Now this is real seating! ______
______and even better when you can sleep, as this was a night flight - 2300hrs departure. It's the only way to FLY asleep!!
With no delays and a good connection we were soon in Port Lincoln and The Shed!
With no time to spare as it's cold, and warmer climes beckon. Plenty of rain, with the ground soft a good opportunity to get some ground work done for future planning / house building on the block.
The palms have to go, the smaller one easy to remove, and now reside at Chooks place.
Start some drainage works.
Booze supplies for our trip north, one can a day and some cooking wine- Ha!.
Tea with Relies - Ian, Sue and Heather
Nola, Kayleen and Ian.
More drainage works past Lynetts shed.
Water past our shed drains into Lyn's block,
now piped and spoon drain in place.
Gave the fruit trees a severe prune before departing. Chook to check out cost to relocate the palm tree to his place.
It's mid JULY and cold, time to head north to warmer climes!
Sue's ready to go, sweep the shed floor and lock up
= GOOD TO GO!!
= GOOD TO GO!!
On the road for just over 2 hours, lunch – check wheel nuts on Troopy left rear required ¼ turns, recent service at Toyota, all other wheel nuts okay. Van needed less than ¼ turns.
Some one else had camped here with their catch offal to dispose of.
414k's for the day. Great driving no wind – fuel 14.67lhk. Only
had main tank fuel and 1-1/2 tanks water – approx. 200k’s less weight.
Kept trucking to Bookaloo RA #503 – camped
next to the train track – 7 trains o/n with only one toot during the night.
Another 400k day and camped south of Coober Pedy, out for a bike ride, over the gibber plains.
Neat wild flowers
Truck load of beer can's - on closer inspection it's tin / steel cans
Thai brand sardines can
Not a lot happening here!
360 k's and now pushing into stiff head winds.
Camp chair left at the rest area shelter.
Next trip this may be a good camp site, 66k's from Alice.
Last chance to stock-up on fresh fruit and veggies.
Last chance to stock-up on fresh fruit and veggies.
More scrap metal heading south
Long Reach Water Hole - north of Elliot, no longer a secret camping spot now jammed with 50+ vans.
Over night and gone at day light
Over night and gone at day light
Pulled into Goanna Rest Area, 40k's west of Cape Crawford. There tourist from Columbia stuck = battery buggered. Range Rover purchased cheap in Darwin, 6 passengers crammed in.
Unhooked and towed them into Cape Crawford -
very happy tourist.
very happy tourist.
Breakfast location
Our local resident KAB
Day 8, 2,900++K's and all set up on the McArthur River,
and soon relaxing.
and soon relaxing.
Tinnie next - borrowed Bill's trailer, save me setting up our trailer as we leave the tinnie moored for the duration
Our river view and tinnie moorings
Yes! they are croc tracks
Here's how close the croc was to our tinnie, some one had left some bait on the bank - not good!
Here's a 1st - Boatahome. Neat concept for protected water.Checkout www.boatahome.com.au
Here's a 1st - Boatahome. Neat concept for protected water.Checkout www.boatahome.com.au
Out for an early morning test cruise up to Duck Island
Enjoying the sun!
This guy wanted a lift - sorry mate you are on your own
He made it to the bank, before the croc's got him!
Good size Archer fish = bait
Undersize Barra, yeah! they have to be 550mm
Good run off creek
Sue's 1st fish a Queenie
Sue's Queenie fly
Heli tours from Arlie Beach
KAB Golf course - good summer roll out here
Visitors - Milanka, Frank, Bill & Luba
Aussie drop dunny, seen better days!
Evening calm and ready for the early AM start
Bike ride to Batten Creek via track from Batten Point to Mingarda Water hole
Old cattle yards at Mingarda Water hole
Our patio view's and lunch
View from the rear van window
Beauty - 720mm Black Jew
Opp's - lost half of that one Erroll = Bugger!
Eh! someone had been dumping fish offal and blood,
no names mention Eroll.
Sue hooked 3 sharks.
Eh! someone had been dumping fish offal and blood,
no names mention Eroll.
Sue hooked 3 sharks.
