Pormparaaw, the gulf of carpenteria

Pormpuraaw 

Finished packing up and reducing weight in the truck, and while at the wreckers I bumped into a mate I had met at a job , I did over a year ago,  I asked if he had any work for me,  a few weeks later I got a call, come to Pormparaaw to install a few air-cons, where the hell is that I said.  Well I won't be able to say that when I get there.  

Laura, Riverside camp for the night on the way up north

Stocked up on supplies,  filled up my water out of the creek,  filled my 135ltr fuel tank and a few Jerry cans and headed north, up the Cape York Peninsula development road (pdr) camped on the sand of a dry riverbed,
Good thing it's dry season, carried on north turning west at Musgrave Roadhouse,  still another 200km of dirt,  and this is a quiet road,  not like the busy well maintained pdr. So along endless straights,  and across salt pans I made it to Pormparaaw, right by the sea

So this will be home for a while. Works work,  still air-cons, but this boss is pretty cool,  laid back approach,  just like the locals,  a great change from the regimented grind at the mining camp. 

Some great off work activities,We go check the crab pots before work,  and after,  go fishing,  looking for Pippies or pPawns when the tide and weather suits,  even if it means knocking off work early,  or not even starting lol. Plentiful seafood! 

Sunsets on the west coast are amazing. 

My drinking licence.

I was told that it is a dry community,  no alcohol and don't bring any with you,  but there is a pub,  where you must pass a Breathalyzer to enter,  a rule to discourage illegal alcohol being brought into the community. So coming from the mining camp where I had to pass a breathalyser to start work,  now I must pass one to finish work and go to the pub. When I get to the bar,  the barmaid said I need a membership card,  like a drinking license,  so into the office,  fill out forms,  take my photo and now I have a licence to drink light beers only at the pub,  no takeaways and you must swipe it every time you buy a beer,  to keep track of How many you have had,  and 8 is the maximum per night. 

The fishing is awesome,  Barramundi everywhere,  it's difficult to target other types of fish,  but I've caught :

Baramundi 🐠

1.2m Barramundi!

Fingermark (a breed of snapper) 

King Thread fin salmon 

Blue Thread fin salmon 

Mulloway / Jew fish. 

Mangrove jack 

Wing head shark 

Mud crab for lunch.

Mud crabs 

Pippie 

Prawn 🍤 

Stingray

Mantis shrimp 🍤 

Mullet

Popeye mullet

Hearing 

Mackerel

Shark

I'm sure I've missed something 

And of course,  catfish 

And eaten most of them,  we live off seafood,  there is often a stack of fresh cooked Mud crab in the fridge,  if you want a snack just crack one open.  The boss does get meat sent up from my favourite butcher shop in Cairns,  mighty nice meats at Earlsville Shopping Centre, just to break up the seafood a bit.  But it doesn't slow down our fishing,  we just start putting a few back. 

There is alot of stray dogs,  well at least they look stray,  skinny,  hungry,  roaming the streets,  but some are nice,  the nice ones have names,  Gerard is our favourite one,  we are mates,  he comes over and politely waits for food,  and a little Jack Russell who I thought was called Whiskey,  the story goes that she can smell when you have whiskey and like to drink,  but later found out that her name was Fang,  but she still showed up when I smuggled in some whiskey lol.  There is also bear,  saru, smithy, marydog, ranger, Ted, 'titties',  yes that's her name you can imagine how she got it,  hopper (has a back leg missing),  a bunch of dingo looking ones,  another group of cattle dog looking ones,  dogs everywhere.  And sometimes if you show fear and your walking alone especially at night,  the can try to surround you but are easily scared off. 

Heading back down the Chapman river after a good day fishing.

...........

 Edward River,  as it was previously known,  also has a Croc farm,  and alot of Croc's on the rivers

Barra for crab bait
Barra fishing, big Barra, medium Barra, small Barra, even put some Barra back, Barra fillets, Barra soup, Barra wings. 

