- 4 hours ago
Pat Callinan's 4x4 Adventures - Season 18 Episode 3
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00:00Here on this 4x4 adventure, we're going to go from the Cairns hinterland up here in the rainforest
00:05all the way through to the Gulf of Carpentaria, visiting some incredible natural structures
00:11along the way, from gorges to lava tubes to some incredible flood plains. It is going to be a
00:18wonderful adventure, not quite so rugged as our Cape York trip where we were hanging off winches
00:23every five minutes. This is going to be a little more sedate, but no less beautiful.
00:28Our adventure kicks off at Barron Falls near Cairns on the Atherton Tablelands where we'll wheel the
00:35local highlights before heading southwest to Undara lava tubes, Cobbold Gorge and then northwards to
00:42Normanton and Karumba with loads of great stops along the way. Joining me on this journey is Josh
00:48who'll be behind the wheel of the Ford Ranger Tremor and taking the helm of the Everest Tremor this time
00:53around will be Josh's better half, our production manager Jess. But before we hit the dirt we couldn't
01:00miss an opportunity to take in the mighty sight of a local wonder. The Barron Falls walk is stunning
01:08with an elevated walkway housing you high up in the rainforest canopy. With this bird's eye view of
01:15the forest below you get a unique look at this stunning pocket of tropical rainforest. The walk takes
01:23around 40 minutes and terminates at the beautiful Barron Falls. Jess welcome aboard. Thank you, it's good to be on this side of the screen.
01:34Ah, good stuff. You realise the reason you're here is because we're just making a desperate attempt to capture a
01:43younger audience because I mean I'm approaching 50 from the wrong end and and I think I think your partner
01:51Josh he's you know he's in his 30s but he's I think he's secretly about 70. You're right he's definitely
01:57embraced that caravaning lifestyle so I'm happy to help. What are you looking forward to on this run Jess?
02:02The first one definitely would be Andara Lava Tubes. I've done a lot of travel this last year since we
02:08last shot and that's just somewhere that I haven't gotten to yet. That makes two of us actually and
02:14what about you Josh? I hear there's some tours coming up with a whole lot of bat caves and stuff
02:19like that but I think what I'm most excited for is really actually just to be wheeling with two of
02:24my most favourite people in the world and I know that's a cliche but it is genuinely true. No, I can't
02:29wait this is going to be a nice run I think with a little bit less pressure than than the Cape trip
02:33that we just did. Absolutely it's nice to not be shaking in the four-wheel drive for once.
02:40We're starting the day on the Clohese River track a beautiful slice of country with plenty
02:46of nice easy water crossings to ease Jess into the driver's seat. I'm going to ask a very simple
02:51question what should I be driving in right now? There's a few different modes that you've got access to
02:57here that would be relevant so you can either go for 4A. 4A is really great if you're going from
03:03bitumen to dirt really regularly and we use that a lot on our way to Cape York because particularly
03:09on the development road up there it's just constantly bitumen, dirt, bitumen, dirt and that's
03:13great because you can just use that at speeds up to a you know 100 kilometers per hour and what 4A does
03:20is it sort of decides when you need the traction and and when you don't so if you find yourself
03:26slipping under acceleration it will engage the front wheels and give you more wheels driving
03:32rather than just two-wheel drive. Today though I think we'll go for four high because we know that
03:37we are going to be on dirt roads for quite a while and the beauty of that is it spreads the load and
03:43the drive evenly between the front axle and the back axle of your four-wheel drive. It'll give you a
03:50better traction a safer drive and it's also better on the road itself because instead of skipping out
03:57and causing erosion and corrugations and all that sort of stuff the car has better traction
04:04so it sort of helps the road as well as your four-wheel drive. Okay perfect, four high it is.
