Berry Springs - Dundee Beach - Mary River
Northern Territory

Some of our nights have been rather restless, not only because it is hot but we have both been suffering with sand fly bites which itch like crazy at night. We've tried all kinds of preventative measures and treatments but still manage to get a bite or two each day.

 After talking to a few people and doing some online reading I have made up a concoction of Avon Skin So Soft bath oil mixed with ti-tree oil and water. I spray it on and rub it in morning and night then cover it with a layer of Tropical Strength Aeroguard. It works ok for mozzies and flies but those little midgee buggers seem to find a spot or two each day to attack. Further discussions with locals lead me to believe if I add Dettol instead of water I might have more success. We'll see. Brian just uses Bushman's which is full of Deet (not on my skin!) and he has lots of mozzie bites as well. We have found the best treatment once bitten (by anything) is to dip a cloth in boiling water and apply it for as long as you can stand the heat directly onto the bite. It instantly takes the itch away and the effect lasts several hours.

 Following on from my last blog, mid-afternoon of our last day at Tumbling Waters (May 7th), we jumped in the Beast and drove 10 km or so to Darwin River Reservoir, the main water storage for the city. It is a big dam. James loved walking along the edge of the wall. He thinks he’s a bit of an acrobat. After that we went to the "Farm Shop", which is really just a shed where you can buy mango ice-cream and smoothies. James and I had the ice-cream and Brian opted for a mango and banana smoothie. Delicious! Our last stop on our local afternoon sortie was the Berry Springs Nature Park which is a lovely tropical oasis where you can swim in three waterholes with water cascading between them. I was hoping we could have a swim but it was closed for swimming due to the presence of crocs, which was a shame, though we did have a nice walk through the park.

Back at the van I pulled up Dundee Beach on Google Earth and it did look very inviting. I also found an excellent website called willyweather.com.au which gave detailed information about forecast winds, tides, wave heights etc at Dundee. That gave me itchy feet so I suggested to Brian we head up there the following day and not worry about our dwindling supplies or lack of spare fridge. That way we could take advantage of the afternoon high tide and have plenty of room in the van fridge for all the fish we'd catch. There were still 10 sausages, packets of Deb and dried peas if all our fishing efforts failed. Brian started packing up that evening.

 By 10 am Wednesday we had bid farewell to our new-found friends, Doug and Dione, and departed Tumbling Waters for The Lodge of Dundee about an hour's drive west. We set up camp before lunch under some lovely shady trees facing toward the sea, only 100 or so metres away.

 The Lodge of Dundee which sits pretty much on the beach on an area covering a few rough acres is kinda ramshackle. The pub is a funny looking tin and timber structure which might have started as a bit of a shack and appears to have been added to multiple times. Behind it there are lots of run down de-mountable buildings, tired amenities and bits and pieces of equipment left out to rust. Having said that, there is a certain charm about the place and it was easy to settle in and feel comfortable.

Once set up Brian went over to the pub to pay for 2 nights. The lady behind the counter engaged him in conversation about what we were doing travel-wise then, to his surprise, offered him a role as caretaker for a few months of the Wet! Now that's something interesting for us to consider.....

 After some discussion about that proposal (it hasn't quite been put to bed yet), Brian put the boat on the trailer and got everything set up for us to go fishing. We checked the ramp to find the tide well out and the end of the boat ramp a long way from the water's edge. We waited a couple of hours till the incoming tide hit the bottom of the ramp and launched at around 3.30.

It was a bit daunting heading out to sea in a little tin boat and we were both a bit nervous. Brian used the depth sounder to locate a good spot a few hundred metres off shore where we dropped anchor and threw our lines in. The fish struck almost immediately but they were quite difficult to land. Both of us had our bait taken multiple times and on a few occasions the lines were completely broken off even though we were using 30lb braid with 60lb traces. Most of the ones we hooked and started to pull in bent our rods practically in two, and then got off before we could get them to the surface. It was frustrating but really exciting. In the end we only landed two undersized spotted cod.

 Within an hour or so of going out the wind blew up a bit and the water became quite choppy. Boats started coming back to the ramp from all directions - and they were boats 5 times the size of ours. We headed closer inshore to more sheltered water and waited while the $25 a pop launch/retrieve tractor pulled 6 or 8 boats in ahead of us. We retrieved our own. Back on shore we checked out the carcass bin beside the fish gutting area and there were dozens of fish that would have been a meter or so in length, many of which were Black Jewfish. We were really looking forward to getting back onto the water with stronger lines. We were determined to catch some big ones of our own!

