From Katherine we made our way the 300km to Darwin. First point of call was finding accommodation & wikicamps pointed us in the direction of Robbie Robbins Reserve, a polo cross field doubling as a quasi caravan park. The directions were a bit vague & we had second thoughts as we drove past Darwin Prison to the neighbouring reserve. Unfortunately there were no vacancies & we scrambled for a 2nd option, choosing the caravan park at Coolalinga, 15 minutes away. There were plenty of spots here & for good reason. The sites were small & dusty, the amenities in need of replacing. It did amuse me to see the lengths that our neighbours went to make their stay more comfortable though.
An early morning call to the caretakers at Robbie Robbins revealed a vacancy & in quick time we were packed & off again. We planned to be in Darwin for at least a few weeks so were happy to secure one of the powered sites skirting the edge of the field. It was nice to have some open space, it’s only downfall being located on the Stuart Highway, making it very noisy. The first few nights I hardly slept a wink & the possibility of returning back to Coolalinga was a distinct possibility.
The first item on our Darwin agenda was to meet up with my old boss (& one of my favourites) from my old days at Cairns DFS. Vicki & her two young boys met us at Cullen Bay. We sat on the grass, chatted & had fish’n’chips while witnessing the famous Top End sunset.
No trip to the NT would be complete without landing a barramundi. I’m no stranger to the barra, spearing one while snorkelling off the coast between Cairns & Port Douglas & catching a couple with live prawns in the estuaries surrounding Cairns. It was time to reacquaint myself. Unlike the east coast where a 2m tide would be considered a king tide, the tides up here rise in excess of 7 metres & it took a while to get my head around when & where to fish. I put all my early efforts into the boat ramp at East Arm, just a short drive from our accommodation. I found a drain (accessible by squeezing through a hole in a barbed wire fence next to a 'Do Not Enter' sign) that fills up on these tides & flicked Zereks, a type of artificial prawn, in and around the mangrove trees. The surface of the water erupted after one such cast but alas there was no hook up. It was an encouraging sign though & a short time later I felt some weight on my line & looked down to see a good size barra. I braced myself for the oncoming scream of the drag but with an arrogant swish of it’s large tail, the lure was spat out much to my disappointment. On dusk later that week I returned to the same spot. There was lots of bait activity and shortly after my Zerek hit the water I felt a strong weight on my line. The barra launched itself in the air a couple of times before my line snapped & I rued the one that got away. In hindsight, my drag was set way too tight & it was an expensive lesson in gear preparation. As darkness continued to fall I spotted the wake of a cruising crocodile & took a conscious few steps away from the waterline.
Despite some promising activity at East Arm I spread the net wider so to speak in my search for fish. Internet research led me to the rocky shore of East Point as the place to go on a neap tide. Gearing up in the car park in the pre dawn darkness I met another keen fisho and good bloke Henry. The waters here proved to be barren on this day but Henry tipped me off that another location, Lee Point might be worth a go the following morning. Never one to pass on a hot tip I rocked up there to find a hive of activity. Baitfish were in abundance as were their predators. I watched as larger fish leaped out of the water in feeding mode while a hungry dolphin roamed the area . Using a Gillies surface lure I hooked up on my first throw, landing my first ever queenfish. The action continued & with almost every cast my lure would get hit. I was dropping a lot but also landed a couple more queenies. I caught an unknown species, a photo quickly taken & sent off to Henry for identification. It turned out to be a blue salmon, another first for me & I hooked a larger one before if escaped with some aerial manoeuvres. I also caught a small rock cod, got bitten off by a suspected mackerel & had a likely barra violently grab my zerek before proceeding into the safety of some rocks & severing my line. Wow…what a memorable session.
A popular activity in Darwin is the Mindil Market, set on the foreshore of Mindil Beach not far from the CBD. It’s not a large market by North Coast standards but highlighted by a large variety of exotic foods. I found the tropical fruit smoothy particularly refreshing & as the sun fell beyond the horizon in a reddening sky we parked ourselves on the sandy beach to watch the show. Tomoko was more drawn to the low key Parap markets on a Saturday morning, notably the laksa stall.
One afternoon after a bit of grocery shopping I was reversing the ute out of a park before hearing an unfamiliar crunch. I had collided with another vehicle performing the same task. Fortunately my tow bar bore the brunt of the impact & I didn’t sustain any damage but the other SUV didn’t fare so well with a cracked panel. A call to my insurance company explained that we were both equally at fault for the incident & I would not be liable for their damages. The other party was not impressed & threatened legal action, attributing 100% blame to me by arguing that I was had so much gear in the back of the ute that I was unable to see where I was going & they had photographic evidence to boot! I kindly advised them to look for my reversing camera in the photos. Six weeks on & we’re still yet to hear from their insurance company.
Although relieved at the news, I found the whole experience quite stressful & a week later caught the flu. After a week mostly spent in bed I felt I was starting to turn the corner on my recovery & booked Shaka into the executive suite of Darwin’s premier kennel facility, ‘The Furry Godmother’ so that we could visit Kakadu on a 3 day adventure. Unfortunately my body had other ideas as the virus entered my chest & I developed a violent, hacking cough, condemning me back to the sickbed & forcing us to postpone our Kakadu incursion. Five days later, my ribs sore from the persistent coughing & the fresh development of chest pain, I sought advice from a GP who diagnosed bronchitis. After three weeks out of action I eventually recovered enough to resume normal activities, though an irritation in my throat still lingers with an occasional cough.