04:11Oh and I forgot to mention it's also a little bit more traction for those water crossings that are coming
04:16up as well. And before we knew it I spied our very first water crossing. Man this is just a gorgeous
04:24area out here and I think so many people go to the big hitter spots like Kuranda and Barron Falls but
04:32it's very very close just to go out the back and get a completely different experience. I mean the clarity
04:38in this water is absolutely gorgeous. Up ahead I'd spotted a nice little stretch of mud that I thought
04:47Jess could cut her 4x4 teeth on. We've got a little bog hole. Oh wow already? Yes we are going to learn
04:55you some four-wheel driving give you a little edumacation. I might need a little bit of help
05:00when it comes to this dial and what mode I should put it in. Okay so the Everest Trammer makes it pretty
05:06damn easy because it's got a dial that tells you the different terrain types and what we have coming
05:12up here is mud and ruts. So if you can twist that little dial that should come up on your big screen
05:19and that should set your vehicle up for success. Okay perfect I found mud and ruts do I need to change
05:27into full low? The beauty about that little dial is that it decides for you depending on the terrain so
05:33you can sort of forget about the old four-wheel driving thing of high and low. The car kind of
05:38knows what to do so whether it's sand mud ruts snow whatever it's got a mode for it and that should set
05:45you up to get through this but I will run through first and see how we go and then you can come in
05:52after me. Okay perfect show me how it's done please Pat. No I'm nervous if I get bogged and have you pulling
05:59me out it's not gonna be a good look. No pressure. She's a bit bumpy but there's a bit of traction
06:05under there so you should be fine. Just very gentle but steady throttle all the way through. Here we go.
06:13Thank god I wasn't doing the cape that's all I'm gonna say. Going in she's going for it. Proud man
06:19I am a proud man. I like when she learns four-wheel drive in a four-wheel drive that's not mine. Oh my god.
06:30Okay. Left hand down. Oh yeah. She's out of there. Well driven. Slow and steady. Nicely done Jess.
06:43Still to come baby-sized bats, an incredible gorge and a stunner of a camp. You find us cruising along
06:51the very beautiful Clohese River Road. One of the things I love about this area is the massive contrast
06:58that happen in such a compact area. Weather wise down in out the back of Cairns you're looking at
07:05probably about 28 degrees there at the moment. Up here on the Atherton Tableland 20 degrees so it's a
07:12lot cooler a lot milder and then in the middle of it all you've got that area of the rainforest
07:18around Kuranda and it captures the rain and the clouds beautifully and invariably they drop and they
07:25give that beautiful stretch of rainforest a big old drink just about every day. It is really stunning.
07:33The other benefit of all that rain water crossings and lots of them. The wonderful thing about this
07:39track is that it crosses the Clohese River on multiple occasions. You cross and cross and cross
07:45again and every time it is a beautiful scene. The water is crystal clear. The other nice thing about
07:52it is it's not really a challenging water crossing as you've seen it is fairly shallow certainly in the
07:57dry season. In the wet or after big rain don't even bother coming out here folks because they know how
08:03to create rain up here in these parts up north and you definitely want to steer clear of this area then
08:09but in the dry season mostly it is going to be a very very easy run and a perfect beginner's foray
08:18into formal driving. Our next stop in the Dindon National Park is the Clohese River Fig Tree Walk.
08:25A short 300 meter boardwalk through a picturesque patch of rainforest leading to a hidden gem.
08:35Oh my goodness guys what an absolute monster. It looks like 15 different trees. It's amazing it
08:43really looks like something out of a Harry Potter movie. It does doesn't it it's so ancient. Can you just
08:47imagine the size of the tree that it actually strangled which is completely decimated under
08:53there now. Normally you'll see remnants of it but that's just a pile of dirt and bark under there now.
08:58I never even knew that that's how they they grew up like that that they strangled another tree. Yeah
09:03well they can't grow really on their own to any great height they need that other structure but when
09:07they get to that height obviously they're they're super stable and I mean you just look at those roots
09:13they've just climbed all over the earth here incredible. This slice of rainforest is also home
09:18to another interesting site. Have a look at this guys the product of a scrub fowl. Wow this is where
09:29he buries his eggs to keep them warm and incubated and everything but look at the size of it it's huge.
09:35I would just lose the eggs in there though if I was the bird. That's it. For sure. I think he might call
09:41his kids Komatsu and cat what do you reckon he's like the world's best excavator. We then jumped on
09:47the road for a southwestern run towards a geological marvel the likes of which is unparalleled in this
09:54land the Andara lava tubes. So we set the adaptive cruise control to 100 and convoyed it out of town.
