf about 32 km’s down stream. There is a maize of rivers and creeks that run off the McArthur; most of them end up in the Gulf.

We met John McCarthy better known as “Ugly” who is from Old Bar. Ugly has given us a lot of information about the area as he used to crab in the area for about 9 years.

We went fishing on Tuesday and headed down the Johnson Rvr that runs off the McArthur, it is also called the “Crooked Creek.” It was 32km’s to the Gulf and then 32km’s back. The catch was 2 Mangrove Jacks (undersize) saw one Barra caught, saw one Barra jump and saw 3 crocodiles.

Wednesday its Diane’s birthday, I got her out of bed early to answer all the messages on the phone. After breakfast we decided to go for a drive to Borroloola to have a look and post some mail. Borroloola is an Aboriginal town and is kept in a condition that you see other Aboriginal towns “dirty”. We then went for a drive to Bing Bong, which is the Port facility for the McArthur Mine where they load Zinc for export. Just around from Bing Bong is the Mule Rvr boat ramp that is only about 150m from the Gulf and that is where the locals launch their boats to go fishing in the Gulf.

On Thursday we decided to go fishing in the McArthur Rvr, so we went straight down to the Gulf, which took us one hour at three quarter pace. Trolled around at the entrance and then went out into the Gulf for about half a km. The wind started to come up so we moved back into the entrance and fished there until 1.00pm, before leaving for home. By this time the wind had created wind waves and it was a long and rough trip back to camp. We decided that because the fishing was poor, nobody was catching much at all that we would worry about going all the way to the Gulf again.

On the way down Rvr today we saw a crocodile on the top of the water in front of us then he disappeared under the water. There was a large turtle that looked to be injured or sick as it was swimming around in circles.

The river system up here is huge with many creeks and rivers running into each other and then into the Gulf. When the water is warmer I think this would be a great spot to fish but just at the present the fishing is very poor. I think to catch anything decent you would have to venture out around the Islands in the Gulf and it is too risky with our little boat.

When we went to Borroloola the other day we met a policeman who had caught some red emperor and coral trout last weekend but to get them they launched their boat at Mule Creek and went out around the Islands. He said that the Sea was about two and a half metres. Fuel at King Ash Bay was $1.55 per litre.

Friday we stayed around our camp and then went to the club on Friday night to watch the Football. I started to pack the boat and I changed the way I was going to pack it that worked out better. Di & I went up to the Garage to buy some T-shirts for the Grandkids (poor Hannah missed out no Girls shirts). We had 5.00pm happy hour with a couple from Wondai in Qld; their names were Bernie and Joyce.

Saturday morning we were invited to Michael McFadyen’s for coffee at 10.00am. Michael is from Paterson near Maitland and he owns a Block with a caravan on it at King Ash Bay. On the way back we met Kerry walking down the road, she was looking for someone to give them a tow as their boat had broken down. So we put our boat in and went down and towed them back to the boat ramp. Kerry’s partner’s name was Andrew and they were from Perth. They have been on the road since April 2006. I then packed the rest of the boat and put it up on the car, as it was too windy for fishing.

Saturday night the Entertainer was Mike he was from Brunette Downs. Mike was a chef, gardener, jockey, dozer driver and general hand. We had a good night.

Sunday morning we hooked up the van and drove to Daly Waters Historic Hotel for the night. On the way we stopped at Caranbirini Conservation Reserve that is about 40km’s from Cape Crawford. This reserve is like the Lost City and you can walk around and through the rocks. It was certainly worth the effort. Stopped at Heartbreak Hotel and met Bernie and Joyce again, they were having an early lunch. After lunch they were heading up the dirt road to Roper Bar. We fuelled up at the Hi-way Inn Daly Waters at $1.57per litre.

CARANBIRINI CONSERVATION RESERVE

At the Hotel AT Daly Waters we stayed in the side yard and went to the Pub after dinner for the entertainment. I’m not sure who he was but he sang a lot of various songs. He was good.

DALY WATERS AIRSTRIP

Left Daly Waters not knowing where we were going to stop for the night. Bought some groceries at Mataranka Grocery store and then headed towards Mataranka Homestead and the Thermal Pools, on the way we decided to have a look at 12 mile yards. It was a good bush camping area with showers and toilets. You were allowed to have fire there, but after going down to the Boat ramp and reading that the National Park only allows 15hp motors we decided to go back to Mataranka Thermal pools for two nights at least.

