2 lucky ducks on the road again

Waking up to a beautiful sunny morning a great surprise after yesterday's rain and thunderstorms.  Normal coffee then the morning walk to see what's what and stretch the legs. We walked over the dunes but turned and went up the beach to our right, the tide was in at the point so couldn't walk around the rocks, we walked up over the dune which gave us a great view of the reef with the waves crashing over it, the swell was two and a half metres upwards today which makes a great show on the reef with the sun catching it. Breakfast then check out how all the other campers are, there are quitr a few leaving as they said it will be at least another three or four days before there is a chance of launching a boat. Some said they know the mosquitoes are going to get bad because of the trapped water, what amazed us is that these people having been coming here for years, some forty years, and they still camp in the same place they must be just too lazy to walk a little further to the ...

The thunder finally came during the night fair bit of rain but not a lot of wind. We woke to the normal ritual of coffee in bed then I  called Lola for her birthday. Looking around where we camped there didn't look to be much in the way of water but we were intrigued at how the (swamp people faired the storm and tide).  It was a good walk to start the day, we found the campers over the first dune was  getting inundated with tidal water as well as it just could not get away. There was a young family there and the children were loving it, running through it, riding their bikes and pulling each other around on boogie boards, made me wish I was a kid again. While we were talking to one of the older campers the father of the young family came up to show us a live baby sqid he had on his hand that he caught swimming past his caravan. Before we got back to our camp it started raining heavy again, we got slightly wet, at least it isn't cold. The rain got heavier and heavier and n...

I lay awake during the night looking out at the twinkling stars and the fluffy white clouds thinking I am so glad the weather man got it wrong this time, it was supposed to be heavy rain and thunderstorms. When we finally woke a gentle breeze was blowing and the sky was a beautiful azure. The early morning coffee in bed got us planning the day, first walk over the hill to check the tide, still very high. Breakfast next then walk over a bigger dune to another beach on the other side, the beach is much nicer for swimming or beach fishing, quite a walk though. On the way back we passed the boat launch area, some of the regular campers having been making weirs to try and stop the water from going  around their camps and also dams to try and stop the tide coming in, what it has caused stinks as the water and weed that has come in can't get back out it is stagnating and starting to stink bad. What we can't understand is why the same people go into that area year after year to camp w...

Very windy when we woke this morning, had our cup of coffee in bed and went to check the beach and boat launching area. There are 2 dunes between our camp and the beach so it was a bit of good excersise to start the day.  During the night I could hear waves crashing on the reef when we got to the top of the dune seeing the waves breaking on the reef with the sun reflecting on them made them look awesome. Down on the beach the tide was so high we couldn't walk along the beach, we had to back track and walk down another path to the launch area. When we got there, wow the tide was so high it was coming up the road like a river, there was no chance of launching a boat so we walked around met other people and had some good chats, back for breakfast 10.30. When we were finished breakfast we put the finishing touches to our setting up then went for another walk. The tide had gone out a bit, there was 2 men trying to build barriers with old tyres and weed to hold the water back as when it ...

I must have been a lazy mazy this morning as Merv got up got dressed, went to the bathroom come back made his bed and had the kettle boiling for a coffee and I didn't hear a thing. When I did get up we had breakfast and packed up, which was very difficult for Merv with the outside stuff as it was blowing 50 bastards and very cold. We made our way to Carnarvon for groceries and fuel, we were very surprised that 3 fuel stations we went to didn't have any diesel. I went into the pharmacy in the shopping centre and had my flu shot, then groceries.  There is a place just as you come into Carnarvon that you can fill up with potable water so that was next thing we carried out. Leaving town we stopped ar the BP roadhouse had a coffee, chips and sausage for lunch, not very healthy but it was 2 o'clock by that time I could eat a horse. We were amazed at the amount of water laying about, the grass is very green and tall with lots of flocks of budgerigars feeding on the grass seeds. We...

It was a very cold night last night slept with doona and blanket, when we woke neither of us wanted to move so we had quite a big lay in. We had breakfast and I thought we should try to walk to the bottom of the bay, we took drink, oranges  and corn cakes, not very elaborate but enough to keep use going. We walked and walked, the area was soft in many places where tide had come in or clay pans, soft from rain, it looked like walking across a desert. We stopped after an hours walk and had our snacks before heading back, we wouldn't have made it to half way to the bottom in that time. When we got back Merv checked where we normally launch the boat and we decided it was to slippery with clay and silt, it wasn't worth one of us falling and hurting ourselves so we will be leaving in the morning. Later Merv took a small lure and waded trying for a whiting, only one garfish had a go, while Shawn and I watched from dry land. When the station owners came, ( as the do every night to clea...