10:02Well the sun is just setting in the Andara volcanic national park and I think it is the perfect time
10:10to go in search for some creatures of the night. The only way you can access this special area is on
10:16a guided tour. Now we're heading to a place called Baxter's Knob which is basically a collapsed lava tube
10:25but what it's done as it's collapsed is it's sort of created a little micro climate that has an
10:33environment that's really conducive to the bats. Little bent wings and all sorts of different types
10:38there's about four types in here I believe which is getting dark now. When it's the prime time and
10:44you come here in Feb you can get 40 000 bats in here right now I reckon we've got a couple thousand it's
10:50a good night for you can hear them around us again here they're starting to fly out from behind me
10:58I'm going to give you a countdown from three and we'll see what we got
11:04three two one
11:09Despite Jess being very familiar with many types of Aussie wildlife she didn't seem to be enjoying
11:15these ones too much. That was amazing I was expecting to get smacked in the head by one.
11:35I look like a bit of a martian now but that is for good reason because the bugs are attracted to the
11:41red lights that we're running and that means if there's bugs we're creating food for the bats
11:47to come out so we're going to try and draw them out of the cave now get a bit of action.
11:52And those little bats did not disappoint swarming out of their cave and into the open air to create
11:59quite the incredible sight. I knew we were coming to do this today but still I did not expect to be sitting
12:05here on the steps watching bats fly out of a cave. Still to come we discover an idyllic riverside camp
12:13and I'll cook up some camp oven banana bread. Today we're exploring the Andara lava tubes,
12:20a place Sir David Attenborough declared should be the eighth wonder of the world. We'll be joining a guided
12:27tour for the morning to learn more about the area and what makes it such a unique place. Andara is
12:34accessible by guided tour only and they are the longest lava tube cave system in the world. It's
12:41also home to a unique ecosystem of vine forests. As you drive into this area you're driving through
12:48quite open woodland but then there are these little remnant pockets of vine forest and it's quite lush
12:56down here and they're formed because these lava tubes have actually collapsed and they've collapsed and
13:03really kept a little bit of moisture in here because that collapse forces the water in here and creates
13:10a little bit of an environment with greater shade and you find these species that aren't really found
13:17anywhere else but they certainly were millions of years ago. These forests covered the entire area now
13:23they're just these tiny little pockets here at Andara. Now as you'd expect in these areas you're going to find
13:31some rich wildlife as well you're going to find bats you're going to find snakes all sorts of stuff that
13:37you're never going to see out there in the open woodland. But the main event at Andara has to be
13:44the lava tubes themselves formed roughly 190 000 years ago by volcanic activity the remains of which can be
13:53seen today in the huge chunks of rock that form the arches and litter the area around us. To think that
14:01where we're standing here was once a lava flow and the temperature was around about 1600 degrees celsius
14:11in that flow now the lava formed on the tops on the sides and on the bottom and the lava would
14:17also flow right through the middle and what it's created is really quite magnificent this one here is
14:24called the grand arch and what i wasn't expecting is just this gorgeous colour scheme in that arch you've
14:33got these deep oranges well they're formed by iron oxide leaching through and staining the rock and then
14:39you've got the beautiful whites and that's the calcium carbonate so when it rains up top that leaches out
14:46of the rock and creates a gorgeous top layer pretty spectacular ah check out those tree roots down there
14:55under the water i think this is what i was expecting in my head to see when i came here in fact it's a
15:05little bit bigger than what i thought this is stevenson's cave or well technically it's stevenson's lava tube
15:12now the public are only allowed to see around about seven kilometers or so of lava tubes there's
15:18actually 160 kilometers worth of these things underground in the andara area this place is an
15:29absolute wonder to behold and an excellent stop for anyone interested in learning more about the
15:35geological history of the region bookings are a must and a tour of the lava tubes will last about
15:41three hours when you come on one of these tours you are going to want to dedicate a fair bit of the
15:47time in fact i just write off the day to this because you're going to get up early cruise out for the
15:52whole day go for walks soak in all that information and then you're going to want to nap you might also
15:58want to take notes there are so many facts we are getting fed from our very knowledgeable tour guides so
16:04learning lots and lots today and of course seeing some pretty cool stuff after exploring undara we
16:11pulled into the small town of mount surprise to pick up some of their famous custard tarts
16:21how good that was really good i think it's pretty awesome that mount surprise has a population of 138
