BACK FROM TRIP TO THE KIMBERLEY

Submitted: Tuesday, Sep 26, 2006 at 17:14

ThreadID: 38064 Views:3696 Replies:6 FollowUps:10

This Thread has been Archived

Mama June

We have just returned home after travelling for 4 months, 5 weeks of that being in the Kimberley. We left our caravan with friends at Kununurra and with our tent travelled the Gibb River Road as far as Derby, taking in the Mitchell falls area and Kalumburu. We returned to Kununurra via Windjana Gorge, Fitzroy Crossing and the Bungle Bungles.

We chose a good year to travel because in early July the Mitchell falls still had a lot of water from late rains and the King Edward River was still well up but no problem. Even Bell Gorge had a lot more water than when we were there last in ’93.

We enjoyed our visit to Mitchell falls for the hike and the helicopter ride, but our visit to Kalumburu was very disappointing. A nice enough place but no fish, unless you have a boat, and even the ones with boats were having limited success. We stayed at McGowans which was quite crowded. There were a lot of ideas being bandied about as to why the fishing was poor – there was still too much fresh water running into the bay; the locals were blaming it on waste from the barges; ocean damage caused by the five cyclones that had passed through was another reason. I myself noticed a light coloured oily slick floating on top of the water. We had good feeds of oysters though.

We were looking forward to staying for 2 weeks of fishing and would have if the fishing had been better. In the end it was a combination of poor fishing, occasional wild winds, and every 2nd person had a generator, which drove us away. Also, the new caretaker told us that he has a friend who has been taking around 900 people a year there on fishing trips. So we believe it was possibly fished out close to shore. It certainly wasn’t like Malcolm Douglas shows it as. Fishing from the shore at McGowans my husband couldn’t even lose a fresh oyster or even a fresh crab that he just caught. Something isn’t right there.

I am interested to know if anyone who went to Kalumburu around June-August had better luck.

Apart from that our trip was great and we saw some stunning scenery just travelling the GRR.

Back Expand Un-Read 0 Moderator Share

Reply By: Barnesy - Tuesday, Sep 26, 2006 at 17:32

Tuesday, Sep 26, 2006 at 17:32

I'll be heading that way next year. Hoping I have better luck.
But I'm sure even if i don't catch fish i will still be impressed by the Kimberley.

Barnesy

AnswerID: 196638

Follow Up By: Mobi Condo - Tuesday, Sep 26, 2006 at 17:34

Tuesday, Sep 26, 2006 at 17:34

Hello Barnsey - may we keep in touch re next year - we have some plans that way also.
Cheers - Mobi

FollowupID: 454988

Follow Up By: Mama June - Tuesday, Sep 26, 2006 at 18:33

Tuesday, Sep 26, 2006 at 18:33

Hi Barnesy

You'll have a great time, the Kimberley is so impressive, like nothing I've seen before.
Don't get me wrong. the Kalumburu fishing experience didn't spoil our holiday at all. We made up for it back in Kununurra, but before that we marvelled at something new every day during our Kimberley experience.
Safe and travelling next year.

FollowupID: 455019

Follow Up By: Barnesy - Tuesday, Sep 26, 2006 at 19:21

Tuesday, Sep 26, 2006 at 19:21

Mobi I don't have a problem with keeping in touch if you want. If you're after someone to travel with then i don't think that will be us as we'll be travelling around Oz and will go to the Kimberley when we feel like it or get some work. Not planned as such.

Barnesy

FollowupID: 455035

Reply By: Member - Norm C (QLD) - Tuesday, Sep 26, 2006 at 18:44

Tuesday, Sep 26, 2006 at 18:44

MJ, we did the Kimberley etc in May to August. I remember discussing it with you on EO, before we left. We had a brilliant trip and you are right about picking the right year. A small number of roads and walking tracks were still closed for us, but did not effect the trip. All the rivers and falls were great.

We just loved the GRR, King Edward River and Mitchell falls. We stayed a total of 5 days at King Edward, 2 on the way up and 3 on the way back.

We had planned on going to Kalumburu, but after talking to a couple of others on our travels, and given we didn't have a boat with us, we skipped it. Looks like we made the right choice.

We did a bit of shore based fishing along the way. Got a barra at El Questro, some Salmon and a few sharks at Cable Beach, a good feed of Mud Crabs at Middle Lagoon and Darwin and some Red Claw at Kingfisher Camp.

We have now set ourselves up with a tinnie, outboard etc that we can carry on the Hilux, so next trip will hopefully be a bit more successful for fishing. It is a beautiful area though, even without fishing.

Glad to hear you had a good trip (fishing notwithstanding).

AnswerID: 196654

Follow Up By: Mama June - Tuesday, Sep 26, 2006 at 19:24

Tuesday, Sep 26, 2006 at 19:24

Hi NC
Yes I remember chatting with you before departure. Wasn't the Mitchell falls worth the walk and just brilliant!

You did well with your fishing. We didn't go to Broome or Darwin as we'd been there before. Our focus was on Mitchell Plateau and Kalumburu this time. Glad we saw Kalumburu in spite of the fishing.

Discussions are underway for a tinnie for us too, which we plan to have for next time. Successful fishing is really difficult otherwise.

One of our favourite camps was Gibb River itself where we spent about 3 days. The birdlife was just great and a Jabiru flew over one evening.

Glad you had a good trip too.

