Shellharbour Fishing Adventures

Fresh from a couple of weeks of catching up with family and friends around Sydney, we took a short detour back down the coast for a catch up with Bev & Fred, and hopefully some fishing.

Fred cutting up the bait

It was great to see Bev & Fred again. Their hospitality is always first class. The week started badly as far as the weather goes, with strong winds almost blowing us into the sea! The big blow continued until Thursday, when there was a drop in winds, so Fred and John decided to give it a go and head out, staying close into shore and hoping to catch some bait for the days ahead. Well the decision was the right one, and soon trolling along, we picked up our first benito, the perfect baitfish. This was followed by another 5 in quick succession, and as the wind had dropped a little more, it was time to try and catch dinner.

Now Fred's Fishing Charters is quite an enterprise. It comes with lunch, corned beef and pickle sandwiches, plus Bev's treats for John, and drinks, and usually includes a wild life tour, and if you are really lucky, some whale watching, though Fred says the price goes up if it includes whale watching! The currency of course is beer, so everyone wins!

Fred and his pelican friend

The birds wait for a feed.

On day one we had this big sea bird follow us around, waiting for an undersize catch to be thrown his way, plus we saw some dolphins, and away in the distance you could see whales spouting.

The pelicans are a classic. They fly in and cruise right up close, staring at you with those big clear eyes, trying to intimidate you to throw them a fish. On one trip we got amongst a school of small flathead, and kept throwing them to this pelican, who by the time he left, had to run about 100 meters on the water, before he could get airborne!!

Not a bad catch!

Nosy seal came for a look

Friday the weather was perfect. Never seen the sea so calm. We pottered around a number of spots and caught a good number of fish. We got amongst the leather jackets. You know immediately, as these little buggers cut your line with their sharp teeth. We were both rigging up again quickly, this time with wire tracers, and soon it was our turn to do the laughing. The day produced some nice leather jackets, a couple of good flathead, plus a couple of nice morwong, not to mention all the wildlife on show.

Saturday was another perfect day. Being the weekend, plus the fact that the weather had been bad for weeks, meant that everyone who had a boat was out there. Still it is a big ocean. We tried a few spots where John again showed his prowess at catching spiny red rock cod of all sizes. They call them poor man's lobster, but we reckon that with all those poison spikes, and all the fuss to skin them, there are plenty of other fish to eat!

Now that's a snapper!

Nice Morwong Fred.

We decided to try a spot a lot further out and in a lot deeper water. We dropped over our lines, just as a huge Manta Ray came swimming by, just below the surface. He swam around us and under the boat a few times, then wandered off. Our big brown bird arrived again, but soon got chased off by the sea gulls! The decision to come out to this spot proved a beauty. John hooked up a really good snapper, the biggest one I've ever caught, and soon we had some other snapper and a really good morwong. We caught some really nice eating fish, and decided to pull up stumps early, as the wind had started to freshen up, and head back for celebrations, and to beat the crowd at the boat ramp.

On the way back in, Fred's phone rang. It was the girls checking on us. Fred killed the motor to take the call, and almost immediately a humpback whale broke the water less than 10 metres behind the boat, with a huge whoosh of air and water. It was enormous, and was quickly followed by 2 others, just as close. I couldn't get the camera out of the bag fast enough. As quickly as they came they were gone, heading north on their migration. What a sight! Gave us both goose bumps! What a way to end Fred's Fishing Charter AND Whale Watching Cruise.

The day finshed with a rather long happy hour or three, and a great Thai Dinner at the Harbourside Thai.

Sunday is a day of rest, but we are heading up to Bev & Freds this afternoon, for our traditional break up party, and one of Fred's fantastic baked dinners, to send us on our way tomorrow.

P.S. Don't think that the girls haved missed out! There has been no suffering. They have had a week of shops, cafes, Bingo and movies, while we have been out re-stocking the larder!

Mudgee

Arrived Mudgee, Monday 30th May, and stayed the week. The Mudgee Tourist & Van Park was very quiet, so we got pick of the sites. It seems all the sane people are where it is warmer! Though looking at the map, not sure where warmer is!

Picnic at Windemere Dam

As usual, Lynne & Paul had our week mapped out for us, complete with written itinerary, in case we seniors get forgetful. Bayleigh and Harley were also very happy to see us and April, and despite the cold, and sometimes wet and windy weather, we were set for a great week.

Time to BBQ.

First outing was a picnic at Windemere Dam, about 30 kms out of town on the Sydney Road. No problems finding a spot, and the dogs get to have a great day out as well. Lynne and Paul did a great BBQ, and John even got another birthday cake!
Most evenings we were at L & P's house, for some home cooking and domestic catch up, though we did also head for town to the Brewery Bistro, for live music on Thursday night, and the Butcher Shop cafe on Saturday night, where it becomes a Thai Kitchen on Friday and Saturday Nights.

Of course there were plenty of stops for cake and coffee, with Cafe 89 being the favourite this visit. We caught up with Lynne's brother John, who is making a great recovery after having a brain tumor removed a few weeks back. All is looking good, and John was looking forward to getting back to week and behind the wheel in the next week.