16:28and they can still get freshly baked products each day that's that's pretty awesome isn't it that is
16:34amazing with full bellies we're heading out of mount surprise to get back on the dirt and make our way
16:41towards cobalt gorge oh boy i think i'm gonna have to fast for a week after that custard slice
16:48but we are continuing to head west now on the bitumen just momentarily and then we're gonna head south on the
16:55gringery development road where the road's gonna get a little bit rougher and the scene it's gonna
17:01get a whole lot prettier you find us hitting the four safe road just south of georgetown in outback
17:08queensland it really is lovely to get off the bitumen now and just meander through the countryside
17:14here more open woodland but some beautiful ranges in the background and this road is in great condition
17:21at the moment it's early august it's nice and dry a few corrugations a few lumps and bumps but you
17:27could actually tow a caravan up this road and a lot of people do because it's just a nice way to get
17:32off the bitumen and explore the real scenery
17:42coming up we hit the water to explore one of the most beautiful gorges in outback queensland
17:47oh boy i love these little single lane tracks to nowhere because sometimes nowhere leads to
17:58somewhere somewhere that's pretty damn awesome and i have a good feeling about this one
18:09oh wow coming down and spotting the anesley river
18:15this is just it's quite a grand river folks absolutely beautiful looking at that
18:22scoured white rocks is just beautiful what a cracking spot in fact the perfect place to
18:29whip up some afternoon tea
18:33this is one of those truly magnificent camps but you know what makes a good camp a great camp
18:40is a great feed i reckon anyway so we have a dish that most of you are going to have heard of and
18:46probably have eaten a thousand times but possibly not out the back of a camp oven and this is simply
18:53banana bread now i don't like doing too much preparation on the road so what i've done is i've
18:59actually thrown everything into a tupperware container to pre-mix all those dry ingredients so we've
19:05got a cup and a half of flour we've got about a cup of brown sugar we have a pinch of salt to get
19:11this banana bread baking we're going to whisk one egg mash four nannies to a paste consistency then in
19:18with half a cup of melted butter and mix it all together with your dry ingredients which i should
19:24mention also includes a couple of teaspoons of cinnamon once you've reached a paint-like consistency then it's
19:31into the camp oven and onto the fire oh man how idyllic is this spot josh has knocked up some beautiful
19:41little coals for me so i'm just gonna pop the lid on there and
19:49rescue some coals from under this fire so in this case i'd probably prefer to put more coals on top than
19:57on the bottom because i really like that heat radiating down from the top because it's a bit
20:03more gentle heat than the stuff that's coming up from underneath so that's going to take around about
20:1030 minutes to cook in there and i'd encourage you not to actually check it in that time
20:16one of the things about camp ovens is they do keep a lot of the steam and heat inside and that's a
20:22really good thing when it comes to cooking banana bread because it is really moist and we love it
20:27when it's moist the worst thing is drying out banana bread so keep the lid on there be patient for about
20:3330 minutes and after that you can start to check it after half an hour in that beautiful river it was
20:39time to check on our afternoon treat and it's looking fantastic let's get her out of there the only thing
20:46that might make this even more luxurious is a decent pad of butter and some fresh straws now it's time to
20:52feed the hordes okay guys take a time alrighty ladies first oh thank you there we go just that's a
20:59little bit crumbly looks so good now i need your honest opinion on this guys let me know what you
21:07think hook in hook in don't wait for me those are really good you know i traditionally genuinely
21:16genuinely hate banana bread he doesn't eat it ever i like this i've made you do it i'll finish this
21:21though i really will well that was a really nice little feed but i do have some left and i think
21:27if i don't feed the crew then there's going to be new isn't that right jim yes yes yes
21:35we're just going to leave camp now but it's a really good idea just for the benefit of other
21:47campers coming after you that you actually extinguish your fire properly so the way you do that is you
21:55kind of remove the bigger wood off the fire disturb the coals a little bit
22:01and then you get a whole bunch of water and and you tip it over like so
22:12now if you don't extinguish the fire it can stay hot for days and that means that if there's some
22:19other people coming into camp could have little kids they come in they look at it visually you can see
22:25no heat but sometimes it can still be over 500 degrees celsius with those slow burning coals so
22:33if you extinguish the fire properly cool it all down then you're going to make the campfire much safer
22:39for the next family that camps here after you
22:43my little riverside camp wasn't exactly suitable for caravans but this one certainly is perched beside a
22:50gorgeous lagoon filled to the brim with white lilies this little gem is called jardine lagoon camp put it