FollowupID: 455038

Reply By: OLLY - Tuesday, Sep 26, 2006 at 19:48

Tuesday, Sep 26, 2006 at 19:48

HI Mama June,

Like you we have just returned from the Kimberly and yes it was a good year, lots of water over most of the falls, it didn't matter where you went. One thing though is to hear you didn't get many fish, we spent 4 days at Honeymoon Bay with the French family and completely enjoyed our stay. Les took us fishing 2 days in a row and we had a ball catching Spaniards,Baracuda,Fingermark,Trevally,various reef species and too many reef sharks. I do believe though you need a boat to be able to get the best out of the area as the areas around the shore possibly get fairly hammered during the toorist season.

Olly

AnswerID: 196675

Follow Up By: Mama June - Tuesday, Sep 26, 2006 at 20:27

Tuesday, Sep 26, 2006 at 20:27

Hi Olly

Yes, I had heard from others who stayed at Honeymoon Bay that they had very successful fishing trips - in boats. I tried to talk my husband into to going around there to try his luck with them, but was also told by these same people that the trips were very expensive. As it was, fishing trips with the McGowans caretaker were $50 for half day, of which my husband only did one because there was a waiting list going. He did catch about eight reef fish that day and on another trip with someone who did have a boat, caught black bream. However, no one was catching anything from shore at McGowans, only in boats.
I'm not sure what dates you were there but the days we were there the wind was very strong which limited the distance that anyone could go out in the boats.
June

FollowupID: 455063

Follow Up By: OLLY - Wednesday, Sep 27, 2006 at 07:38

Wednesday, Sep 27, 2006 at 07:38

June,

We were there at the start of September and the weather was great. I wasn't sure if you had a boat,(we didn't) and yes we never caught anything substantial from the beach. As far as the expense for a full days fishing at $125.00 it may seem a bit steep but Les took us out from about 7am to 5pm and because we never landed a big mackeral on the first day (80lb gear is too light) Les took us out free of charge for 3 hours the following day with some bigger gear (200lb) so we could get amonst them. On another note what were the sandflies like around at McGowans as we'd heard (after the fact) that they aren't too bad. Pretty bad at Honeymoon Bay when the breeze drops off.

FollowupID: 455130

Follow Up By: Mama June - Wednesday, Sep 27, 2006 at 09:54

Wednesday, Sep 27, 2006 at 09:54

Olly

We were at McGowans 12-16 July and experienced no sandflies. There were a few mozzies that came on at sunset, and then disappeared.

Mind you it was a bit breezy the whole time, and then it blew into a gale our last couple of days. This put a stop to boats going out too far (only 6 kms) and the caretaker not taking anyone out at all. He felt if you couldn't go out far enough it wasn't worth going.

FollowupID: 455159

Follow Up By: BUGGER ME - Wednesday, Sep 27, 2006 at 23:22

Wednesday, Sep 27, 2006 at 23:22

hi olly
how are les and ruth and everyone up there .
we were there in 2003 and had a ball, it was ruth and there grandson les jnr that took us out fishing and we caught heaps of red emporer but only kept 5 , just enough for 3 families.
did they have water there this time or was the bore still not working

bugger me

FollowupID: 455280

Follow Up By: OLLY - Thursday, Sep 28, 2006 at 17:49

Thursday, Sep 28, 2006 at 17:49

Hi Bugger Me,

Les and Ruth are great, they went to every extent to make sure we had a great time. Yes the bore is workingand now they have more water than they can use. We were talking to Les and he said last years cyclones did a lot of damage to the bore and overland pipeline (but all's good now) as well as damaging the shower block down from the house which they are working on. We didn't catch a huge amount fish just enough for a few feeds and some in the freezer, but we lived on blacklip oysters anyway. If I ever get the chance to go back up into that country I'll definitely go back.

Olly

FollowupID: 455399

Reply By: Member - andrew B (Kununurra) - Wednesday, Sep 27, 2006 at 07:54

Wednesday, Sep 27, 2006 at 07:54

Gday Mama June

We were up there in June, and the fishing wasn't as good as we expected. It was a bit windy, but we took a 17ft tinny up so it wasn't a big issue. In the first hour, we got 3 red emperour over 11 pound, and a 14 pound cod. Then we caught sharks, sharks and more sharks.

Les and the crew at honneymoon were pretty good - a few people went on tours with them and did ok, but nothing to write home about. We didn't have time to go into the falls, but its on the cards this year if we get a decent wet. Honeymoon was packed as well, and there were plenty of gennies etc. Power makes beer cold though...(Iknow, so does solar)

Cheers Andrew

AnswerID: 196745

Follow Up By: Mama June - Wednesday, Sep 27, 2006 at 10:01

Wednesday, Sep 27, 2006 at 10:01

Hi Andrew

If we go back to Kalumburu, and we are not ruling it out, we will definitely have a tinnie and thought we might try Honeymoon. We did actually go around to suss it out and had a chat with Ruth.

You must go into the falls if you can, it is definitely worth it and even more so if the wet has been good.
June

FollowupID: 455160

Reply By: Platz - Wednesday, Sep 27, 2006 at 18:12

Wednesday, Sep 27, 2006 at 18:12

We wnet down the Gibb in July and loved every minute of it. The Mitchells falls were fantastic and the 1/2 hour helicopter was one of the highlights for us. A big thanknyou to Andrew and his family in Kununurra whho we caught up with and enjoyed several beers. I hope we can repay the hospitality one day
Cheers
Brad

AnswerID: 196822