Pat Callinan's 4x4 Adventures Season 18 Episode 3

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Transcript

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. Our adventure

00:29kicks off at Barron Falls near Cairns on the Atherton Tablelands where we'll wheel the local

00:35highlights before heading south west to Undara lava tubes, Cobbold Gorge and then northwards

00:41to Normanton and Karumba with loads of great stops along the way. Joining me on this journey is Josh

00:47who will be behind the wheel of the Ford Ranger Tremor and taking the helm of the Everest Tremor

00:53this time around will be Josh's better half our production manager Jess. But before we

00:59hit the dirt we couldn't miss an opportunity to take in the mighty sight of a local wonder.

01:06The Barron Falls walk is stunning with an elevated walkway housing you high up in the

01:12rainforest canopy. With this bird's eye view of the forest below you get a unique look at this stunning

01:18pocket of tropical rainforest. The walk takes around 40 minutes and terminates at the beautiful Barron Falls.

01:30Jess welcome aboard. Thank you it's good to be on this side of the screen. Ah good stuff. You realise

01:37um the reason you're here is because we're just making a desperate attempt to capture a younger audience

01:44because I mean I'm approaching 50 from the wrong end and um uh and I think uh I think your partner Josh

01:52he's uh 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

02:02Jess? The first one definitely would be Andara lava tubes. I've done a lot of travel this last year since

02:08we last shot and that's just somewhere that I haven't gotten to yet. Oh look that makes two of us

02:13actually and what about you Josh? I hear there's some tours coming up with a whole lot of bat caves

02:18and stuff like that but I think what I'm most excited for is really actually just to be wheeling

02:23with two of my most favorite people in the world and I know that's a cliche but it is genuinely true.

02:28No I can't wait this is going to be a nice run um I think with a little bit less pressure than uh than

02:33the Cape trip that we just did. Absolutely it's nice to uh to not be shaking in the four-wheel

02:38drive for once. We're starting the day on the Cloheasy River track a beautiful slice of country

02:45with plenty of nice easy water crossings to ease Jess into the driver's seat. I'm gonna ask a very

02:51simple question what should I be driving in right now? There's a few different modes that you've got

02:56access to here that would be relevant so you can either go for 4A. 4A is really great if you're going

03:03from bitumen 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

03:20does is 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 rather

03:32than just two-wheel drive. Today though I think we'll go for four high because we know that we are

03:37going to be on dirt roads for quite a while and the beauty of that is it spreads the load and the drive

03:44evenly between the front axle and the back axle of your four-wheel drive it'll give you better traction

03:51a safer drive and it's also better on the road itself because instead of skipping out and causing erosion

03:59and corrugations and all that sort of stuff the car has better traction so it sort of helps the road

04:06as well as your four-wheel drive. Okay perfect, four high it is. Oh and I forgot to mention it's also

04:14a little bit more traction for those water crossings that are coming up as well.

04:19And before we knew it I spied our very first water crossing. Man this is just a gorgeous area

04:25out 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 four by four teeth on. We've got a little bog hole. Oh wow already? Yes we are going to

04:54learn you some four-wheel driving give you a little edumacation. I might need a little bit of help

05:00when it comes to this dial in what mode I should put it in. Okay so the Everest tremor 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 and

05:20that 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 knows

05:38what 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

05:58pulling me out it's not going to be a good look. No pressure. Oh she's a bit bumpy but there's a bit

06:04of traction under there so you should be fine just very gentle but steady throttle all the way through.

06:11Here we go. Thank god I wasn't doing the cape that's all I'm gonna say. She's going in she's going

06:18for it proud man I am a proud man I like when she learns four-wheel drive in a four-wheel drive that's not mine.

06:24Oh my god okay. 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 the

06:51very 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

07:24and they give that beautiful stretch of rainforest a big old drink just about every day. It is really

07:31stunning. The other benefit of all that rain water crossings and lots of them. The wonderful thing

07:39about this track is that it crosses the Clohese River on multiple occasions you cross and cross and

07:44cross again at every time. It is a beautiful scene. The water is crystal clear. The other nice thing

07:52about it is it's not really a challenging water crossing as you've seen. It is fairly shallow

07:56certainly in the dry season. In the wet or after big rain don't even bother coming out here folks because

08:03they know how to create rain up here in these parts up north and you definitely want to steer clear of

08:08this area then. But in the dry season mostly it is going to be a very very easy run and a perfect

08:16beginner's foray into forward driving. Our next stop in the Dindon National Park is the Clohese River

08:24Fig Tree Walk. A short 300 meter boardwalk through a picturesque patch of rainforest leading to a hidden gem.

