Adelaide River - Daly River
Northern Territory

The drive from Adelaide River to Daly River took a couple of hours and we arrived around midday on Sunday, May 19^th (Pete’s birthday), checking into The Banyan Farm Caravan Park. We didn't want to commit to too many days until we had a chance to see what the sites were like. I hate living on top of other campers and would rather re-locate to one of the other dog-friendly parks if that were the case. The lady on reception was exceptionally friendly and took us around the available sites. The ones she offered us were all drive-through, roomy sites with trees on each side. Excellent! We booked in for a week.

The Banyan Farm is a bit of a contradiction. Some parts of it are beautifully presented (the pool for instance) and other parts are rough and ready. There's no real sense of order about it. Maybe it’s because of the recent flooding – or maybe it’s just the way it is. All around is stuff half done, bits and pieces lying around, tired amenities, weedy gardens and boggy or dusty driveways. But there's also a sense of freedom, of few rules - it's all laid back and easy going. Even James can wander around at will. The age group is massively retirees and the sole reason for staying at Banyan, or anywhere else here at Daly for that matter, is to fish. Every camp has a boat. You would either love it or hate it. I liked it from the get go!

Almost as soon as we arrived James had a visitor. The little white fluffball from next door, Wag, popped in to say hello. He was delighted! A short time later he had another lady come to call, Reba, and she was rather large and intimidating. One of the permanent residents, it was clearly her job to meet and greet all newcomers and make them feel at home. Once James came to terms with her size he became quite besotted with her gentle, but playful ways.

Late in the afternoon of our first day Brian took James and me on a tour of the local area, showing us the sights of Daly River (with the exception of the Naiuyu Aboriginal Community) - the new bridge, the crossing, the pub and the other caravan parks. There's not much to Daly. The river is the one and only real attraction, and while it is lovely, the only thing you can do on it is fish – and only from a boat at that (unless you want to be eaten by a crocodile!).

We launched the tinnie just before dusk on Sunday and took some wine and beer to sip on while we put out some cherabin pots. Cherabin are the primary bait used to catch Barra here at the Daly and they are readily harvested on the muddy banks. All along the river edges there were pieces of string with tags attached, tied to twigs or small trees. Each one had a name on it. The rule is: three nets per person, each identifying its owner, and a maximum of 10 cherabin per person in custody at any one time. As we were tying a pot to a tree on the edge of the bank opposite the mooring pontoon, a huge salt water crocodile swam idly by, its body high on the water so you could clearly see its massive size. It appeared to check out our pots so Brian decided to chase it off. I was pleased it chose flight rather than fight!

Before dinner our neighbours, Graham and Monica, along with Wag, popped over for a chat and some drinks. That made us feel very welcome and very much at home.

First thing next morning we collected half a dozen cherabin from the pots. That was the first of three outings in the tinnie for the day. The moorings at Banyan are rough and ready. It's quite an endeavour to get on to the boat carrying rods, tackle box, towels, drinks etc. The steps down to it are steep and the floating walkways are made of wire mesh that has big gaps, so James had no hope of walking on it. That meant he had to be carried along with all the gear. The whole thing moves a fair bit with wind and tidal flow, and I nearly dropped James in a couple of times. Brian suggested it might be easier for him to go alone to the pontoon and drive the tinnie around to the boat ramp while I could take the Beast with James and all the gear and load/unload everything at the bottom of the ramp, which is what we did thereafter. It proved to be much easier than negotiating the pontoon.

While we both had a hit or two on our lines while fishing during our first day on the water, we ended up empty handed by dusk. We did, however, see a stunning Jabiru standing on a sandbar in the middle of the river. What a handsome bird. Bright pink twiggy legs that seem to go on forever, a beautiful deep green head, long black beak, pristine white body and blue/black wings. We were able to get quite close and take some great photos. We also came across a fairly large snake sunning itself on a dead tree trunk midstream.  As we circled it lifted its head, watching us the whole time. It was black in colour with a small head and well over a meter in length. Our neighbour, Monica, later said it was probably a water python and harmless. A few years ago when Brian was on the Daly he had a snake swim toward the boat and he had to hit it with his rod to stop it getting in. He thought he'd better share that piece of information so I would know what to do in the event it happened again. Brian hates snakes (as does my daughter, Emma)!

Tuesday morning’s cherabin haul was better than our first day and we took advantage of the cool morning air, heading a short distance upstream to have a pre-breakfast fish. Brian pulled in a nice Barra which gave him a good run for his money. Sadly (for Brian) it was a tad too short, so got a reprieve. The fish were definitely biting but it wasn't our morning.