                                                         
                                                      Heading into the boat ramp at dusk

Next morning before breakfast Brian re-rigged the four rods we were using with stronger braid and traces. We wandered down to the boat ramp to find tractor-man hard at work and a queue of big boats waiting for a launch. There wasn't a slot for small fry like us for a while. We would probably need to wait until after lunch for the next incoming tide. I headed over to the pub/post office/general store to pick up some supplies. All I managed to get was a frozen loaf of white bread. Apparently when you come to Dundee Beach you bring everything to need. The closest half decent supermarket is back at Berry Springs and even that is really just a general store.

 We cruised around the place in the Beast for an hour or so and discovered lots of holiday shacks all on huge, very tropically vegetated blocks, many with beach frontage. From Google Earth we could see there was an airstrip behind the Lodge but we could not for the life of us locate it on the ground. We did find a spot where we could drive onto the beach at low tide. The beaches are stunningly beautiful and great for walking.

 Mid-afternoon we headed a km or so out to fish - this time minus James who didn't appear to particularly enjoy the previous day's outing. He had a conniption every time the anchor chain dragged on the hull. And he got in the way. We got bites straight away and Brian pulled in two small sharks. Then my line got taken by something REALLY BIG.

This fish was huge. He dragged my line around and under the boat trying to get off for a good 10-15 minutes with me barely able to keep the rod tip out of the water. Brian was yelling at me to get control, but no sooner did I manage to reel some line in before he took out as much again. My forearms were aching and I was sweating like crazy. I lasted as long as I could before handing over to Brian. Then he took over the battle for another 5 minutes or so before the rod actually snapped in half. But we didn't give up. The fish must have been tiring and with half a rod Brian managed to start pulling him in. We were desperate to see what we had caught but wouldn't you know it, he made a last ditch stand and the line snapped. Bugger!

The rest of the afternoon yielded a couple of small spotted cod and a fingermark. All of them went back. It was a bit of an anti-climax after hooking the big one.

                                                  Winding down after a big day at the office

 Friday’s early high tide was swirling over the boat ramp with such ferocity they were using two tractors to launch. The 7 meter tides at Dundee Beach make for some fast flowing water! That was no place for our little tinnie so James and I went walking on the beach while Brian re-did some of the lines. When the water eventually did look suitable there were cops and a police boat on the ramp and we knew we wouldn't pass a safety check as our flares were out of date. So we waited. By 11 am it was low tide and we'd missed our chance. Hmmm....time for plan B.

                                                   The boat ramp at high tide
Back at camp we were visited by Colleen (who'd spoken to Brian about caretaking) and her husband John. We had misunderstood their proposal. It was an offer for us to house sit while they had a holiday in December, January and February. They wanted us to go over to their house and have a look at it, which we agreed to do later in the day. John told us about another launch area in a creek at the back of the Lodge, so we went driving along a network of tight, sandy tracks through the dense tropical scrub. We found some stunning spots where the track came out to the beach. Not a soul in sight and beautiful reef formations emerging from the pristine golden sand. The boat ramp, however, was definitely not a goer for us.

Brian was a bit over the whole boat ramp and tide thing so late in the afternoon we decided to start preparations for a departure to Mary River on the road into Kakadu. As we were loading the tinnie onto the car the winch seized up and we had to both push it up onto the rack on top of the Beast. Luckily it was almost up there when it happened. As it turned out the cable had become jammed and with a great deal of skill, ingenuity and brute force Brian was able to fix it. Around 4 we dropped in on Colleen and John, had a glass of wine, a look around and a chat, then took the rods and some drinks to a spot John had suggested to fish for salmon off the rocks.

 That was great fun. We sat high on a rock formation with the waves lapping below and as the sun went down I fished, champagne glass in hand, Brian sipped on a beer and did the job of re-baiting my line while James sat and gazed out to sea. The exercise yielded one little Mulloway which lives to tell another tale, but it was one of those magic times!

 Saturday morning we were on the road by 9.30. We had a few options around where exactly we would stay in the Mary River area including a free camp at the Corroboree Billabong boat ramp, or stay at one of three caravan parks; the Corroboree Park Inn, the Mary River Wilderness Retreat or the Bark Hut Inn, all on the Arnhem Hwy. All were within comfortable driving distance to Darwin for us to pick up the fridge Monday, yet close enough to Kakadu NP that we could leave James in the van and do day trips. We'd both gone a bit cold on the idea of kennelling him. Our preference was to free camp, but when we got out to the Billabong there was absolutely no shade and it wasn't an attractive spot. We weren’t too taken with the Corroboree Park Inn on first impressions so we continued on to MRWR. It looked really nice on the web, they took dogs and it was on the river, so we headed straight there.