08:32Oh 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

08:47just imagine the size of the tree that it actually strangled which is completely decimated under there

08:53now. Normally you'll see remnants of it but that's just a pile of dirt and bark under there now. I never

08:59even knew that that's how they they grew up like that that they strangled another tree. Yeah well

09:03they can't grow really on their own to any great height they need that other structure but when they

09:08get to that height obviously they're they're super stable and I mean just look at those roots they've

09:13just climbed all over the earth here incredible. This slice of rainforest is also home to another

09:19interesting site. Have a look at this guys. The product of a scrub fowl. Wow. This is where he

09:29buries 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 his

09:41kids Komatsu and Cat. What do you reckon? He's like the world's best excavator. We then jumped on the road

09:48for a southwestern run towards a geological marvel the likes of which is unparalleled in this land.

09:55The Andara lava tubes. So we set the adaptive cruise control to 100 and convoyed it out of town.

10:03Well the sun is just setting in the Andara volcanic national park and I think it is

10:08the perfect time to go in search for some creatures of the night. The only way you can access this special

10:15area is on a guided tour. Now we're heading to a place called Baxter's Knob which is basically a

10:23collapsed lava tube but what it's done as it's collapsed is it's sort of created a little micro

10:31climate that has an environment that's really conducive to the bats little bent wings and all

10:37sorts of different types. There's about four types in here I believe which is getting dark now. When it's the

10:43prime time and you come here in Feb you can get 40,000 bats in here. Right now I reckon we've got

10:49a couple thousand it's a good night for you. You can hear them around us again here. They're starting

10:55to fly out from behind me. I'm going to give you a countdown from three and we'll see what we got.

11:02Three, two, one. Despite Jess being very familiar with many types of Aussie wildlife

11:13she didn't seem to be enjoying these ones too much.

11:16I reckon that they had a quiet night last night. That was amazing I was expecting to get smacked in

11:33the head by one. I look like a bit of a Martian now but that is for good reason because the bugs are

11:40attracted to the red lights that we're running and that means if there's bugs we're creating food

11:46for the bats to 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

12:05sitting here on the steps watching bats fly out of a cave. Still to come we discover an idyllic

12:12riverside camp and 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

12:27a guided tour for the morning to learn more about the area and what makes it such a unique place.

12:32Andara is accessible by guided tour only and they are the longest lava tube cave system in the world.

12:41It's also 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

13:03and really kept a little bit of moisture in here because that collapse forces the water in here and

13:10creates a little bit of an environment with greater shade and you find these species that aren't really

13:16found anywhere else but they certainly were millions of years ago. These forests covered the entire area,

13:23now they're just these tiny little pockets here at Andara. Now as you'd expect in these areas you're

13:30going to find some rich wildlife as well. You're going to find bats, you're going to find snakes, all sorts

13:36of stuff that you'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

13:53be seen today in the huge chunks of rock that form the arches and litter the area around us. To think

14:00that where 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

14:24is called 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

14:45out of the rock and creates a gorgeous top layer. Pretty spectacular. Ah check out those tree roots down

14:55there under the water. I think this is what I was expecting in my head to see when I came here. In fact,

15:05it's a little bit bigger than what I thought. This is Stevenson's cave or or technically it's Stevenson's

15:11lava tube. Now the public are only allowed to see around about seven kilometres or so of lava tubes.

15:18There's actually 160 kilometres worth of these things underground in the Andara area.

15:27This place is an absolute wonder to behold and an excellent stop for anyone interested in learning more

15:34about the geological history of the region. Bookings are a must and a tour of the lava tubes will last

15:41about three hours. When you come on one of these tours you are going to want to dedicate a fair bit

15:47of the time. In fact, I just write off the day to this because you're going to get up early, cruise out

15:51for the whole day, go for walks, soak in all that information and then you're going to want to nap.

15:55You might also want to take notes. There are so many facts we are getting fed from our very

16:02knowledgeable tour guides. So learning lots and lots today and of course seeing some pretty cool stuff.

16:09After exploring Andara, we pulled into the small town of Mount Surprise to pick up

16:14some of their famous custard tarts.

16:21How good. Those are 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 pretty awesome isn't it?

16:34That is amazing. With full bellies, we're heading out of Mount Surprise to get back on the dirt

16:40and make our way towards Cobbold Gorge. Oh boy, I think I'm going to have to fast for a week after

16:46that custard slice. But we are continuing to head west now on the bitumen just momentarily and then

16:53we're going to head south on the Gregory Development Road where the road's going to get a little bit

16:59rougher and the scene is going to get a whole lot prettier. You find us hitting the Forsyth Road just

17:06south of Georgetown in outback Queensland. It really is lovely to get off the bitumen now and

17:12just meander through the countryside here. More open woodland with some beautiful ranges in the

17:18background and this road is in great condition at the moment. It's early August, it's nice and dry.

