Karumba

Not long after leaving Normanton we arrived at Karumba. This was what Chris had been looking forward to since we left home. We hadn't booked in, so I went into the office to see if they could fit us in - and while I was waiting I looked down at the visitor's sign in book and whose name should I see there - but the Curry's. They had stayed here a few days prior to us. We got a site, set up and took a wander to the beach to check out the fishing.

While on the beach, we spoke to some of the fisherman and Chris got all the goss on the area. We also saw our very first sunset over the water - and it was spectacular. The next morning the boys got up and took the boat out - even though it was blowing a gale - Jack and Logan still wanted to go. So we waved off the fisherman and wished them luck. They arrived back later that morning empty handed - which was expected, however they had good fun which is all that matters.

We had heard, via some friendly fisherman yesterday afternoon, that the Barramundi Discovery Centre was great fun to visit - so we had planned to head there this afternoon to check it out. The Centre is run by volunteers and was originally started by a small group of Commercial Barramundi fisherman to ensure they and everyone else had a fishing future. To date, the centre has stocked over 500,000 fingerlings into the Albert River (Burketown), the Norman River as well as Lake Moondarra (Mount Isa) and Lake Belmore (Croydon). The kids were very excited to be learning about barra's, especially the boys.

The tour started with a talk about the different varieties of barra's and then a video to watch about how the centre runs and how the barra's spawn and grow into fingerlings to transport into rivers and lakes around the area. After the video, we had the chance to go out to the holding tanks and hand feed the barramundi. This was a bit of a scary thought, because all the barra's in their tanks range from about 100cm - 120cm long - which is a huge fish.


We all had a ball feeding the barra's - except Lexie who was too scared to feed them. We had to lean over the edge of the tank, hold the bait by the tail, and just lower its head into the water and hold it there until the barramundi swim up to eat it. The fish are obviously all used to be fed, because as soon as you would get close to the tank the would swim over to the windows. At one stage I turned around and through the little window in the tank there were about 5 barramundi heads staring at me with their bright red eyes - it was a little bit freakish!!

That afternoon the boys talked us into heading down to the beach for a fish for a while - they just love to fish, although Logan is a bit impatient. As he can't yet cast, Chris or Jack will cast for him and pass the rod to Logan who holds it for a bit, says "I'm getting a nibble, Dad" and then next thing you know he has wound the hook in. So again, you cast it out, he gets a nibble, and then it is wound in again! I think he just enjoys winding it in! It was so lovely and relaxing, sitting on the beach, watching the sun set and talking to the kids. At one point Jack was holding the rod, and I asked him "Why do you like fishing so much?", he thought about it for a bit and then turned to me and said "I don't know Mum, I just love it!" That afternoon as we were walking back to the van, Chris was grinning from ear to ear - "soon you will love fishing" he tells me.