The Thermal pools were very similar to what they were 20 years ago when we were here last with the kids. Although we think that they could be a bit better maintained.





BITTER SPRINGS MATARANKA SPRINGS

We just had to have a swim on both days just to see if the water temperature had changed any (it hadn’t). On our second day we drove to Bitter Springs that is another hot pool just out of town on the northern side of Mataranka. Had lunch at the Territory Manor, a caravan park on the way to Bitter Springs were they also have Barra feeding twice a day. The man doing the feeding actually catches the Barra by the mouth and lifts them out of the water.

BARRAMUNDI FEEDING

The entertainment is still on at the homestead every night. There was only one man and he played the Guitar and the Mouth Organ, both very well. He sang a lot of his own songs and also the old favourites.

We also went for a Botanical walk for about 4km’s along the Little Roper River. Encountered some wild pigs, running across in front of us. It was an interesting walk with a lot of the trees marked with names and their uses.

Hooked up the next day for a long drive of 111km’s to Katherine. Katherine is the hub of the area with roads heading west to WA, north to Darwin and surrounds, east to the Gulf and south to Alice Springs. Katherine has grown a lot in 20 years but the Aborigines still sit on the grass in the median strip in town. We stayed at the Shady Lane Caravan Park that is 6km’s out on the Gorge road and is a nice park.

I want to try and fix the wheel problem we have with the caravan so we have booked in for a week as the man that is going to look at it is booked out until Monday. We found him by going to a truck mechanic who referred us to an Engineering shop who referred us to Noel who is an old timer that knows a lot about caravan suspensions. It looks like we will have to replace the whole axle and suspension assembly. Hopefully not as I have also talked to Golf Caravans (Andrew at Arrow Caravans) thinks that it may be the springs.

Noel couldn’t do our van on Monday as the problem was in the wishbones themselves, they were twisted so he had to put new axles under the van. He only had one the right length so he made another one on Monday and fitted them both on Tuesday.

We have enjoyed our stay here in Katherine and particularly at the Shady Lane Caravan Park. We have been having “Happy Hour” each afternoon with three other couples, Andy & June Wotherspoon from Redcliffe in Qld, Sid & Sandy Whiting from Perth and George & Colleen from Perth also. We have actually booked into Mondarah Hotel Van Park from 7/9/07 with Sid & Sandy for three days and may extend our stay there as we have been told that it is very good. Ted that told us about it caught a 7kg Trevally off the beach on a lure.

KATHERINE RVR KATHERINE SPRINGS

We only met Ted & Elaine the day before we were to leave Katherine; Ted came over and asked me about the Free to Air TV reception and how much it cost. We have bought a Free to Air decoder since we have been in Katherine at Johnny’s Electronics, it cost us $225.00 that included a card that gets all stations. After telling Ted our good it was he went straight down and bought a complete set Dish, Stand, Cable and decoder and it cost him $435.00 for the lot. Johnny also gives a demonstration on how to set up the dish and get the satellite without using a sat finder. It is a lot easier with the new decoder than with the Austar alone. Both decoders use the same satellite. Ted mate went to the demo with him and came away with a complete set as well. I help them both set up their systems that afternoon, both are as happy as Larry.

While we have been in Katherine we had a Helicopter flight over the Katherine Gorge, it was great seeing the thirteen Gorges from the air I think Diane is in love with Helicopters now. We took plenty of pictures of the Gorge and a nearby waterfall on the Maude River.

KATHERINE GORGE
The other things that we have done to amuse ourselves have been a visit to Katherine Springs, a drive out to Springvale Homestead and surrounding district, a visit to the Historic Museum and get the inspection certificates for the van and car to be registered again.

The visit to the Museum was very good; it is situated at the old airport and had agricultural displays, and air displays and a video of the 1998 flood that devastated Katherine. In the Museum was an old ford truck that was donated by a gentleman who has recently died, Noel the man who fixed our van wheels got the old truck going and they used it to take the man that died to the cemetery.