Lots of mud crabs,  big bucks too,  boiled mud crabs,  steamed crab, chilli crab, crab salad,  crab fritters, crab stir-fry, crab cooked on the fire down the beach. 

Big estuary cod in crab pot. 

...............

Caught up on the air-con list,  so going for a break,  checked the crab pots and got a few nice live crabs,  tied them up ready for their journey  to Cairns . Headed off after lunch to avoid driving directly in to the rising sun on the 200km stretch of road that heads east. I got onto the pdr  road and it was getting dark,  I thought I would keep going,  perfect time to try out my new bar light,  woah,  how did I live without it.  But it didn't stop the roo's,  I Spotted them, but the moving  light and shadows messes with their vision and just when you think you missed it, they drive into the bull bar.  So I thought that was a good place to stop for the night,  carved off a leg and put a stew on the fire,  was quite good.

Angry Mudcrab

Barra frames for crab bait, best bait you can get.

Queen fish

cool art for sale at Theart Gallery, Shovel nose shark

Another Queen fish.

That's a big fillet.

Mud crabs

Biggest Barra I've ever caught, and up there with the biggest around.

Barra head soup, had to get a bigger pot, wouldn't fit in mine.

Big Mud crab.

A lovely bunch of coconuts.

Cape yYork wreckers, picked up a few free Mitsubishi challenger parts

Camp on the way south.

Still One Lovin.

Read More

Mittens the Cat has adopted me; Mulgrave River-Packing up ready to go north

living outside gives you a front row seat to natures wonders, sunset and sunrise, everyday.

It's go light or go big with a trailer, which seems to be a bit much for just me so ultra light,  get rid of things I don't need make room  for water and petrol. Outback Can be a bit dry I hear.

Mittens found a spot to sit.

Back in cairns, and my mate James moved back to Brisbane, leaving me and the cat to find a new home.
Feeling somewhat lonely the cat has decided she is my new travel buddy, Mittens the cat, missy, miitty, kitty call her what you like she doesn't listen, lol.
We camped out at the Mulgrave River, Ross and Locke Park, stayed here for quite a while, lived down by the river, good thing its dry season, this nice sandy beach would be underwater in the wet season. Mittens loves it here, lots of place to explore, animals to chase and smells to smell, she  frequently disappears for the whole day, sleeping in the bush somewhere, then turns up at dinnertime and sleeps in the tent, on me, has to be on me even laying on my side, she perches on my shoulder.

Its a cats life.

Some times I cant find her when I want to go to town, so I just leave her there, and she turns up when I get back to eat her dinner and get some  pats, or ill take her in the truck, she loves going for drives, finds a spot to sleep, wedges herself between something to help with the bumps and corners, or sleeps on my lap where I can anticipate the bumps and hold her still.

Wild Food, peeling some coconuts, yum.

Caribean pan drum festival, in Cairns, huge international bands playing here, wicked sound out of those old steel drums.

New max trax fit neatly under my new table.

Old trax gota go, got me out of alot of bogs.

Mittens replacement if she keeps disappearing.

These look heavy, get rid of them. sell them

ohh so thats what the red stuff dribbling off my roof was.

Another festival in Cairns Botanical Gardens, great atmosphere, from the beer tent.

These bags will hold me still through the rough 4x4 tracks.

keen to get out and explore.

new compact tackle bag.

I caught a turtle, mittens shit herself, thought it was a rock come to life.

Mulgrave River camp, fill the drinking water, then have a bath, I mean swim.

Having brunch with mitty, down by the river.

loves going for drives, good excuse to do more sleeping.

cat hammock, I didn't know they existed either.

cracked open the duty free, tastes even better out of my mug.

this is known as a wood rose, its the parasitic mistletoe plants "roots" or interface with the host tree. 

nice paddle on the Mulgrave River, I go most days, so peaceful. Mittens doesn't like to join me, I tried.

relaxing, having a whiskey after dinner with my new mate.