Shaka’s health had stabilised since Katherine. The month’s supply of antibiotics seemed to have halted the blood in his urine for the most part & he had been having weekly injections of anti-arthritic drug ‘Pentosan’ of which we were waiting to see signs of improvement. It was therefore a shock when Tomoko witnessed him have an ‘episode’ one evening. Apparently he was sitting down when he suddenly fell over backwards & voided his bladder. He soon recovered & we put it down to a ‘one off’ until a week later when it happened again. He had been unsettled during the night & he suddenly wet the bed. This time we found him with an outstretched body, his mouth partially open & a faraway glaze in his eye before he promptly recovered. He seemed to settle after that until two weeks later when he had two of these seizure-like episodes in 3 days. We took him to the now familiar vet clinic. No definite diagnosis was given but we decided to try him on Phenobarb, an anti-convulsant drug used for treating epilepsy & lets just say it didn’t agree with him. After the first night’s dose he frantically walked around in circles all evening and had an insatiable thirst that would not quench no matter how much water he drank. He was exhausted by morning & that would be his one and only dose of Phenobarb. The alternative was to give him 5mg of valium when the early signs of a seizure presented themselves & it was not long before this was put to the test. One morning (always happens first thing) Shaka began showing the telltale signs - pacing around in circles, panting heavily & wobbly back legs. I gave him a tablet & lay him down on the floor, comforting him with pats & trying to settle him down. Soon he became sedated & a full seizure averted. It worked & we had just found our first line treatment.
We decided Shaka was not well enough to leave in a kennel & abandoned our planned trips into Kakadu & Litchfield national parks. I had been keen to fish for barramundi & see the crocodiles at Kakadu’s, Cahills Crossing but with that now not an option, settled for a jumping croc cruise on the Adelaide River. Leaving Tomoko & Shaka in the café, I boarded what was little more than a glorified tinny for a 1 hour cruise. Before embarking, the tour guide gave his safety protocol spiel & one piece of advice stood out – keep your hands in the boat. It wasn’t long before the first croc approached, attracted by the whine of the outboard motor. A piece of meat tied to a length of string & attached to a long pole was repeatedly splashed in the water until the croc zoned in on the target & casually positioned itself under the now suspended bait before launching itself into the air to grab it. The tour operator teased the croc for the first two attempts, raising the meat just out of reach before letting the croc reap the rewards on the third try. This was repeated about a dozen times as we journeyed down the river with crocs of various sizes. Looking into their predatorial eyes I couldn’t help but feel they would like prefer something a little more substantial. It was a highly entertaining tour & great value at just $40. A big shout out to Vicky for her recommendation.
With national parks off the agenda there wasn’t a lot else keeping us here except for the issue of Tomoko’s soon to be expired passport. Being a state (ok…territory) capital we assumed Darwin would have a Japanese consulate. That assumption proved incorrect & the most convenient way for Tomoko to renew her passport was to fly to Brisbane for the day. It also required us to wait for documents to be sent to us in Darwin, meaning we were here for another week or two. I took this as a sign that the fishing gods wished me to finally get that barra & I threw myself enthusiastically into the task. It was timely that a post came up on my Facebook feed with a photo of an 80cm barra caught at my old stomping ground of East Arm & that became the primary target. My first session was disappointing, failing to arouse the slightest interest but I met a bloke named Brendan in the car park (note to self: must stop meeting fellas in car parks & using ‘arouse’ in the same sentence) who I recognised as the originator of the said Facebook post. While all my efforts were centred on fishing the high tide, he reckoned the dropping tide was the way to go & I returned a few hours later to fish with him. As the tide dropped it brought with it murky sediment from the surrounding mudflats & when this met the clearer water, action was bound to happen. As it happens, it didn't happen & all I caught was a case of dehydration under the fierce noon sun.
One snippet of information I did glean from Brendan was that many of the fish he’s caught has been in very shallow water. This forced me to rethink my high tide fishing technique & on the next outing I ventured as far as I could into the mangroves to cast in water so shallow I was retrieving my lure between the tops of mangrove saplings. There were many mullet bailed up in this corner & soon a large fish violently grabbed my zerek & high tailed to the safety of the trees. It was so instantaneous with the lure hitting the water that I did not even have time to switch over the bail arm of my reel. Subsequently, the hook didn’t set & my prey lived to swim another day. It was encouraging though & I returned the next morning. By this time I was conscious to flick over the bail arm more promptly & I was soon rewarded with a pulsing weight on my line shortly after the zerek hit the water. It was an explosive battle from the get go as I tried to steer the barra away from the juvenile mangrove trees & contend with a couple of spectacular leaps. Having expelled so much initial effort, the energy levels of the fish soon flagged & I gently guided it into my landing net. The barra measured 52cm and despite appearing to me to be an impressive catch, was a few centimetres shy of the 55cm legal size. Still, I was stoked to land my first NT barra & after a couple of quick selfies released the fish back into the water.
Tomoko flew to Brisbane a few days later, returning later that evening with new passport in hand. We stayed an unexpected 2 months in Darwin and with the wet season looming we are off on our next adventure. Until then…adios amigos.