22:58on your list and just on the doorstep of the one pub town of honestly sits the beautiful copperfield
23:06gorge with a sweet little waterfall squeezing its way through the rocks it's a must see spot on your
23:13journey well that's a pretty good indication of how high the river gets alluvial sand and we're what
23:2020 meters above easily the level of the water that's crazy it must pump over here and it scoured
23:28all of these rocks up here i feel like i can still hear it though but i just can't see it
23:33see it yes there must be a little waterfall just up there it's dramatic very dramatic dramatic and
23:40beautiful paper barks on the river up there cockatoos in the trees and the golden light
23:46very serene now it sure is kangaroos hopping past already
23:52next up an incredible gorge that you've probably never heard of and we hit the water in more ways than
23:58one after a delightful night's sleep at kobold gorge we awoke with a spirit of adventure
24:07we've got a bushwalk coming up today i'm pretty excited but i also am very conscious of the uv rating
24:13that's out there and you have to be because if you're not you could get really seriously burned and
24:19those serious burns can turn into skin cancer eventually so a good way of actually monitoring just
24:26how damaging that sun can be is with one of these little apps this is the sun smart app and it
24:32gives you a uv rating now it rates the uv between one and ten and you might be surprised to know that
24:38anything above three requires sun protection so it's going to hit a maximum of eight here at kobold
24:46gorge today so that means that i definitely need to slip slop slap and make sure i find shade wherever
24:52possible and the way that i'm doing this is obviously to put some sunscreen on those open
24:58areas that aren't covered by my clothing but also wearing a nice broad brim hat long sleeves long jeans
25:05you know the deal make sure you download one of these apps folks they are absolutely free
25:10and just having that information will really help you protect the skin not just of you but of your
25:17family as well we'd booked in for a stand up paddleboard tour something none of us had done
25:23here before we are on our way for our first activity here at kobold gorge which is stand up paddleboarding
25:30are we excited guys definitely that is very fresh this morning i'm freezing and because i'm not an
25:37athlete i'm definitely going swimming today oh man this is uh unseasonably cold here i think it was
25:45probably about four degrees this morning and uh yeah hopefully the water is warmer but what a beautiful
25:50spot to uh enjoy feeling uh always a little bit tentative with the stand up paddleboard because
25:59you know there's water it's cold but we'll be right
26:05thankfully these boards are super stable and um and you can really just stand back and relax and
26:12watch the scenery go by it's definitely a lot of pressure to not fall in because it is super fresh
26:18but it's easier than i anticipated thankfully the rocks kind of have this sort of plasticine vibe
26:24about them they've got a bit of a sheen on them because they've been constantly polished
26:29by the waters that flood down here every time it rains
26:34it's amazing just how narrow this whole structure is and it's whisper quiet in here it's absolutely
26:43gorgeous what do you reckon jess it's um so beautiful but definitely like a obstacle course with
26:50all these rocks jutting out i don't want to hit anything i think this is one of the best ways i've
26:56ever seen in a gorge except i feel like i'm doing a lot of time staring at my feet and hoping i don't
27:01go here what a way to start the day folks cobble gorge smashing it and of course it's all fun and games
27:12until someone falls into the freezing cold drink i knew it would be me
27:16oh it's okay it's not as cold as i expected it to be but i'm just my ego's hurt now i'm the yoga
27:26teacher of the group and i'm heart balanced if stand-up paddle boarding isn't your thing there
27:32are drier ways to see the gorge including a boat ride with a guided tour or a walk across a new
27:39addition to the park the glass bridge well this is a first for me folks i'm putting on some protective
27:45booties on a bushwalk but it's for good reason we're about to do a glass bridge walk and this
27:52bridge soars around about 19 meters above the cobalt gorge let's go have a look spanning the
28:00width of the gorge the glass bridge perfectly showcases the narrow chasm giving guests a bird's
28:06eye view deep into the stunning gorge after a massive day exploring cobalt gorge it was time
28:14to kick back around the bush television and reflect
28:30up next we take to the water for fun and for fish
28:38we had a beautiful morning at camp with a good feed
28:40and then it was time for a bit of bush luxury
28:49well the crew is a little bit stinky you know when you're camping and you've got that wonderful
28:56campfire and it just gets into your hair your clothes all that sort of stuff we're heading into
29:01town today so i'm going to try and make our crew smell a little bit better now i've got a secret weapon to
29:08help with that and it is our very own hot water shower setup it's a crack at this one i had it last
29:17season as well runs off 240 volt or 12 volt power and it's got about a 10 liter tank in there and