One day we went to have a look at the information centre and Diane said hello to an Aboriginal lady whose name was Jeannie. Jeannie had lost her car keys; they were on their way from Darwin to Borroloola for a funeral. After pulling the door linings off and getting the key number of the lock barrel and them finding out that the locksmith couldn’t cut a new key and that the only way to get a new one was to take the car to Mitsubishi and have them reprogram the computer with new key codes they found the keys in a bag of rubbish.

Diane had a good chat to Sadie and Jeannie, Jeannie’s mother has written a book and her son is a lawyer in Darwin.

We extended another day so that we could do some grocery shopping and fuel up; I also had Noel fix my “H” frame for loading the boat onto the car.

It is Thursday 23/8/2007 and we are going to head to Yellow Waters today. On our way we stopped at Edith Falls, which is the same as it was last time we visited. I tried to adjust the electric brakes on the van at Edith Falls, only to find out that they are not working. I changed the plugs for the vans electrical connections, but it isn’t working so I suppose I will have to wait until I get to Darwin to have them fixed. Had our lunch at Pine Creek before moving on to Cooinda. We also saw a water buffalo and some wild donkeys on the way. Cooinda Resort is nice but crowded so we are going to have a look around to see if there is another place to camp. It costs $35.00 per night here.










EDITH FALLS

YELLOW WATERS KAKADU

We stayed at Cooinda for three nights, on the second day we went for a drive to Jim Jim Billabong and then up to Jabiru for a look around and we had lunch at the park by the artificial lake. After lunch we went to Ubirr Rock, it is about another 40km’s from Jabiru and well worth the trip. We walked past the Aboriginal Painting and climbed the rock, which is a relative easy climb to find the magnificent views Kakadu.

UBIRR ROCK

The third day we stayed at Cooinda and had a swim at the pool. Of course we had to visit the bar for happy hour each day. I washed the van and car also on the last day.

On the fourth day we moved 7km’s to a new campsite called Madugal, Madugal is on what’s called the Home Billabong. Sid and Sandy also arrived from Katherine yesterday and went straight to Madugal campsite. We set up camp and unloaded the boat, then went to Yellow Waters for a cruise around and a bit of a fish. No luck fishing for Ian but Diane caught her first Barramundi it was 48cm long so it had to go back as the legal size is 55cm. Diane got some good pictures also. Saw about 6 crocodiles.
Sandy also got a Barra about the same size as Diane’s. Sid kept me company with a total of zero.

DIANE’S BARRA
The next day (Monday) Sid and I went fishing at six o’clock and it was 10.15 before I got my first Barramundi that was undersize so it went back to grow a bit longer. Sid is still chasing the fish. We got home about 11.30 am.

In the afternoon Diane, Sid and I went for a fish in the Home Billabong, Sid caught a Saratoga Di and I Zip.

Tuesday “Hannah’s birthday, we hung around camp in the morning reading etc (Yes Ian reading a book. I have red two books “Hell West and Crooked and We of the Never Never) and I’m now on my third book “The Last Paradise”. We are going fishing at 4.00 pm; I will let you know how we went.

Well we caught 2 catfish and Diane caught another Barra but only about 35cm. The only other bites we got were from Mosquitoes so we left just after dark. Tonight we had an eclipse that started just as we were loading the boat. Sid and Sandy didn’t catch anything.

Wednesday we went to the aboriginal cultural centre in the morning, a great display and they also had some cooking on the open fire. We were going to go fishing in the afternoon but the wind was up so we decided to pack up the boat instead as we are going to leave tomorrow. Sid went fishing but came home again with an empty boat.

Thursday 30/8/ we left our camp and went to Jabiru to do some shopping before heading off towards Darwin. We stopped at Annabaroo Billabong for lunch (Mel that’s were I taught you to drive) and we stayed at The Bark Hut that has a Caravan Park out the back. Only cost us $22.00 per night with electricity and good showers.

The next morning we set off to Corroboree Billabong that was only 40 km’s away, 20 km’s of Bitumen road and then 20 km’s of very corrugated dirt road. The Corroboree Billabong has about 80 km’s of water to explore; there is a boat ramp and a few garbage bins there and that is all. There are no showers or toilets or electricity. We picked a nice spot under some trees to set up our camp and just about had the job finished when Sid and Sandy arrived to set up camp next to us.