Before lunch we went into the local Aboriginal Community Settlement at Naiuyu, just 10 minutes drive up the river. There is a small supermarket, service station, medical centre, lovely sports facilities for the locals and a large, well-sealed airport runway right beside the town. I was surprised at how relatively well kept everything looked. It is an alcohol-free zone and the locals were friendly and presented well, unlike some towns in the north where we have seen drunken Aboriginals fighting with each other in the street. We did a spot of shopping, and then pulled up beside the airport so Brian could get online for work. There is limited network coverage at Banyan, but we have found most aboriginal communities in the NT have excellent connectivity.

Mid-afternoon Monica came over to our van and I showed her "Nomads Notes", "Drop Box" and "BlogSpot". She had been manually keeping trip data and maintaining contact with family and friends via Facebook. She seemed pretty impressed with the programs I use and hopefully will be able benefit from them as much as I do. I find a combination of all three is great for tracking everything we do and spend, keeping data and photos remotely secure, and sharing our journey with others.

Around 4pm that afternoon we took the tinnie out again and had success! I caught a 58cm Barra after a ripper battle. We had lots of good, hard hits as well. The full moon along with big tides is only a few days off, and apparently that's when the fish come on the bite - here's hoping! With enough fillets from the day's catch for two meals we shared it with Monica and Graham, who in turn shared their mango dessert with us. Our VERY fresh Barra dinner was excellent!

We were on the river first thing Wednesday morning under overcast skies with a rather miserly cherabin harvest. It wasn't long before the Barra snagged all of them, so we headed upstream toward Naiuyu to explore the river. The section of the Daly we are on is quite wide with steep banks both sides and lots of evidence of the recent flooding. Brian wanted to get up as far as the river crossing, but we came across some quite shallow areas and decided not to risk running aground and damaging the prop. It was a delightful scenic cruise, all the more comfortable without the usual hot sun beating down on us. Back at camp we got stuck into some chores, which included a bath for James. By mid-afternoon we were on the river again, this time fishing with what I call jelly beans - soft plastic fish in all kinds of colours with a big hook sticking out of each one. You drop them over the side of the boat like live bait, and then jiggle them up and down. It's a lot easier than sticking your hand into a bucket of angry live cherabin. They take great delight in latching on to your fingers with their big nippers, most of the time drawing blood.

Given how few cherabin we had collected that morning we decided to relocate the pots before baiting them late that afternoon, and fortunately did it before we started fishing. We sure wouldn't have done it at the end of our session. While we were throwing our lines in upstream of Banyan, the heavens opened up and it fairly pelted down raining. We kept fishing for a while thinking it would pass, but no, it hammered down for a good 15 minutes before the tinnie started to fill with water. We hightailed it back to the ramp, the three of us completely drenched. Brian went and got the trailer so we could pull the boat in. No point in leaving it at the pontoon to gather more rain. When we got back to the van the site was under water and wouldn't you know it...we had left the roof hatches in the van wide open and we had water everywhere, including a wet end of our bed. Bugger!

Thursday morning the river was up a good half meter, whether because of the heavy rain or the increasing high tide as we approached the full moon I'm not sure. Either way, it certainly made a difference to the cherabin. We pulled nineteen out of the pots - all a good size. It was a fun fishing session with lots of action. Between us we landed three Barra, two on cherabin and one on a poppa. The largest measured 50cm so they all went back.

In the middle of the day we took a drive to a funny little place called "Eagle View". It's a house on a hill just up the road that has a shed out the back that sells "stuff". You toot the horn as you go up the driveway and an old bloke comes out, lets you into the shed, then tries to flog you heaps of stuff. We came away $90 lighter but with a frozen loaf of bread, a new cherabin pot, some jelly bean lures, a sarong (beats me why) and a wiz-bang gadget that he assured us would keep the mozzies away - an absolute bargain at $50.  The gadget actually worked. We were able to sit outside in the evening for the first time at Banyan and not get carried away by millions of the biting little buggers!

Friday's morning activities followed our normal Daly routine - cherabin pots, fishing, breakfast. Once again we caught several Barra - but all undersize. They did give us a good fight - we certainly couldn't complain about the sport side of fishing.

