Janie Creek 18th May
We got to Cullen Point , bought our permits from the Mapoon Aboriginal Council and headed to the campsite. It would be fair to say that we were disappointed. There were three or four encampments that had clearly been there for a number of weeks and it had the feeling of a recreational fishing gypsy ghetto if there is a such a thing . There were piles of batteries , stock piles of fuel and water and sprawling tents joined with tarps. We quickly decided to drive down the beach for the 45 minutes it would take to get to Janie Creek. It had a similar set up to Pennefather river with run down permanent tents , toilets , showers etc. However the borehole was still working so we had fresh water and luxury showers which when had in the dim evening light were the perfect setting for those scary movie nightmares !
At sunset we were on a rising tide and the river exploded with fish there were fish breaching everywhere the biggest being easy over a metre (mackerel or barracuda shapes ) . I caught a little queenie and some sort of leatherjacket whilst no prize fish in the net it was hugely entertaining. As young Ross would say hours of fishing and catching Fuck All ! . However the catch of the day was a five foot Bull shark that Adam caught on a handline. At one point it was pulling him in the sand towards the water.
Later in Cooktown I met Les who was going on 80 and was a commercial fishermen who netted along the Pennefather and Janie in the 70s. He told me a story of his mate who had unfortunately caught a dolphin in his net in the Pennefather. It was dead and he took it to the river mouth and dropped it overboard. Later he saw a monstrous croc taking it back up upstream (against the tide). The next day he was netting and was using the land anchor to aid his net. When he went to get it he found himself stood next to half a dolphin. His boat was 10 metres into the river and a 6 metre plus croc was bound to be near . It took him 4 hours on the rising tide slowly pulling his boat towards him by the net as he reckoned the croc was sat close by waiting for him to get in !
I also heard a story about Les who was (and still is ) a professional diver . Long story up is that he has scars around his waist where a Queensland Grouper had half swallowed him . He escaped less his flippers and the grouper was killed by locals who saved him. They later returned his flippers to him after they had processed the monster fish ! (These things can grow to 800 lbs ).
My favourite Australian bird is now the White Bellied Sea Eagle . I have seen a few but at Janie i saw two courting birds calling to each other and dancing in the sky . The old boy looked have a little sticky snacky snoo in its talons trying to win over his mate .
We also had our first close up sighting of a saltie. It was prowling up and down the river at night and you could put the torch on him and follow his red eyes. Adam and Ross were fixated by the old croc and spent a few hours late into the night watching his every move. Ross had been given ten commandments by his girlfriend (many to do with being sensible and ultra safe ) and i reckon he got close to breaking at least two that night ! In the morning “croco” could be seen following the same path . We estimated him to be around 4.5 metres in length.
Makes sleeping in a swag on the dunes even more exciting !
The cast net skills on display showed the improvement from practice !
We headed back to Weipa and had a fine tea of Bull shark mossman curry ala woodburn !
Ross and Adam were keen to do some pig hunting in Bramwell so we said our farewells in the morning at the campsite , then again when we saw them at Woolies , the T junction exiting town and finally at the Service Station ( Weipa isn’t that big !)
Ross has a dream to catch a huge shark by dangling bait from the winch of his car . Having spent a few days with the pair of young bucks i am pretty confident they will get it ticked off the list soon.
As ever when you spend time fine young people with a spirit of adventure it makes you feel younger and recharges the wanderlust batteries .