We made our way north to Bingara, where you can free camp on the banks of the Gwydir River. It gave us the perfect opportunity to test our batteries, gas fridge etc. and only a 5 min drive to town. I was particularly keen to give the new toilet a thorough road test. After a short drive down a pebble strewn path we found a great spot on a bend in the river. The river was running as Copeton Dam upstream was releasing water for the pecan farms. I had heard stories that campers have woken in the morning to find water suddenly lapping on their doorstep during a dam release, so I cautiously placed a stick near the waterline to monitor any rises. The first evening we were entertained with a chorus of bird songs from the resident cockatoos, galahs and ducks.
Over the following days I made it my mission to catch my first Golden Perch (aka yellowbelly). It's been a year of many firsts - yellowfin tuna, mahi mahi, teragalin, snapper, leather jacket, red harry and I was keen to add a new one to the list. I had some shrimps given to me from a kind bloke in Manilla so I put these to the test, firstly with a simple running sinker and then floating them past some promising snags. No strikes using these methods so I took to a hard body lure, only catching clumps of weed. The lack of strikes was disappointing but occasionally I would see a fish jump or swirl on the surface which kept me interested.
I survived another, less spirited magpie attack riding the pushy into town for a supplies run and found new hope at the butcher shop. It seems he is a keen fisho and the local lure retailer. He showed me photos on his phone of fish he's caught with surface poppers and convinced me to give one a try. They are fun to use and there's less risk of getting the lure caught on a submerged snag but again I was unsuccessful. Oh well...more the sweeter when I eventually land one.
One challenge of free camping is maintaining acceptable levels of personal hygeine. We bought a $10 solar camp shower, basically a black bag with a hose on the end. Leave it in the sun for a couple of hours and hot water is assured. I would fill it up with river water in the morning and by late afternoon she's hot enough to hang on a nearby tree and have a warm shower. It's primitive but you feel remarkably clean & refreshed after one. The same couldn't be said for my lovely Tomoko, who chose not to brave the river water (for hygenic reasons oddly?). As a result, she developed a new, slightly unpleasant aroma. This proved to be a strong incentive to leave our idyllic surrounds for a new locale and modern day plumbing. Until then...adios amigos.