Ay Karumba

What a little gem of a place for a fisherman like me, this fisherman's haven is one place you can be assured a catch, especially if you get a charter for half a day like I did on Fathers day. Well why not, if you are in the area on a special day why can't you spend a day doing some leisure activities. Sunday was great but it started when we got the good oil from other caravaners in Croyden, our overnight stop after Innot Springs. There are three caravan parks in Karumba they said, go to one of the two on the point to avoid the midgies. This pricked my ears as this little black duck does not like the old invisible assassin. I'd rather a tribe of mossies than one of those things. So we arrived early on Saturday to set up camp and we immediately went to the one closest to the point with the most breeze to keep those little varmits away. The Sunset caravan park was our choice and many others as we saw when we crawled past the main frontage of the park. Not deterred we found a park for the two rigs outside the park and wondered into try our luck. Funnily enough the fish must of been on the bite this day as a sign reading "Back after 2:00pm, find your own site, $26 unpowered, $29 powered." Interesting approach but obviously the crowds are beginning to head south so we drove in and by chance found two sites together. There wasn't many left after a few more came in that day so we think we were quite lucky. After setting up and having some lunch it was after 2:00pm and Graham (father inlaw) and I wondered down to the office to book in. Whilst standing there the signs were clear that a charter boat operator was available to be booked from the office. My fishing radar went up and thought, fathers day tomorrow, father inlaw with me, I'm a father, trip justified! "Two half day tickets thanks" was the request just as another couple from NZ as it turns out put their request in for the same afternoon. All of a sudden the fishing on the beach idea changed to a full blown charter and lots more enthusiasm was found. A Saturday night of catching up on recorded TV shows was had. Sunday morning started with the mandatory Bacon & Eggs without the bacon but instead some turkey spam left over from our Fraser Island camp trip. Yes it did taste a bit ordinary sizzled but it was the thought that counted. After a phone call home to my dad (who was working on the farm) and then a call from my daughter Haylee I was in the mood to catch some monster fish. Graham and I wondered down about lunch time and jumped in with 4 others and raced out to the favourite spot of Paul's (our guide). The Kerry D is a good sized rig with twin Yamahas on the back ready with the ability to take about 9 or 10 people with guide. It didn't take long to get onto some Threadfin salmon, the fish in season. This beautiful tasting fish when cooked is beautiful as we found out last night. The tally for me was 14 Threadfin plus a couple of catfish which were sent back to the waters with sore heads. Graham didn't fair quite so well with 6 good fish. there was more than enough for all when we got back and Graham and I walked back with 11 fish each to clean up. The photos will show the haul we ended up cleaning whilst relaxing with an ale. You will also notice a sea snake one of the anglers got onto. It swallowed the hook and it was safer to cut it loose than risk a bite from one of these very venomous reptiles.

The night finished with a few drinks with new friends Paul and Jill who came out with us, and a good feed of fish. Today it is back to work and tomorrow we head to Lawn Hill.

By the way, the Next G aerial I talked about further down in the post, is fabulous, we got coverage in places where with the phone, there were no bars at all. It is great, highly recommend it.