Geraldton to Exmouth

Well followers its time for another blog, And to my pesky sister that has been hinting for days for an update, Bugger off! We're on holidays!!!

Since Geraldton we have ventured further north into warmer and what seems like much windier weather. The days have finally cleared up, but with the clear skies, unfortunately the winds are up and the boating has been cold and wet. I have persisted to Sharna's dissapointment, but the fishing has got a lot better.

We left Geraldton and drove straight to Denham (25km from Monkey Mia). The weather was crappy (rain again!) but we tredged on and went to Monkey Mia to see the dolphin feeding. Which was great!  There was only 1 dolphin (Puk) to feed 5 fish, which neither of us got to do it to Sharna's annoyance as she put in all the hard work with the guide and then she picked a girl that wet Sharna.  NOT A HAPPY CHAPPY!

We then headed to Francois Peron National Park for some mean 4 wheel driving.  This was the most westernly point we could get too without getting permission. Can you see the "Westside Sign"?

Next day we took the boat out although it was blowy as hell!  Caught a few fish and a thumper squid that was trying to take Sharna's small reef fish off her line.

This is a BARRA!!!  ok the nickname is called a False Barra but still has barra in the title so its my first BARRA!  Its actually a sand bass and we caught them on Nuclear Chickens Gulp! (Soft Plastics for the non fisher people)

Once again Sharna caught the biggest fish!

This is the Carnavon Blowholes on the Quobba Coast.  Went for a drive and matt saw fish in the water and that was it.  We were stuck there for hours!  We continued up the coast finally in hope of seening ballooning.  Once again for the non fisher people ballooning is where the fisherman floats his bait over the water out to sea in hope of a large game fish to jump out and grab it.

We came back from the Quobba Coast and was going to walk out onto the One Mile Jetty but it cost money and thought stuff that so Sharna went for a walk along this beach while Matt tried to catch a fish.  Didn't work!

We headed to Coral Bay the next day and decided to go to Five Finger Point.  On the way we spotted a bit of wild life :) 

Same day we went to Mauds Landing.  Matt tried once again to catch a fish with the Nuclear Chicken but caught a big wooden post instead and had to swim out to it to release the lure.

Next day it was now or never.  The wind was up and so were we at 7am to get ready for a BIG BIG BIG day of fishing and as the fisher people say the bigger the bait the BIGGER the fish and man were they right!  This was matt's first catch Chinaman Reef Cod.

Sharna's first catch a Reef Triggerfish

Matt's Gold Spot Trevally (Skippy)

Somehow he managed to catch a Octopus but had to cut the line because he kept sucking onto the boat and matts hand!

This was a secluded beach for a quick pee stop.

Now finally a BIG fish!  Matt's had finally beat me in the biggest fish contest and caught this 50 plus Spangled Emperor (Nor'west Snapper)

UNTIL.......... Sharna caught this 50 plus PLUS Spangled Emperor :) ha ha ha ha  They were superb eating :)

Matt also caught a Garfish to use as live bait.  We threw it out and after about 30 mins we thought there was no way anything was going to go for it until....... the line went zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz and both of us were looking at each other watch each others rods until it clicked it was the floater and matt was onto it in a flash and yanked back to try and hook whatever it was.  He obviously hit the mark when a bloody 2 metre shark comes out of the water spiralling like a dophin and bolts and snaps the line luckily.  We both looked at each other in amazement then cracked up with laughter!  It was the most bizarre thing we have every seen but also scary in a 3 metre boat with our caught fish hanging over the side in the water to keep them fresh.  Man did they come in fast then!

This is us on the main beach this morning waiting for our Coral Reef tour (Glass Bottom Boat) to start.

The view from the boat.  Man we wished this sucker was in the non sanctuary zone.  He was a thumper and so was his friends!  They all followed the boat.

Well folks thats it for another blog.  We have arrived in WINDY Exmouth this afternoon and have checked out the local area (in 10 mins) and have our plan for tomorrow. Yep you guessed MORE FISHING! Oh some more sunbaking and reading for me.  Hopefully a day out of the boat tomorrow........ maybe got to keep my skills up :)

Lots of love to all and especially to all the WORKING SUCKERS oh wait thats all of you! 

 HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

Talk soon

Cheers xxxxx

Whyralla to Geraldton

Ok, so we are back to our slack selves again. Sharna is no help, she wants nothing to do with the blog and everytime i suggest it she whinges. But everytime i start it then she will help, so now it is her time to type since she can do it 7 times faster than i can.

Well we spent the rest of the week in whyalla, bumming around, fishing when the weather permitted(catching nothing) and even spent a night playing bingo at the local soccer club! Once the car was fixed, well half of it, we headed off.