29:25obviously we're going to want a little bit of privacy so we'll sort that out as well
29:29so here's our bushwhacker ensuite setup guys and i simply need to thread the shower rows through here
29:38and we have a beautiful bit of privacy now last year we actually had a tub rack on it was a little
29:45bit lower this ensuite now it's a bit higher but that's okay because i've got these little adjustable
29:50straps here that just allows me to lower that floor down a little bit further with me and the crew squeaky
29:56clean we hit the road again towards croydon as you're driving up here on the savannah way i find
30:06that i see a lot of caravanners camping by the side of the road clumped in the one spot and they're
30:13always invariably on the main drag now i don't know whether that's because they want to save fuel
30:18or because they love the company of 53 other caravans but that to me is not my style of camping what i
30:25would encourage you to do is to get a decent map that shows you not just the main roads but the
30:32other tracks around the area because invariably you will find that there will be a little track
30:37off to a national park off to a station off to wherever where you can free camp by the side of
30:44the track now the benefits of that are plentiful one is that there will be no noise of other campers
30:51no noise of trucks rolling past through the night often road trains but you'll also find that there
30:57will probably be plentiful firewood as well because it won't have been scoured by 5 000 other campers
31:03that have been camping in the same spot for the months before you have so get yourself a decent map
31:09and get off the track folks it is such a nice experience and it's quite enjoyable to turn it into
31:15a bit more of an adventure and actually discover a new campsite not just go to one that loads of
31:22people have been to before you uh i can see a little cocky skate up ahead i sense a little learning
31:28opportunity for young jess here jess you got a copy sure do i'm just pulling up here you want to uh jump
31:35out and uh let's go and have a look at something hey i don't know what this is gonna be but okay see you
31:41in a sec okay jess have you ever heard of a thing called a cocky's gate i have not but this looks a
31:51little bit complicated this is one here so the farmers or the cockies they tend to use these
31:56because they're cheap they're homemade basically all you need is a couple of posts an iron dropper
32:02and a bit of wire and you've got yourself a gate instead of having to drive 2 000 kilometers to
32:07the farm supply shop but when you're in the bush you've got to know how to open them and close them
32:12so this is why we have brought you out to give you a bit of a lesson perfect okay so what holds this
32:18gate up is you've got this little piece at the heel there so they've used some good heavy gauge wire
32:24down the bottom there and then this pole here sort of tensions the top up and if we just pull this
32:31little collar back there that starts to take the tension off and then we simply lift it out of the
32:40base there and uh walk her out so i mean that's pretty simple taking it out but putting it back
32:49in might be a bit more challenging so we might get you to help i was gonna say let me guess
32:53i'll show you how to do that so you drop that base in there
33:02yeah and then around the front that's it and that goes around the front so if you want to grab
33:06that pole there we're gonna pop him in there and then bring it towards me and yes you've tensioned it
33:15there good little hole too easy nice work cowgirl awesome well do you want to uh do you want to do
33:22that one and we'll uh open her up for the drive i'll try not to touch the barbed wire
33:34yeah just lay it down there jess and we'll get the cars through
33:39what a pro and of course she didn't forget to close the gate behind us
33:43with the fresh water supply of croydon just four kilometers out of town lake belmore supplies the
33:56town of croydon with their fresh drinking water but it's also a place where you can swim and fish
34:02but i had other ideas it was a beautiful little waterway here and i picked up a special toy this
34:09season this is called a flight board and it's a foiling board so it's going to allow me to
34:16sail around that beautiful little fresh water lake
34:21and have a bit of an explore some assembly is required for the foiling board
34:28but once it's all put together i think i'm going to be in for a good time
34:40i was a little rusty starting off
34:44but soon got my sea legs or was that lake legs
34:48what an exhilarating way to explore lake belmore soaking up the scenery at high speeds is a whole lot
35:03of fun well it's a pretty cool way to explore the local waterways and uh i don't think too many
35:12flight boards have been out there in the past actually i think this may be the first
35:16you know as i mentioned you can fish this lake a short drive to carumba and you'll have an even
35:23better time on the way normanton makes a great place to stop and stretch the legs known for its rich
35:30history and character and surrounded by a vast wetlands it is a must-see stop the wetlands team with
35:40bird life including brolgers jabberos and flocks of migrating birds making it a paradise for nature
35:47enthusiasts it's also home to the purple pub and chris the croc a replica of a 8.64 meter salty
35:58shot on the norman river in 1957.