Camp site

early morning sunbathing, a good way to wake up.

dinner, fresh caught.

Sell:
Tarp & poles set up
old max trax
extra fishing rods

Give away:
Extra clothes
extra tie down straps

Restock food:
Dry foods:
jerky,
dry fruit

Food prep:
Reduced bone broth
Soup
Rendered fat
Freeze vac pac fill freezer

Other things to Do

Sort through truck to reduce weight
sorting out dry supplies
cooking and vac packing
jerkey
find passengers - Mittens!
final pack up, fuel up,

Bye Cairns, up to Pormuraaw.- new place to stay by the sea too, so should be lots of fishing - yahoo!!

Read More

Fix the truck part 2: upgrades

Mittens my new travel mate, checking out today's camp, and my new table.

Truck repairs and upgrades-
I've been working for over a year now and managed to save enough needed to continue travelling but might as well continue working while it's on offer,  and the tracks are very wet and muddy anyway. wait for dry season, very soon.

So I can afford a few extras for my truck, found some good gear at great prices on

 www.4wdsupercenter.com.

brand new winch

Installed a nice new winch 12,000 pounds should be enough pulling power. Synthetic dynema rope,  same stuff as braided fishing line is made of. So no need for a roller fair lead and easier to use that the wire rope.

Finally got a bar light I try to avoid night driving especially off road but if I get caught out, hopefully this will help me spot a few Roos,( Kangaroos ) might even get one for dinner. 

The front end was feeling a bit different so tried to get it looked at 3 different opinions later, found a good mechanic at "Cairns Mechanical workshop", very good approachable mechanic who tightened the front wheel bearings, and replaced the lower ball joint, so that's what the noise was. He did a few other things that needed to be done but I just can't find time to do while I'm working. 

Machine & replace rear brakes

Calliper kit for front left brakes 

New starter motor
New rocker cover gasket, now I know where that little bit of oil was going.

Remove and pressure test long range fuel tank, a bit easier for him in his work shop and hoist,  not like me digging a hole inspection pit to patch it up in the bush. Still waiting on a resolution for the tank,  will welding it make it stronger or is that money better spent on a new one that mite crack as well, corrugations and rugged tracks take there toll on everything, shake the shit out of everything. So I had a mate weld it up,  couple trips in the rough Rds and it leaking again,  think it's time for a new one. 

Better do a oil change & filters while I'm at it, I can do that easily, filter is only hand tight, Not done much driving been mostly flying to work.

Time for a Tyre rotation and wheel alignment since I got 5 tyres need to wear them evenly, they also decided that it needed a Shimming job to fix the front camber.

Left truck with mechanic to finish his list while I went back to work. Hopefully that's all for awhile....

 Added more solar power, and a few more led light strips stuck around the place. a rear tyre carrier, with two jerry can spots which i have modified to hold max trax under a nice stainless table/filleting bench.
oh and met a new travel buddy, mittens, a cat. was my mates cat in Cairns and they moved to Brisbane so I took the cat.

oh its upside down.

New fuel can carry thing, its awesome

I added another 130watts of solar power to the front of the roof, slimline flexible, dont even notice it up there, but my fridge is nice and cold.

Fuel tank 135ltrs, fixed a few cracks in it, ready to go back it, thankfully I found a mechanics pit this time. I think its time for a new tank.

The pit, tanks back in, winch installed and my new light bar, after the first time I used it I couldnt remember life before the light bar, spot Roos a mile away, still they choose to dive under the wheels, oh well stew for dinner.

Winch ,it goes in this hole here some how.

 needed to cut a bolt on my roof rack, and didn't want to get sparks and grinder dust all over the roof, so i invented the grinder guard.stopped sparks and caught all the dust, couldn't find the actual grinder safety guard. 

winch trial, winch pulled me over that little rock there. lol

 new stainless kitchen bench

Read More