Next stop was Arno Bay, where we stayed for 2 nights. Matt was going to head out on a charter for Snapper but talking to the locals the night before, they said it was a waste of time from here at this time of year, plus the weather was shit! So spent all day at the camper watching movies! LUSH!!! Arno Bay park was excellent small park with awesome hospitality in the owners. Had a great talk to them about the area and the fishing. Also the do a sunday morning pancakes and Wednesday night feast where they cook up a massive snapper for everyone.

Next stop we found ourselves at Port Lincoln for a couple of nights. The park was on the foreshore with a great outlook but horrible camping sites on the side of a hill. We finally got the camper set so it was levelish. Fished the next day out on the water, and finally fixed kris's motor problem on the boat so it doesn't conk out at random times. Rubbish day of fishing, caught nothing but a few small flathead and salmon till the last trawl home where i got a decent Salmon that we cooked up for dinner!

From here we travelled up the west side of the Eyre Peninsula to Ceduna where we stayed a couple of days so that we could get the rear diff pinion seal fixed before heading across the Nullabour. Finally we left and spent 5 hours driving across long straight stretches of highway. We stopped at Head of Bite to look for whales which we seen one playing around with its calf but a fair way from the veiwing platform. They say it is too early in the season for them. We stayed at Eucla that night before heading further across the nullabour. Sharna drove the first few hours which made her be the driver of the longest straight in Oz!

The weather was fairly crap so we drove all the way to Esperance and booked into a cabin where it poored rain all night! we decided to stay for 2 nights in the cabin. we headed for a drive around the esperance beaches which were nice, but would have been magic on a clear blue skyed day.

We decided to head inland for a night since the weather was shit on the coast, so headed to Hyden to look at wave rock. It was a cool rock formation, but that was it, 4 hours inland, to see a rock! wouldn't recommend it !

Headed off in the morning to stay in Albany for a few nights. This is Dog rock in town, cooler than wave rock!!!

we went for a drive up the coast a bit and  did a bit of beach driving, I thought i could drive without letting down the tyre pressure!!! Don't think so! Sharna had to take a picture, its a wonder it wasn't blurred cause she was laughing so much

The next day we headed out fishing. This is Salmon bay, where the salmon come in to spawn in the winter months, none when i was there tho!

We had a good day fishing. Fairly close contest but once again Sharna beats me in the most and biggest fish! This is her Skippy (trevally) and her Coota (she didn't want to hold it, so then it is classified as my fish). This was state of origin night, we went to town to watch the game live at the pub, but nothing showed it, so watched the game at the camper, 4 hours late, only to be deeply disappointed AGAIN in the refs! When are they ever going to let the blues have a fair game!

From albany we drove on to Margaret River area and stayed at Gracetown Camping ground. On the way we stopped off at the Gloucester Tree and i climbed 62 metres into the air to see if any fires were coming while Sharna stayed put on the ground. When we got out of the car Sharna was mobbed with parrots as she ate her muffin.

The next day we headed out to site see and taste the fruits of the margaret river area. The waves were awesome and these are a few pics from Gracetown point.

These are a small pack of dolphins frolicking in the waves

This is at the Margaret River mouth. Awesome reef break with equally good lefts and rights!

From here we headed inland to some of the wineries. We had morning tea of coffee and scones at a berry farm, where we were greeted with these cool little birds that loves the local jam.

We spent the rest of the day tasting wine, cheese chocolate and finished off the day with a perfect few beers on the lawns of the bootleg brewery. Awesome place for a sunday sesh!

Next day we headed down to bunburryBusselton Jetty just in time to catch the last train out to the end of the wharf. This is the place that the masterchef cooked at this week. It was too late to go down into the underwater viewing so we just had a romantic walk back along the 2 km jetty.

Hung around for the sun set then headed back to camp.

From here we headed up to perth where we once again spent 2 nights in a cabin because of the weather, and lucky we did, for there was a tornado hit brussleton from the storm that went over Perth as well. 2 days here and we headed to fremantle for a sunday arvo beer. Was packed, and after 2 pints i didn't want to leave, but since Sharna was driving, thought i had better. Plus it was $10 per pint, so would be an exy night if we had stayed.

In perth the next day, we looked around a few places and i bought a fish finder for the boat. Sharna was not very happy, and now the Stupid thing won't work. GRRRRRRR!!

Went to a movie in  the arvo - Hangover 2 - Was a crack up!

From here we drove up to Geraldton and we plan on staying 3 nights so that we can once again get the car serviced as it is already up the the 60k service. We have now done 22k since leaving Brisbane 5 months ago.

Yesterday we had a look around town and went for a drive along the coastline looking for somewhere for a basic fish. Nothing really found, and no fish caught.

Today, The car is in at service, so that gives me time for a blog. It is now getting close to the serious fishing are that i have been waiting for. We are now equal to Byron bay on the east coast, and heading further north every move, so won't be long until the elusive barra can be targeted. Just hope none of those jumping killer crocs jump into my boat!

On that note, Later ALL!!