17:24A few corrugations, a few lumps and bumps but you could actually tow a caravan up this road and a lot of

17:30people do because it's just a nice way to get off 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.

18:03Oh wow, coming down and spotting the Anersley River. This is just, it's quite a grand river folks.

18:19Absolutely beautiful. Looking at that scoured white rocks, it is just beautiful. What a cracking spot.

18:28In fact, the perfect place to whip up some afternoon tea. This is one of those truly magnificent camps,

18:36but you know what makes a good camp a great camp? Is a great feed, I reckon anyway. So, we have a dish

18:43that most of you are going to have heard of and probably have eaten a thousand times, but possibly not

18:49out the back of a camp oven and this is simply banana bread. Now, I don't like doing too much

18:57preparation on the road. So, what I've done is I've actually thrown everything into a Tupperware

19:02container to pre-mix all those dry ingredients. So, we've got a cup and a half of flour, we've got

19:07about a cup of brown sugar, we have a pinch of salt. To get this banana bread baking,

19:13we're going to whisk one egg, mash four narnies to a paste consistency, then in with half a cup of

19:19melted butter and mix it all together with your dry ingredients, which I should mention also includes

19:25a couple of teaspoons of cinnamon. Once you've reached a paint-like consistency, then it's into

19:32the camp oven and onto the fire. Oh man, how idyllic is this spot? Josh has knocked up some beautiful

19:40little coals for me. So, I'm just going to pop the lid on there and rescue some coals from under this fire.

19:53So, in this case, I'd probably prefer to put more coals on top than on the bottom because

19:59I really like that heat radiating down from the top because it's a bit more gentle heat than

20:04the stuff that's coming up from underneath. So, that's going to take around about 30 minutes to

20:11cook in there and I'd encourage you not to actually check it in that time. One of the things about camp

20:18ovens is they do keep a lot of the steam and heat inside and that's a really good thing when it comes

20:23to cooking banana bread because it is really moist and we love it when it's moist. The worst thing is

20:29drying out banana bread. So, keep the lid on there, be patient for about 30 minutes and after that you

20:35can start to check it. After half an hour in that beautiful river, it was time to check on our afternoon

20:41treat and it's looking fantastic. Let's get her out of there. The only thing that might make this even

20:47more luxurious is a decent pat of butter and some fresh straws. Now it's time to feed the hordes.

20:54Okay guys, take a time. Alrighty, ladies first. Oh, thank you. There we go, just a little bit crumbly. Looks so good.

21:03Now, I need your honest opinion on this guys. Let me know what you think. Hook in, hook in. Don't wait for me.

21:12Those are really good. You know, I traditionally genuinely hate banana bread. He doesn't eat it ever.

21:19I like this. I've made you do it. I'll finish this though. I really will.

21:23Well, that was a really nice little feed but I do have some left and I think if I don't feed the crew

21:28then there's going to be mutiny. 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

21:52that is you kind of remove the bigger wood off the fire, disturb the coals a little bit and then

22:02you get a whole bunch of water 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

22:25can see no heat but sometimes it can still be over 500 degrees celsius with those slow burning coals.

22:32So if you extinguish the fire properly, cool it all down, then you're going to make the campfire

22:38much safer for the next family that camps here after you.

22:41My little riverside camp wasn't exactly suitable for caravans but this one certainly is. Perched

22:49beside a gorgeous lagoon filled to the brim with white lilies, this little gem is called Jardine Lagoon

22:57Camp. Put it on your list. And just on the doorstep of the one pub town of Inesley sits the beautiful

23:05Copperfield Gorge. With a sweet little waterfall squeezing its way through the rocks, it's a must-see

23:12spot on your journey. Well that's a pretty good indication of how high the river gets. Alluvial

23:19sand and we're what 20 meters above easily the level of the water. That's crazy, it must pump over here

23:27and it scoured all of these rocks up here. I feel like I can still hear it though but I just can't see it.

23:34Yes, 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. Next up an incredible gorge that you've

23:54probably never heard of and we hit the water in more ways than one. After a delightful night's

24:02sleep at Cobbold Gorge, we awoke with a spirit of adventure. We've got a bushwalk coming up today.

