this week it was time to load up the troopy, pack the tinny and head off to blue mud bay and the community of Yilpara, i had a new iMac to install with the video, audio and photo archives from Buku Larrnggay Mulka Art Centre in Yirrkala and if I had to drive for 4 hours over some of the worst roads in Australia I sure as hell was going to get som efishing in!
the corrugations on the track into Yilparra are deep enough to hide a tall basketballer in and they are the ultimate trailer killer – thats if the washouts, floodways or bottomless potholes on the main track dont get you before the turnoff!
luckily the car, trailer and boat made it there and back pretty much in one piece, and i spent a couple of hours setting up the new computer and training people to use it. I also spent a bit of time catching up with Djambawa, famous artist and clan leader at Yilpara – he was carving a traditional hardwood spear with hand cut barbs, with an old pocket knife! one of those tasks made look easy by the skill of a great artisan.
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- djambawa
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- closeup
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- Wesley waiting for a bite from ḻaḻu
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- Waka fishing
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- wesley with a good sized Ḻaḻu or parrot fish.
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- coming back after a great afternoon fishing
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- catching bait in the cast net at a small creek (while a fat 4m croc watched!)
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- soon to be dinner!
then it was off to set up camp at the ‘boat ramp’ at Dhuluwuy, then drive back to Yilpara (20 minutes of bone shattering driving), pick up Waku and Wesley, drive back, launch the boat go fishing and then take them back to Yilpara and drive back to camp! By the end of the day I had had enough and was glad to slip into the tent shortly after sunset!
we did catch a nice feed of fish for the community so everyone was pleased with the day.
the second day saw me head out for some barra, but despite covering a lot of miles and flicking lures until my arm fell off, all I got was rats – not one size barra for the day!
so we have to make do with mud crabs, which along with some bait i caught in the cast net – was all I came home with!
saw some monster crocs – every where i went and everything i did there was a big gecko just watching me, more than i have ever seen there before. also saw a family of about 10 feral pigs grazing on the beach – i think they were digging up sand crabs but i couldnt get close enough to be sure, they were so big and fat that when i saw them first i wasnt sure if they were pigs or buffs!