We did have a couple of funny moments while tied up to a tree at a small creek inlet upstream toward Naiuyu. I had a strong bite on my 80lb hand line just as Brian's phone rang. It was an important client so the call took priority. The fish took a heap of my line then snagged me. I was standing at the front of the tinnie using my entire body weight to drag it off the snag when the line suddenly gave way hurling me backwards across the boat. I was almost catapulted out, going completely arse over, and hitting the side before ending up in the bottom of the boat with arms and legs flailing - somewhat like a beetle on its back. I was in such an awkward position between the seats that I couldn't get up. Brian didn't even pause in his phone conversation. Five minutes later when his call ended and I was still on the floor of the boat he casually asked "are you ok?". Thank god I didn't go overboard - I doubt he would have stopped talking!

A little later I was casting a poppa toward the bank using an overhead action. I was surprised when it didn't land in the water at the designated spot. I looked at Brian and said "where did that go?" and was suddenly struck on the top of my head. The line had looped itself over a small protruding branch directly overhead and then descended upon me from above, clonking me on the scone. We both cracked up.

James was really restless while we were out that morning, and a couple of times looked like he was actually going to jump ship. When we got back to the ramp he fairly launched himself off the boat before we had even come close to a halt. He ran full throttle up the ramp and made for the nearest spot available to empty his bowels. His bottom exploded - he had a good case of runny bum. Poor little bugger.

For lunch we decided to go to the Riverside Inn (the local pub) and left James in the van as we would normally do if going somewhere he can’t go. The pub is pretty shabby with a small bar and a pool table inside, and all seating outside, both front and rear, mostly under cover. There were several lists of names stuck to the wall with headings "Banned for a Week", " Banned for a Month", "Banned Forever" etc. They were quite long lists. There were groups of travellers from various Daly River caravan parks having lunch out the back of the pub on the deck above the river (the aboriginals were out the front), so we ordered fish and chips at $10.50, got our drinks and seated ourselves on one of their tables. We joined in the conversation and had a great time and a lovely feed. Not only that but the chardy was bloody lovely and the VB nice and cold.

When we got back to the van a couple of hours later however, the warm fuzzy feeling of a drink and a feed quickly disappeared as we discovered poor James STILL had a runny bum! Mmm.....we had a bit of cleaning up to do including washing all the bedding. Bugger!

The last couple of days the weather has cooled down significantly to the point where the doona has gone on the bed for the first time in many weeks. It has also been very windy. Heading into wind at full speed in the tinnie on the river just about blows James' eyes back into his head. I'm wondering if I can get doggy sunglasses. He does seem to squint when we have spent 3 or 4 hours on the water in the sun too. I'd hate to damage his vision. Google research required!

                                                                   I love to fish!

Yesterday we headed 20 odd km downstream in the morning to a place at which Brian and Blackie have always had success. Browns. Well that was a big waste of time. We didn't get so much as a nibble. On the way back we stopped at any spot that looked likely and used our day’s bountiful supply of cherabin with gay abandon. That mostly meant we got a bite, immediately followed by a snag, a broken line and a re-rigging job for Brian. With 4 lines going he spent a fair portion of his time replacing hooks and sinkers while I happily fished away until I got snagged again. Having said that, we did land three large fish which we photographed, threw back and later identified from our fish book in the van as Oxeye Herring. They have the hugest eyes and fight like crazy on the line. Along with that we picked up a couple of undersized Barra and a big, horrid catfish.

The conversation currently around the camp is all about how woeful the fishing is this year. Die hard fishermen who have come to the Daly for umpteen years reckon it is the worst season they have ever experienced. Boats are going up to 80km downstream to the river mouth and still coming back empty-handed. The Banyan Farm has more campers moving out than moving in, which means the word is travelling. This time of year they should be getting busier. Without good fishing on the Daly there is nothing to draw people in. It is really disappointing for everyone.

This morning we had no luck either but I did land an ugly, scary eel that Brian had to unwind a whole heap of my line from. He didn’t like that one bit. They are way too much like snakes! James still has runny bum so we left him tied up outside the van. If he doesn’t get better we’ll take him to the vet at Humpty Doo in the next couple of days. We plan to stay a few more days here. For one thing we enjoy being at Banyan, particularly with the freedom James is allowed. We also love the large, shady sites, the friendly people and dogs, the pair of peacocks that roam around and interact with everyone (I’m surprised James doesn’t chase them!) and the general sense of serenity this place offers. And we are having heaps of fun on the river catching fish every day, albeit for sport only. Also, our new-found friends from Berry Springs, Doug and Dione, arrive tomorrow, so we want to spend at least a couple of days with them.

Not only that, we are undecided as to where to head next!  

We are now at the pub so we can post this blog. As you can see Brian is entertaining a couple of the local kids....sooo cute!