24:08I'm pretty excited but I also am very conscious of the UV rating that's out there and you have to be

24:15because if you're not you could get really seriously burned and those serious burns can turn into skin

24:22cancer eventually. So a good way of actually monitoring just how damaging that sun can be

24:28is with one of these little apps. This is the SunSmart app and it gives you a UV rating. Now it rates the

24:34UV between 1 and 10 and you might be surprised to know that anything above 3 requires sun protection. So

24:43it's going to hit a maximum of 8 here at Cobbold Gorge today. So that means that I definitely need to

24:49slip slop slap and make sure I find shade wherever possible and the way that I'm doing this is

24:55obviously to put some sunscreen on those open areas that aren't covered by my clothing but also wearing

25:02a nice broad brimmed hat, long sleeves, long jeans, you know the deal. Make sure you download one of these

25:08apps folks they are absolutely free and just having that information will really help you protect the

25:15skin not just of you but of your family as well. We'd booked in for a stand-up paddleboard tour,

25:21something none of us had done here before. We are on our way for our first activity here at Cobbold Gorge

25:28which is stand-up paddleboarding. Are we excited guys? Definitely but it is very fresh this morning,

25:34I'm freezing. And because I'm not an athlete I'm definitely going swimming today.

25:38Oh man this is unseasonably cold here. I think it was probably about four degrees this morning and

25:48yeah hopefully the water is warmer but what a beautiful spot to enjoy. Feeling always a little

25:56bit tentative with the stand-up paddleboard because you know there's water, it's cold but we'll be right.

26:02Thankfully 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

26:30by the waters that flood down here every time it rains. It's amazing just how narrow this whole

26:38structure is and it's whisper quiet in here. It's absolutely gorgeous. What do you reckon Jess?

26:46It's um so beautiful but definitely like a obstacle course with all these rocks jutting out.

26:52Don't want to hit anything. I think this is one of the best ways I've ever seen a gorge.

26:57Except I feel like I'm doing a lot of time staring at my feet and hoping I don't go here.

27:04What a way to start the day folks. Cobalt Gorge, smashing it.

27:09And of course it's all fun and games until someone falls into the freezing cold drink.

27:15I knew it would be me. It's okay it's not as cold as I expected it to be but I'm just my ego's hurt now.

27:25I'm the yoga teacher of the group and I can't balance.

27:29If stand up paddle boarding isn't your thing there are drier ways to see the gorge including a boat ride

27:36with a guided tour or a walk across a new addition to the park. The glass bridge.

27:42Well this is a first for me folks. I'm putting on some protective booties on a bush walk.

27:47But it's for good reason. We're about to do a glass bridge walk and this bridge soars around about 19

27:54meters above the Cobalt Gorge. Let's go and have a look.

27:59Spanning the width of the gorge the glass bridge perfectly showcases the narrow chasm,

28:05giving guests a bird's eye view deep into the stunning gorge.

28:10After a massive day exploring Cobalt Gorge it was time to kick back around the bush television and reflect.

28:28Up next we take to the water for fun and for fish.

28:38We had a beautiful morning at camp with a good feed.

28:43And then it was time for a bit of bush luxury.

28:46Well the crew is a little bit stinky. You know when you're camping and you've got that wonderful

28:55campfire 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

29:07weapon to help with that and it is our very own hot water shower setup. It's a crack at this one. I

29:16had it last season as well. It runs off 240 volt or 12 volt power and it's got about a 10 litre tank in

29:24there and obviously 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

29:56squeaky clean we hit the road again towards Croydon.

30:03As you're driving up here on the Savannah Way I find that I see a lot of caravanners

30:09camping by the side of the road clumped in the one spot and they're always invariably on the main drag.

30:15Now I don't know whether that's because they want to save fuel or because they love the company of 53

30:21other caravans but that to me is not my style of camping. What I would encourage you to do

30:27is to get a decent map that shows you not just the main roads but the other tracks around the area

30:33because invariably you will find that there will be a little track off to a national park off to a

30:39station off to wherever where you can free camp by the side of the track. Now the benefits of that are

30:46plentiful one is that there will be no noise of other campers no noise of trucks rolling past

30:53through the night often road trains but you'll also find that there'll probably be plentiful firewood

30:58as well because it won't have been scoured by 5,000 other campers that have been camping in the same spot

31:05for the months before you have. So get yourself a decent map and get off the track folks it is such

31:12a nice experience and it's quite enjoyable to turn it into a bit more of an adventure and actually

31:17discover a new campsite not just go to one that loads of people have been to before you.

31:24Ah I can see a little cocky skate up ahead I sense a little learning opportunity for young Jess here.

31:30Jess you got a copy? Sure do. I'm just pulling up here you want to jump out and let's go and have a look

31:38at something hey? I don't know what this is going to be but okay see you in a sec.