Lisa's 48th birthday today. I sat up on my bed where I can get a bit of phone signal and called Liza, I was cruel and sang happy birthday to her, it was nice to talk to her and find out how everything is there, she told me that Ranni was so excited when she returned home she wet herself. Phil was happy with his man bag Liza bought and he has bought 2 front row tickets for Jim Jefferies the comedian  as well as making her a pavlova for her birthday . Liza said it has been very cold, even been hailing. We went for a walk before breakfast had our jackets and hats on but it didn't take long to shed them today as the day warmed up nicely. The road out was closed all day due to the amount of rain we had last night but has been opened again tonight. We have had several walks today one up through the bush area and one around the shoreline , it is hard to imagine the differences in the clay and silt since we were last here, the cyclone must have brought in some real high tides. The afte...

We woke today to very overcast windy conditions, we had the longest lay in bed we have had for awhile, coffee in bed then up and breakfast before a good long walk. The day turned colder and colder then the rain started just like the horrible easterly stuff in Tassie, we are walking around in jackets, long pants and I also have my UGG boots on it is definitely a day for inside a catching up on the bloggs. It rained all day and into the night, it got extremely hard around 3.30 in the morning 

We were all up early this morning to pack up as Liza and Jackie have a long drive ahead of them to get back to Perth. We are leaving as well today but we pitched in to try to get the girls on the road as soon as possible so they wouldn't be traveling in the dark, they had only been gone 15min when Liza rang to say she had left her good rings and was coming back doh! I hate turning aroung to go back once I have started out. We finished packing and headed for Gladstone bay, picked up a few groceries on the way. While we were traveling we went through a small area of phone reception and a message came through from my brother Ben to give him a call, we weren't far from a lookout on to of a hill so Merv went up so I could call. When I got Ben it was to tell me my baby sister Sue had passed away that morning, she had been sick for awhile but it was still horrible to hear, Sue always gave me heaps of laughs I will miss her terribly, she was too young. When we arrived at Gladstone bay ...

This is the wind up day for our fishing competition we are not going fishing today so it was a slow and easy start. Liza went to the shop and bought us some fresh Danish for breakfast, afterwards her and Jackie buggered off down around the shops while Merv and I went and Fueled the truck ready for leaving the following morning. When the girls returned we had lunch then they headed down to little lagoon to try to catch a whiting or maybe have a swim, none of us had been there before so wasn't quite sure what it was like, Liza had the tiniest lure I have ever seen she wanted to try. We left approx an hour after them and when we found them they had crossed dunes on a 4wd track and was busy fishing. The lagoon was very clear but shallow for a long way out and we had been told the aquarium in town gets their stonefish from there, so it was definitely no swimming. We walked approx 1/3 of the way around saw a lot of small fish, Liza was happy she caught a small whiting with her little lur...

Today was the last day for fishing in the competition so we were going by took or by crook, I  really wanted the others to catch a big fish I didn't care if it beat mine. When we got to where we launch the wind was blowing straight in and things looked a b8t lumpy, we launched and it was decided not to sit in shore and wait till the wind dropped but head out to deeper waters. Boy was it lumpy Merv said  he didn't think we had ever gone out in such conditions, we had been caught and had to get back in some unpleasant conditions but normally we would go no not yet, the best think was the wind was forecast to drop which it did. We spent the day out there and the weather turned magical, heaps of black snapper caught,  Jackie caught one that may give her a 3rd prize, Liza and Merv caught  mackerel and I caught a shark. We stayed out as long as we could not wanting to leave the beautiful water, then it was back for weigh in, clean the catch and cook dinner. The meals at th...

Today we had decided to go across to Monkey Mia to fish, there is never many fish there but we have caught some large cod there and I caught a large mulloway  in that area, we were hoping the girls could get onto something nice. The weather was nice a little windy but not bad, but unfortunately as usual there lots of grinners and not much else, I  did catch a couple of very large smelly catfish which we have never seen there before, talking to the locals they say they are just getting reports of the cat fish. We spent the day trolling and trying lots of different places but not much in the way of fish, Liza did catch a nice mackerel I caught a flounder. About 3.30 we called it a day and went back to camp got cleaned up and went down to see what was being weighed in, there wasn't many people there most people had taken a lay day. I took the flounder down and there was about 6 children there that had never seen one so the organisers were showing them the differences to other fis...