We went fishing that afternoon and Diane caught her first legal size Barramundi, it was 58cm long (a nice fish), the rest of us could only manage catfish that we threw back. Diane also caught a big catfish and when I was trying to get the lure out it jumped and I ended up with one of the top treble hook barbs embedded into my thumb, it went in up past the barb. I used a method of removing the hook from my thumb that I learnt at Minnie Water last year. I put a piece of cord around the bend in the hook and Diane held the back of the hook where you tie the line to, close to my thumb then I pulled on the cord, bugger it didn’t come out the first time so I had to give it a second go before it came out, (xy:#@ or something to that effect was said).

Saturday morning Sid and I went fishing at dawn and we fished until about 10.30 am. It was starting to get hot so we decided to call it a day. The total catch was a couple of catfish. I used the same lure that Diane had caught her Barra on and didn’t even get a strike. Sid had one hook up but it spat the lure.

CORROBOREE BILLABONG

We were going to take the girls out that afternoon about 4.00 pm; we decided to fight a grass fire instead. Some young fellows had camped near us and went fishing early in the morning and left their fire smouldering, the wind came up and the grass caught on fire. It burnt three quarters of the way around their camp but didn’t get to any of their gear luckily as they had a plastic 20 litre drum of fuel in their camp.

We were worried about the wind dropping and the fire working its way back to our camp so we decided to stay at home and keep an eye on it. Later that afternoon the fire did start to burn back towards our camp so Sid and I put that part of the fire out. The young fellows came home late that afternoon and saw what had happened and decided to pack up and leave.

Sunday morning we took the girls out fishing and Diane and I decided to have a go at the spot where she caught the last Barra that was only about 300 metres from the boat ramp and guess what Diane hooked another beauty 65cm long and weighed 5kg. She had it in the boat by about 8.00am and we didn’t launch the boat until 7.30am.

We trolled around that area for another 4 or 5 laps to no avail so we trolled up one side of the Billabong and about 11.00am then decided that we had had enough so we headed for camp. My effort for the day was one Saratoga that we threw back as they are not good eating and we (correction Diane) already had a 65cm Barra.

Well guess who couldn’t get in the Caravan when we got back, too busy bragging and her head wouldn’t fit in through the door. Sid I and decided to have another try before we packed the boat up so we went out again in the afternoon about 4.30pm for about an hour and I filleted the Barra whilst we were out there. We should have just cleaned the fish and came home as we only caught one catfish.

When we got back to camp we packed up the boat and reloaded it onto the car, finishing in the dark and the Mossies had arrived.

Monday 3/9/2007 we headed down that dreaded stretch of dirt road again on our way to Darwin. On the way into Darwin we called into the Auto electrical shop for them to have a look at our Caravan brakes. They changed the controller unit and that still didn’t fix the problem. The young chap then checked each of the Solenoids in the wheels and he found that the back left hand wheel was the problem. A Solenoid can be wired up either way as it just puts a current through the magnets. Ours must have had short in it, because he wired it up the other way and it worked. We now have brakes on the caravan again.

We booked into the Malak Caravan Park that is only about 200 metres from Ann Grenfell’s house. Ann is an old school friend of Diane’s that she wants to call on while we are in Darwin. Ann wasn’t home when we called in but we met her husband Terry. Terry was fitting some eaves to their house so I gave him a hand in the afternoon when Diane was having a lay down. We went for a drive around the centre of Darwin late in the afternoon and took some photos of the sunset from Cullen Bay.

CULLEN BAY SUNSET

Had a knock on the door today and it was Phillip, we met Phillip and his wife Jan who are from Port Macquarie. They play bowls at the Panthers in Port. We first met them at Mt Isa; they were having trouble with their fridge. We have since met them at Katherine and now Darwin.

Tuesday we went into Darwin and had a look around the main city area and then met Ann for Lunch. Ann took us back to her work (Power and Water) and introduced us to her workmates. After that we went to the Casuarina Shopping Centre for a look around, before going to the Chiropractor at 4.30 to get Diane’s back adjusted. Ann and Terry invited us to Dinner that night. Diane and Ann talked over old times and Terry and I talked fishing.