31:45Okay Jess have you ever heard of a thing called a cocky's gate? I have not but this looks a little

31:51bit complicated. This is one here so the farmers or the cockies they tend to use these because they're

31:58cheap they're homemade basically all you need is a couple of posts an iron dropper and a bit of wire and

32:03you've got yourself a gate instead of having to drive 2,000 kilometers to the farm supply shop.

32:09But when you're in the bush you've got to know how to open them and close them so this is why

32:13we have brought you out to give you a bit of a lesson. Perfect. Okay so what holds this gate up is

32:19you've got this little piece at the heel there so they've used some good heavy gauge wire down the

32:24bottom there and then this pole here sort of tensions the top up and if we just pull this little

32:31collar back there that starts to take the tension off and then we simply lift it out of the base

32:41there and walk her out. So I mean that's pretty simple taking it out but putting it back in might

32:50be a bit more challenging so we might get you to help. I was going to say let me guess. 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 that

33:06pole there we're gonna pop him in there and then bring it towards me and yes you've tensioned it there

33:15good little hole too easy nice work cowgirl awesome well do you want to uh do you want to do that one and

33:23we'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

33:37what a pro and of course she didn't forget to close the gate behind us

33:50with 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 there's 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 freshwater lake

34:21and have a bit of an explore some assembly is required for the foiling board but once it's all put

34:29together i think i'm going to be in for a good time i 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 karumba 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 shot on the

35:59norman river in 1957. fishing both amateur and professional is undoubtedly the lifeblood of karumba

36:10so before we wet a line ourselves i thought it a fine idea to visit the barra center this purpose-built

36:17facility breeds a whopping 200 000 baby barramundi every year to be released into the local river systems

36:26this ensures both recreational and professional fishermen don't have to wait too long for that

36:32infamous barra strike and 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 most famous fish originally

36:49established as a hatchery to support wild fish stocks and now combines hands-on aquaculture with

36:56interactive displays and guided tours where you can learn about the life cycle of barramundi

37:01and the vital role the river systems play in the local economy and culture karumba is a town that's

37:08literally cut off from the rest of australia during the wet season only a few hardy locals hang around for

37:15the wet and that includes ben and jemma they run a couple of fishing charter boats up here with

37:21jemma the skipper of her boat and ben the skipper of this gray beast we had the privilege of them both

37:28joining us on our day out on the water well ben i'm pretty pumped for a day out on the water mate with

37:35you guys uh being out here with the pros um so what is it that makes karumba such a fishing hub

37:41there's a lot of commercial fishing in karumba a lot of the trawlers with the prawns um they've just

37:46started for their tiger season um fishing for the tiger prawns raptors have got 13 permanent trawlers

37:52that are here all year round and they fish the two seasons the bananas and the tigers then you've got

37:57all the commercial fishermen the barra fishermen king salmon and stuff like that um karumba's just a

38:02great little fishing town what are we on the hunt for today mate we're heading out to our mackerel grounds

38:07which is about 40k out in front of the clinders river chasing your big spanish mackerel out there

38:11gts and stuff like that fantastic mate i have not fished for the big guys in quite a while so i'm

38:17i'm looking forward to this me too and you were saying before that you uh when you get flooded in

38:22so karumba actually gets cut off yeah um you guys run this as a bit of a taxi service yeah so when the

38:29roads get cut um we do runs all the way up the river to normanant um picking people up and dropping them

38:34off um to get plane flights and stuff like that so yeah we turned into a water taxi good stuff well

38:40there you go folks uh you might think that you could only come up here in uh winter to go fishing

38:44but you can actually make it up here in summer by flying into normanton and coming up here which

38:49is something that i had no idea you could do and we weren't out in the open ocean long before we got

38:54our first bite and it looked like a big one at that looking pretty good jess whoa there's a bit of weight

39:02in that what is on the end of that just caught a crocodile you're working for your tucker jess oh my god

39:13but it wasn't to be oh what a shame there's a monster down there whatever that was it was strong

39:25i got something here it doesn't feel massive but it's uh it's a something it was bites all round

39:31and here's a tip for free don't take your eye off the fish but as they say there was

39:38plenty of fish left in the sea on the net how'd that feel coming on josh yeah be hard

39:45strong josh always out fishes me so i can't let him do it again ah little

39:54the 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 have a

40:14lot of patience folks but you don't need it up here at karumba suddenly it seemed like we caught something

40:19big 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

41:34barra everything 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 shiny side up

42:00there's no fall lines to crack and leave me again

42:09thinking of the fall line it leaves me numb but it's something that might never come so i'll be

42:16waiting here in your arms

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