36:02fishing both amateur and professional is undoubtedly the lifeblood of carumba so before we wet a line
36:11ourselves i thought it a fine idea to visit the barra center this purpose-built facility breeds a
36:18whopping 200 000 baby barramundi every year to be released into the local river systems this ensures
36:27both recreational and professional fishermen don't have to wait too long for that infamous barra strike
36:35and don't they hit hard they even want us to devour our cameras
36:41the barramundi center is dedicated to the conservation and study of the region's
36:46most famous fish originally established as a hatchery to support wild fish stocks
36:53and now combines hands-on aquaculture with interactive displays and guided tours where you can learn
36:59about the life cycle of barramundi and the vital role the river systems play in the local economy
37:05and culture karumba is a town that's literally cut off from the rest of australia during the wet season
37:12only a few hardy locals hang around for the wet and that includes ben and jemma they run a couple of
37:19fishing charter boats up here with jemma the skipper of her boat and ben the skipper of this gray beast
37:26we had the privilege of them both joining us on our day out on the water
37:32well ben i'm pretty pumped for a day out on the water mate with you guys uh being out here with the
37:37pros um so what is it that makes carumba such a fishing hub there's a lot of commercial fishing in
37:42carumba a lot of the trawlers with the prawns um they've just started for their tiger season um
37:48fishing for the tiger prawns raptors have got 13 permanent trawlers that are here all year round
37:53and they fish the two seasons the bananas and the tigers then you've got all the commercial
37:58fishermen the barra fishermen king salmon and stuff like that um crumb is just a great little fishing
38:03town what are we on the hunt for today mate we're heading out to our mackerel grounds which is about 40k
38:08out in front of the slinders river chasing your big spanish mackerel out there gts and stuff like
38:12that fantastic mate i have not fished for the big guys in quite a while so i'm looking forward to
38:18this me too and you were saying before that you uh when you get flooded in so carumba actually gets
38:24cut off yeah um uh you guys run this as a bit of a taxi service yeah so when the roads get cut
38:30we do runs all the way up the river to nominate um picking people up and dropping them off um to get
38:36plane flights and stuff like that so yeah we turn into a water taxi good stuff well there you go folks uh
38:41you might think that you could only come up here in uh winter to go fishing but you can actually
38:45make it up here in summer by flying into normanton and coming up here which is something that i had
38:50no idea you could do and we weren't out in the open ocean long before we got our first bite
38:56and it looked like a big one at that looking pretty good jess whoa there's a bit of weight in that
39:02what is on the end of that just caught a crocodile
39:11you're working for your tuckage yeah oh my god but it wasn't to be oh what a shame
39:19there's a monster down there whatever that was it was strong i got something here it doesn't feel
39:27massive but it's uh it's a something it was bites all round and here's a tip for free don't take your
39:34eye off the fish but as they say there was plenty of fish left in the sea how did that feel coming on
39:43josh yeah a bit hard strong josh always out fishes me so i can't let him do it again ah little
39:51the beauty i think of fishing up here in these northern waters is that you are always getting
40:00nibbles there is always some action now it might not always be a big fish but compared to down south
40:07where you might go for half an hour with not a nibble at all it's a lot more exciting i don't
40:14have a lot of patience folks but you don't need it up here at karumba suddenly it seemed like we caught
40:19something big he's gonna be close come on buddy hey oh wow we got a shark
40:30there he is oh it's a hammerhead wow that's amazing oh wow look at that bronzy color on him hello buddy
40:40well that was a whole lot of fun i was basically dancing well he had me dancing backwards and forwards
40:46over the back of the boat and what a beautiful shark to actually see up close in the end he's
40:52not gonna land in a pan but uh that was cool regardless of whether you've caught a big one or
40:57not the place in town to watch the sun drop over the water is the sunset tavern we celebrated our
41:04journey here with their monstrous seafood tower which delivered on its promise to demolish any hunger
41:11pains we need an eat for a week after this one well i often get to the end of these adventures and
41:20wax a little bit lyrical about just how good it has been but josh jess and i have really sat back and
41:28chatted about just how good it has been i mean the bushwalks have been fantastic the bird life the barra
41:35everything up here is just so beautiful not to mention some of the best campsites that i have
41:41seen in australia so if you do get the chance to explore this area of far north queensland
41:46take it with both hands i'm pat cullinan and until next time keep the shawney side up
42:05so i'll be waiting here in your arms
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