Blue Nose Salmon x 2
BBQ bricks from the KAB rubbish dump
A very welcomed sight after 2,900k's,
admittedly all but 21k's on the black top.
A pleasant weeks driving
A pleasant weeks driving
Must be Sunday - cooked breakfast
Batten Creek - fishing and reading
Local enforcement and me playing it up to the
crowd at the KAB Sports Day
Teeth breaking crackle
Easy ride thru the scrub after the fires - plus able to avoid any rouge scrub bulls before they see me
Day out - Bing Bong the old boat ramp. Alas no fish, but plenty of bites when the wind dropped off - Yep! midges
Part of the ore loading facilities at Bing Bong
Magic!!
No shortage of feral PIG's
Tea for two!
These's guy's had a good feed!
Local visitor
Fast food! crazy bugger, on his bucket list to
ski on the croc invested river
Same frame with new cover
We are so happy to hook some thing,
even taking photo's of CAT FISH!
Poser - if I don't move you can't see me - Ha!
More burnt scrub
It's early and COOL!
Davies Channel and the crabbers shacks
Queenies on weighted fly
Small GT -good eating all the same
Yes! snakes can swim!!
The Queenies ended up as Smoked fish snacks - Yum!
These guy's can sure make a racket - 5 in this flock
Fishing the rocks at Batten Creek - a neat drive via cattle grid 3
Black Cockatoo's by the dozen's
Enough said!!
Yeah! I braved it and cruised back with Sue trolling just in-case a bigger Barra took her lure.
At least I have the gear to remove hooks - PAIN FREE!
Good camouflage - The pheasant coucal (Centropus phasianinus) is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It is found in Australia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests. It has adapted well to cane fields in northern Australia. The pheasant coucal is unusual among Australian cuckoos in that it incubates and raises its own young instead of laying its eggs in the nest of another species.
0715hrs off to the CROOKED = fishing, breakfast at the
Jew hole, heaps of fish on the sounder – no takers!!
Troll with lures no takers – changed to weighted flies,
Sue landed small Mackerel – DINNER!! It was scrumptious!
Back to Jew hole to fish on the low tide – still no takers.
Start heading to camp – trolling – 1238hrs Sue
landed a LEGAL Barra – 590mm = Beauty – Sue high sticked her rod when the Barra
jumped near the tinnie.
1316hrs G’s landed another LEGAL Barra – 570mm – Yipee!!
Another Barra - bugger a toad fish!
More bush fires, and the birds having a good feed
Ah! to actually clean some FISH!
The Mackerel deep fried with black pepper -Yum!
Yet another magic evening
It's warm, the shade is welcomed
Batten Creek camp - buggered up our fishing spot - thanks
Our new neighbor is happy
Evening cruise with and in the Tinnie!!
Oh! no he's got another one!
Whoa! the resident cod landed and released.
The calm at the mouth of the Crooked
Stick fishing
Sue's on to a Queenie - more smoked fish or bait!
Got our hooks back
With-in minutes the wind is up rolling 2 - 3 feet
Soon into calmer waters
Helen and Erroll having a relaxing afternoon
Now there's a good use for a s/s blind flange
The fishin' is slow, may as well do some x-words
The fog has rolled in until mid morning
Aus-Bulk cement bag salvaged from the tip, put to good use. A new bag for the landing net, and two bags for the chairs also from the tip with new fabric
Found lures along the river bank.
YES! we are packing, our collection of lures and flies used during our fishing trips, all washed and good to go next year
Mick and Netta packed and heading off.
Netta, Mick, Sue, Luba, and Bill (with tummy sucked in)
Erroll and Helen our closest neighbours - like out the back door - great folks real bushies!
Poser - sure would not like that beak
penetrating any of my body parts
penetrating any of my body parts
That's how close the poser sat
It's warm in the annexe
Bill & Luba got lucky near the rocks thru the channel markers on the cruise home - we got even luckier - it's in our freezer. Later enjoyed with John and Helen in Melbourne - see next blog.
Time to head south and farewell to Erroll and Helen
We no sooner turn around and we are packed!
See you all next trip!!
We no sooner turn around and we are packed!
See you all next trip!!