Woke to rather nice morning so off to try our hand at getting a big trophy size black snapper, after launching we headed to Eagle Bluff and fished around there picked up mostly butteries which are  good bait, Liza and Jackie picked up some nice bauchin grouper and pink snapper but all undersized so we headed out wide approx 10km. As soon as we arrived we started picking up good black snapper I caught a mackerel which we used for bait.  There was a bit of wind and a bit sloppy but not too bad, we were really enjoying ourselves when we saw a storm brewing on the horizon, we hoped it would go down the coast and pass us, unfortunately we started hearing thunder then seeing good lighting, I don't like being out in the open during a thunderstorm so I kept a close eye on it. We started getting a few sprinkles of rain and it wasn't long before the wind had changed and was quite strong and cold. We headed in and was going to wait it out in the little bay where we put in but by the time...

3RD DAY OF THE FISHING COMPETITION  Today we decided to have a lay day and recover a little, check all the gear, clean the boats and get ready to go out tomorrow. Liza and Jackie have gone for a trip to Carnarvon they have more energy than me maybe it's because they are younger. They returned with a freezer to take their catch home. When they got back we had dinner and went down to the fiesta tent for quiz night raising money for the local volunteer ambulance, we didn't win anything but had a huge amount of laughs

2ND DAY OF THE FISHING COMPETITION  We on the go fairly early and left camp approximately 9o'clock, it was all checking gear and making rigs the everyone quite excited the night before but unfortunately when we got to launch once again it was quite windy. We still launched and decided to stay in close in the Lee of the cliffs and wait till hopefully the wind drops, it did approximately 11o'clock  enough for us to head out to deeper waters where Merv wanted to try. As the day progressed the wind dropped more to make the most perfect day, which was topped off by some of the best fishing we have ever had in this region. We all caught good fish Liza caught a good Pink snapper as well as some blacks, Jackie caught some nice black snapper one which may be a prize winner, Merv caught great black snapper and a Mackie(which went back),  both Merv and I caught double head snapper which took some pulling and wore me out. The last fish of the day I caught was another pink snapper whe...

1ST DAY OF THE FISHING COMPETITION  We woke to very strong Easterly wind very disappointed we wouldn't be able to get out fishing early. Liza, Jackie and myself went to the local markets waiting for the wind to drop, Liza and I bought a box of new lures to share $50 for high quality there was 12 lures 2 of the same so we both got 6 great lures. Back at camp we just made rigs and checked we had everything, by 12.15 we decided we would go out but stay in close. We had quite a bit of fun catching pike and throwing them back and it seemed like it would be all small fish, the weather settled and I was lucky enough to catch a big pink snapper, the only size fish for the day. When we went back to town for weigh in it weighed 6.3kgs, it put me in 1st place for pink snapper and the organisers told me it was not likely to be beaten. We cleaned the fish and had dinner at the fiesta tent, back to the camp to cryovac the fish, shower and bed

Today we are taking it a bit easy, we settled the camp with Liza's gear, sites are very big and we managed to get both boats, Lizas car, our truck, camper and the tent with still lots of room. After lunch we went down and registered for the fishing competition, in the afternoon Liza and I went walking through the shops Liza bought some new boat shoes. In the evening we went down to the foreshore where the competition tent was set up for dinner, they serve dinners as fundraisers for different things each night, so we indulged there was Bogan bingo to follow but by the time we had dinner we were ready for going back to camp.

My 70th birthday, Liza messaged and is on her way up we are going to the hotel with Neville and June tonight. Neville and June took their little boat out from Eagle Bluff so the girls could try and catch a fish, after taking it easy around the camp for a couple of hours we went out to see if any fish was being caught, they had just come back in when we arrived, Gamma had caught a small black snapper, Fiona caught 2 butteries. When they left we went for a very long walk along the beach and up over the dune back to the truck. Liza had contacted me and was running a bit late so Neville and June went to the hotel to have a drink and wait for us. At approximately 6.30 Liza rang to say she had run out of fuel 10kms out so Merv and I took a Jerry can and got her going and back here. The dinner was very nice and Liza ordered espresso cocktails, then the desserts were sticky puddings which Liza ordered and had a candle placed in each one for me to blow out. By the time we got home to camp and g...

Time to pack up today and head out of the national park, on the way out we spoke to two of the rangers both very nice guys with lots of info one in particular was interested in the truck he wants to buy one. When we arrived in Denham we booked into the sea view caravan park on a very large site, it was quite hot and wasn't that pleasant setting up again but the site has plenty of room for Liza to stay when she arrives tomorrow. We found Neville and June in the Park and arranged for Merv to cook them some of the fish for dinner, there is a large kitchen in the Park with electric ovens that we cooked our chips in, the battered fish was delicious.

