From the Cape we made our way South west to meet up with my friend Kev for a few weeks.
We stopped at fruit bat falls on the way south from the Cape for a well needed dip.
We then headed West from Artemis station towards Normanton.
We stopped at Burke and Wills camp 119 on the way through. This was their last camp that Burke and Wills left the bulk of their party at while they made their final push for the Gulf.
**Spoiler alert**: None of them made it. They had to turn around before they could see the ocean due to heavy mangrove growth and they died on the way back of malnutrition. I couldn’t help but think if they had a handline with them they would have gotten back to Melbourne triumphant and fat from
barramundi.
The Savannah way was a good drive. It wasn’t quite as corrugated as the Cape but just enough that my spare wheel managed to rattle itself free from under the tray and become a free range spare wheel. If anyone finds it let me know!
We’d chosen to stay for a few nights at King Ash Bay fishing club. It’s near Boorooloola on the McArthur river. I’m not sure if the words fishing club quite describe King Ash Bay, it’s more of a fishing town, or maybe a fishing cult. There’s a service station, a bar and plenty of houses. Tennant Creek and Alice Springs fishing clubs have permanent residences here as well. There’s unpowered sites along the river, so you can leave your boat in close to camp.
We went fishing here twice, the first day we didn’t wander too far from the camp and mostly fished around some snags and rock bars within 10km of the boat ramp. There was a few fish around, plenty of long tom and small cod, a shark that did a backflip out of the water and we picked up our first size barra for the trip. I say we, because even though Kev technically reeled it in, he was but one part of a well oiled fishing machine. If it hadn’t been for my expert net wielding and superb boatmanship or Katies fist pumping and woohooing it would have undoubtedly gotten away. Great work team.
Kev’s a dentist, so we can’t show you his face on television.
The second day on the water we decided to get up early and head out to the mouth of the McArthur river. We hadn’t really seen any of the other boats the day before and were surprised to find them all at the mouth of the river. Like most men it seemed the fishos of this camp liked to cast their rods in and around the mouth. This surprised me a little because it was an 86km round trip from the boat ramp. If you stayed at this camp and fished a few times a week, like it seemed everyone did, the fuel bill and tinny bum would really add up.
Having said that the fishing was pretty good with Kev and Katie both dragging in a few small Queenies in between the numerous sharks.
FACTS:
How to get there:
From Boorooloola follow the signs to Bing Bong and King Ash Bay fishing club
Camping Cost:
$22 per night for 2 adults unpowered site
Boat Access:
There’s a good boat ramp and you can leave your boat in the water
Ramblings of an Extreme Man 