Diane had another appointment at the Chiropractors at 9.30 am on Wednesday and then she had a look around Casuarina Shopping Centre again and bought herself some new outfits as she is getting skinnier, she is looking good and it is a credit to her.

I went over to Terry’s place and helped him put up Eave sheets along the back of their house and knocked off at 4.00pm. We then went grocery shopping to restock the cupboards.

TERRY AND ANNE

Diane had another chiropractor’s appt Thursday at 11.15am and then we went to Darwin Private Hospital for Diane’s Blood test. After the hospital we went for a drive to Lee Point and Buffalo Creek then into town for lunch. After lunch we went to the War Museum at East Point.

We met Sid and Sandy at the Mindil Markets at 5.30. The markets are on Mindil Beach and have the usual Stalls and a lot of food stalls. They also have Bands that you can sit and listen to while you are having something to eat.

Friday we left Darwin on our way to Mandorah that is 130km away on the other side of Darwin Harbour. On the way we stopped at the Reidy’s Lure factory near Palmerston, they showed us through the factory and how they made the Lures, how they painted them and showed us how they tested every lure made. I spent about $130.00 on some Lures; it was a very interesting hour.

When we arrived at Mandorah we set up out the front of the old quarters and we used the shower and toilet as our on suite. The view is spectacular looking out over Darwin Harbour. Friday night they have Fillet steak special for $12.00, it was very nice.

Saturday morning was taken up with unloading the boat first of all and then we had a phone call from Sally and Ben (Sally is Julie Hoolahan’s daughter from Nowra, Julie is Diane’s cousin) they had just missed the nine o’clock ferry and the next one was at 11 o’clock. I told them that I would put our boat in and come over and get them. It is further than it looks across the harbour. Ben and I had a troll around the Harbour after we got back, but no strikes.

MANDORAH SCENE’S

We had lunch at the pub and then I took Sally and Ben out fishing again for about an hour before they caught the five twenty Ferry back home. As we were waiting for the ferry a lady caught a 19kg Spanish mackerel from the Jetty they also had a nice size Queen fish. They caught them using live herring’s.
Sid bought a cast net in Darwin and we went down to the Jetty and he caught a heap of herring in his first cast, but we only had a normal size plastic bucket. The herring were dead by the time we got back to our camp. I will buy a live bait rig tomorrow and only catch what I need to have live bait. Under the Jetty the water is black with herring so it is easy to catch them.

We fished morning and afternoon on Sunday with no luck. We had lunch at the pub and they had music all afternoon so we listened to that for a while as well.

Sid and I fished early in the morning on Monday and as we were about to come home I caught a Queen Fish about 4 kg. At 3.00pm Sid and I went fishing up at Woods inlet and also put in our crab trap, so I will have to go and get it early in the morning. No luck this afternoon either. There are fish about as we see them jumping and the Queen fish can be seen on the top of the water from time to time.

QUEEN FISH

Caught one mud crab in the trap on Tuesday morning and I also hooked a Barra but it came out of the water and shook its head which dislodged the lure. It was a 4” shad from Reidy’s lures.

Tuesday afternoon we caught the 5.20 pm ferry across to Darwin to go to a restaurant called “Seafood on Cullen” for Sid’s 56 birthday. We returned home on the last ferry at 10.00pm.

Wednesday we fished up Woods Inlet again, going right up to the end of the inlet and trolled all the way home without a strike. No crabs in the trap this morning. When we got back to camp the cove was high and dry and the boat ramp was out of the water so we had to troll around until enough water came in to allow us to get into the cove. The spring tides are huge up here; we have taken some photos of the cove at both ends of the tide to show how big the tides are.

Thursday I went up to pull out the crab trap as we have to pack the boat today. No crabs and the tide was to high to get the rope which was tied to a tree so I trolled around for three quarters of an hour until the tide had receded, enough for me to get the rope. No crabs again. We then washed up the boat and loaded it back onto the car.

At 5.00pm we went around to the pub for a drink with Sid and Sandy as we will part company tomorrow. There were Dolphins playing out in the bay and they were putting on a display like I have never seen before.

Garry and Rob who are other campers in the park caught 3 Barra today up Wood inlet at low tide using live herring and throwing them into the small creek entrances that drain into the inlet.