Up a bit earlier today, 8o'clock. Neville and June dropped in mid morning, they were taking their girls up to Cape Peron. Both Neville and June was impressed by the infrastructure in the Park and the space between the camp sites. After they left we organized our fishing gear and headed out, the day was perfect the most gentle winds. We travelled approximately 10 kms from where we launched which took us well out of the lagoon, we had to watch for shallow areas but the tide was high on the way out so it wasn't a problem. When we found what looked to be a good spot we fished drifting and had a good afternoons fishing bringing back 7 good well over sized black snapper, we threw back dozens. While fishing a big tiger shark approximately 4 meters long paid us a visit so we decided to move on a bit. The tide had gone out a lot by the time we headed back so we had to be extra careful, we were both pretty buggered by the time we were finished for the day

Another sleep in, no fishing today as wind is forcast so after breakfast we decided to walk over the big dune into the sanctuary area again, this time we walked along to the right where we saw a lot of sea mullet, reef sharks, shovel nose sharks and rays. This is the area that migratory birds from Siberia come in but it is a bit early for them yet. When we got back it was pretty hot so we went for a swim to cool off, then dinner. Being a beautiful evening we thought we might sit at the waters edge and try for a fish, lots of bites I caught a good size Tawhine but put it back, then I  got all my gear taken by a shark, time to go back to camp

Woke up at our usual time the weather was forecast to be windy so after breakfast it was a walk up the side of the lagoon. We walked well up around until the mangroves got too thick to go any further, I would have like to have made it to the end as yesterday we saw a sea eagle pick up a fish and take it to the mangroves, I imagine  it may  have a nest there. We walked for approximately 21/2 hours at a gentle pace returning in time to take out the fresh loaf of bread. Another late lunch then it was time for a swim, the water was fresh but beautiful and very surprising how strong the outgoing tide was, very relaxing sitting on beach chairs watching the water and swimming, what a life. Merv made popcorn fish with hash browns for dinner then another peaceful nights sleep 

Woke after another peaceful nights sleep, had a good sleep in, we can do that now one of the benefits of retirement. We decided after breakfast to launch the boat and try our luck, we went out through the head of the lagoon but the wind was too strong so we came in to a 5m hole and fished. There wasn't much happening I caught 2 nice flathead for dinner but the rest was rubbish fish. By the time we got back it was late in the afternoon so it was late lunch and take a beer to the beach and do a bit more fishing. I caught another flathead then it was time to go back and get cleaned up 

The day started out a bit windy so we decided to stay in camp, do some maintenance on the electrics of the boat. After lunch we went for a walk over another very large dune to the sanctuary  area then back around the lagoon. Camp is full again, we had a look down around the lagoon after dinner a few people fishing the kids were catching squid, I couldn't be bothered trying

This morning we tried to get away fairly early as we were heading out Cape Peron national park to stay at Big Lagoon and as the caravan park was so full and the town very busy we weren't sure if we would be able to get a spot as the Park doesn't take bookings. It  was the first time taking the boat out there and I was hoping the track wasn't too chopped up, the amount of rain we had over the last week would help. There had been a lot of traffic on the road, it was quite corrugated but the sand wasn't too bad the boat came through quite well. When we arrived at the camp area there was 2 empty spots where people had just left, we chose our spot met the camp hosts and set up. It was nice to set up properly after just doing overnighters where we don't take the camper off the truck. The weather was still very hot and humid so we walked down to the lagoon to check out the logistics of being able to launch the boat, it looked doable so it was back for lunch get the boa...

Wall at Moora   3rd May 2021 Mer v and I have finally left for another hopefully extended holiday. The first afternoon was a steady uneventful trip, nice and easy, we spent the first night in the country town of Moora on a free stay behind the local hall. Moora is a small wheat farming town and like many of the country towns they have had a lot of time and effort spent in making lovely parks and gardens with clever murals painted on walls. Our new method of transport a bit different from the last blog 4th May 2021 We left Moora and headed up the highway towards Shark Bay. We saw a lot of damage to trees as we headed up the highway and in Northampton there was a lot of buildings that have lost roofs during the cyclone. We travelled as far as Nerrin Nerrin free park for the night. In Moora it rained all night and all the next day next day continuing through the following night. 5th May 2021 Last leg to Shark Bay, still raining, we arrived approximately 12 o'cloc...