 We were delighted to find it was even better than we expected. The sites were large and well shaded right beside the Mary River and we could launch the tinnie and leave it tied up on the bank less than 100 metres from our van. As a bonus, the cost was only $27 per night, which was a fair bit better than the $33-$34 we had been paying at the previous two locations. And as with all other caravan parks in NT so far, there was hardly anyone there.

As soon as we were settled in Brian put the tinnie on the trailer and we launched it. The river is apparently very similar to the Daly in size and appearance so Brian was confident we would catch a barra. We fished for a couple of hours before dark and caught two keepers of the Sooty Grunter family. The one I caught grabbed the pilchard on my hook the moment it touched the water. It was a very easy catch! While we were out there we saw a large crocodile that just floated in the water a few meters away and watched us. We departed that area with some haste and were very careful as we tied the tinnie to the bank in fading light.

We came to the quick conclusion that this would be a good place to prop for a while and enjoy the hassle-free fishing.

 Mother's Day was our 60^th day on the road and we were on the river as soon as we woke up, me with my customary strong black plunger coffee in a travel mug. It was a glorious morning (as are all mornings we have so far experienced in the NT) and the water was like glass. There were no cherubin in the any of the 4 pots Brian had put out the night before so we threw lures and trolled. I was trolling with a poppa as we passed a crocodile floating mid-stream and got quite a fright when he took after it with a flurry of speed. I reeled it in as fast as I could but that only had the effect of drawing him closer to the boat. Man that was scary! Brian sped up and the croc gave up - thank goodness. We didn't have much fishing luck - the single small bream-type fish caught by Brian got thrown back. James loved it in the tinnie - especially when we went fast. He had a huge smile as the wind blew his ears and whiskers back.

After a late breaky we took a short drive a couple of km west on the Arnhem Hwy to the Bark Hut Inn where we could get phone coverage. Being Mother's Day Brian wanted to call his mum and I wanted to ring my girls so they could all wish me Happy Mother's Day. We were pleased we had chosen to stay at Mary River Wilderness Retreat rather than the Bark Hut. It was more expensive and nowhere near as nice. After that we had a lunch time swim in the beautiful pool at the Retreat and then Brian took me onto the deck of the restaurant for a couple of glasses of Mother's Day chardonnay. Lovely! Late in the afternoon we headed upstream to explore the Mary River, threw some lures and fished with pilchards and squid, but didn't get a touch.

Yesterday (Monday) we left early to go 110 km into Darwin to pick up the car fridge from the repairer and top up on supplies. On the way in we stopped at "Window on the Wetlands", a visitor information centre on the Arnhem Hwy. It was well worth a look and provided an insight into the area from the perspective of seasonal impacts, wildlife and 20,000 years of Aboriginal culture.

 The good thing about travelling around in the NT is the 130km speed limit. In Melbourne the Beast had only done up to about 110kph and towing the van we sit on 95-100kph. On the way into Darwin however we were screaming along at a very comfortable 135kph. That was fun. The Beast was absolutely purring. Brian loves his Beast!

One of my jobs in Darwin was to return two 2 litre Box Monsters to the Stuart Park Woolworths Liquor store. I had purchased them there on our last trip in, and when I tasted the first cask it was totally off - so I didn't bother opening the second. I thought I they would simply give me replacements from a fresher batch, or a credit, and presumably an apology...but no. I ended up in a BIG argument with the shop assistant who offered me another two from the same batch (unacceptable) or I could have two with an expired use by date (What??). I cracked it so he ordered me out of the store. As a matter of principal I was not going to be so easily dismissed by Jeremy the jerk so I got on the phone to head office and we eventually picked up two fresh replacement casks of Chardy from the Palmerston Woolworths along with an apology and a little gift. We also spent just on $400 on food and grog while there. That was my excitement for the day (the fight I mean – not the spend)!

It was actually a pretty expensive day all up. The fridge cost $250 and we picked up a replacement 240 volt element for the Dometic fridge in the van (we had been running it on gas since it started playing up). That was another $105. Fuel $100, chemist $100 and Bunnings $20. That's thrown our daily average spend up a bit. In fact, when we set out on this trip we estimated our costs to run at around $750 per week. We are currently averaging a bit over $1000. We reckon however that there will be times when we are free camping, catching fish and staying put and daily costs will plummet.

 It’s now 5pm on day four here at Mary River. We’re at the Bark Hut Inn having a drink and doing work (Brian) and blog (me). We’ve been on the river again a couple of times today and Brian caught a 60cm Saratoga as well as a big catfish that went back. We are smoked in at the moment with a fire burning close by and showering us with ash. They burn cool and slow after the wet and MRWR is very green so no problems. Now we are all stocked up with food and grog we will stay put a few days. It really is a delightful spot here.