Lyne River 24 Aug

Up at 5.30 for a 6am start. I must say, this is not my favourite part of the day but in an effort to take part in all the adventures I put on a happy face and joined those that have got up - everyone!!




Fishing on the Lyne River

We are given fishing rods - strange looking things with reel, line and a lure with hooks on it. These lures are soon to become known as lee-oo-ahs by all on board thanks to our Pommy friend, Adrian. Little did we know how much laughter this word could evoke amongst the fisherpeople.


Stephen and I were teamed up with Suzanne and Adrian and crew member Tim. This was more by accident than plan but as the holiday progressed we were all to stay in the same boats, thus we became Team Tim. As none of us had ever fished we started with the basics, how to cast. Mostly we learnt how to undo bird nests, that's when the line gets all tangled up. Suzanne was to prove to be a master at this task. Tim put us to work straight away. Our task it seemed was to catch the elusive barramundi. The word elusive proved to be very accurate as Tim caught one within 15 minutes of us throwing the first cast. He carefully manoeuvred it to the boat only to have the blasted thing wriggle its way off and swim away. Not happy was our Tim. Suddenly I had a tug. I was very excited, my first catch, a cod. Tim promptly took it off the hook and threw it back in the water as I looked on aghast. "We don't have those in this boat" was his response. I was mortified. I should mention that this was the first sighting of the famous Laurence of Arabia hat which was to be worn by Adrian until a fateful and tragic event that I will talk of later.

Back to the Great Escape where beds had been made by the Magic Fairy, brekkie was cooked by Nathan and waiting for us, and the only things left to do were talk of our fishing adventures and do some more checking out of the other passengers. By now we were beginning to get some idea of personalities.

Team Tim - Anne, Tim, Adrian (with the hat) and Suzanne - Stephen the cameraman

Adrian and Suzanne are from Perth. Suzanne is a nurse who works at the Childrens' Hospital in the Oncology Unit, not a job that most people could (should that be could or would?) do, but I think she does it very well. While working in England she met and fell in luuuv with Adrian, a pom, born in Surrey and who went to boarding school at the age of 8. Adrian has the whitest skin I have ever seen, the 3 tonne of sunscreen he applied daily didn't help. As any good white assed pom would do, he promptly went to the anti cancer shop and bought himself an 'arafat' hat - lots of flaps and velcro. Hence that day he earned his nick names of Laurence, Laurie, Lorrie, Truck and learnt to put up with heaps of ribbing over the pom thing. He was a very good sport and gave as much as he took. Suzanne is a scream and never stopped talking. She admitted to us that her nickname is Background Music. These two were our fishing buddies and I don't think the amount of laughter that came from our boat was conducive to the catching of aquatic animals. Adrian regailed us with stories of boarding school and Suzanne managed to get some well kept secrets from Stephen which she has promised not to tell!! Thank goodness for Tim who kept us on the fishing trail hunting for the elusive barramundi.

Saltwater Waterhole - No Swimming

Back into the tinnys and off up the Lyne River to a waterhole for a swim. This was a new waterhole that Trippy had heard about and wanted to see. Once out of the boats the walk was a bit of a trek over rocks and a moderate amount of climbing. All to no avail as the waterhole was saltwater and saltwater means crocodiles - those prehistoric critters we were to see on a daily basis.

We had a cool drink and took photos then trekked back to the boats and the GE. After lunch we cruised along while those on board read, slept or laid out on the deck (that would be me!) for a couple of rays. We dropped anchor and got back into the tinnys for another fishing expedition. Still no luck just my 2 or 3 cod which were again despatched back into the water. We returned to the GE as the sun set over the Timor Sea. Aaahh, the serenity. This phrase was also to get a bashing over the next 2 weeks.

Cruising in the afternoon - not bad scenery

Jane, an ex-schoolteacher, swimming teacher and a lady to boot, entertaied us at dinner with a yarn about their flight from Devonport, the ending of which surprised us all. Who would have thunk under that ladylike appearance was a joke teller of some renown! A few of us played cards after dinner and the competition was fierce. Needless to say, I won. Poor Stephen, he doesn't take losing very well.

Stephen, Anne, Warren, Jennifer, Ali, Dave, Sue, Jane, Brian, Adrian and Suzanne at dinner