Thursday John had a round of golf in the Mudgee Member's comp, whilst Carol went to Leura/Katoomba with L & P. Paul had a visit to the eye specialist, post cataract surgery, whilst the girls shopped Leura. Notice how our life now includes  lot of medical references. Ah! the joys of aging! Golf was average. The Mudgee greens get me every time! Still it was an enjoyable day played with three local characters, with plenty of yarns to tell.

The Ben Chifley Railway Exhibit

Friday, while Paul worked doing his driver work for DOCS, Lynne, Carol, John and April, went to Bathurst for the day. It is about an hour and a half away. A lovely lunch at Vanilla Bean Cafe, then a little sightseeing.  We went to the new Ben Chifley railway exhibit at the railway station. Our famous WW2 Labour Prime Minister, was brought up at Bathurst and was a train driver, and tireless worker for the railway workers and Union movement. We also visited his family home a few streets away. We drove around the city, having a good look around the sitghts. Bathurst is now quite large, with excellent facilities. 

Pit Strait at Mt. Panorama

Of course, no trip to Bathurst is complete without a lap around the famous racing circuit. We set a new lap record for a Landcruiser with a Kayak on the roof! Though we were almost upstaged by a Nissan Patrol with a Tinnie on the roof, until he stopped to take pictures at the top of the circuit, and killed his lap time! The developments at the circuit since our last visit here are amazing. It is a world class facility, and it is no wonder the drivers love the place.

Lunch at the Denman Pub

Saturday was lazy day with John starting to pack up. The weather was reasonable, and every thing was dry. Sunday we took a fantastic drive along the Bylong Valley Way, a recently improved and sealed route from Mudgee to the Hunter Valley. With stops it was couple of hours before we reached Denman and had a hearty lunch at the Denman Pub. Drive home was via Ulan, where we  saw all the new (and old) coal mine works. This is fast becoming Mudgee's major industry with more mines on the way. Mudgee will face its challenges as the face of the town changes from rural (wine and sheep), to coal mining. Still, I am sure the community is up to the challenge.

All too soon it was Monday morning, and we were on the road to Sydney for catch up with family and friends over the coming 2 weeks. Thanks to Lynne and Paul, and Bayleigh and Harley, for a wonderful week.

Yarrawonga on the Murray

Set up at Yarrawonga Holiday Park

What a lovely spot is Yarrawonga and its twin town on the NSW side of the river, Mulwala. We set up at the Yarrawonga Holiday Park, situated right on the river, just below the Yarrawonga Weir. There were quite a number of vans around us, but we found out they were all from a caravan club, and two days later, they all left and we were on our own! 

The Yarrawonga Weir

All along the Murray, are these twin towns, born out of the 60's and 70's, when NSW had the pokies at the clubs, and Victoria didn't. Bus loads of Victorians would come to the Murray to gamble on the NSW pokies. Golf clubs emerged, as did waterskiing clubs and a huge holiday destination was born.

In Yarrawonga/ Mulwala, the only thing at Mulwala on the NSW side, are the enormous clubs. The shops and the industry is all in Victoria at Yarrawonga. The same applies at the other centres such as Cobram/Barooga. The town of Yarrawonga is lovely, and growing at a fast rate. It is a retirement centre primarily, but with the wide variety of primary industry that occurs around the district, it is also a growing commercial centre. In fact, the railway line has just re-opened, mostly to transport grain, but agian it brings more jobs to town.

We quickly found the best cafe/coffee in town, at the Nosh Deli & Cafe, and regularly enjoyed the walk to town, to partake of their excellent array of goodies.  I should stress to all those expressing concern for our well being, due to the strong emphasis that our blog has on food, and consumption thereof, we are taking long and regular walks, and getting our fair share of exercise along the way. For those who know us well, food is a passion of ours, and that aint about to change. So, back to food. We also found a delightful little Italian restaurant where we had a great meal on our last night. But apart from that we ate in, mostly because on the day after our arrival, Yarrawonga held its monthly food & produce market, one of the best we've ever seen, so we stocked up on meat, fish, fruit and vegies, cheese, home made pies, bread, jams, etc. and had lots of ingredients for Carol to work wonders with!!

Lake Mulwala

Around the district is a lot of agriculture, due to the irrigation from the river and Lake Mulwala. Ironically, the lake was being drained while we were there. There has been a lot of rain in the last 6 months, and the lake has developed a noxious weed, so they are draining the lake to expose the weed, so the frost can kill it, and boy do they get frost here! The lake dropped about 2 metres during our stay, exposing all the dead trees and making the lake look like a ghost forest.

You want me to walk on ice????

The weather here has been extremely cold at night but mostly sunny during the days. Most mornings we get a heavy frost. John played golf early one morning. Big mistake! You crunched the ice as you walked the fairways, and the golf ball was like hitting a rock. When I removed my glove, I was certain I would find my fingers left inside! And my toes were blue when I removed my shoes. Still it was better than playing in the fog, which we got on the last two days. It was so thick, it didn't lift until 3.00pm!! I'm not kidding, for most of the round you couldn't see 10 metres. At least I got to boast that I was hitting it out of sight all day!! Trouble was, some were never seen again. We lost one of the members of our group for 2 holes! Golf at Yarrawonga was different, to say the least.

The Tree Arbour at All Saints Winery

We took a couple of lovely drives from Yarrawonga. We went to Corowa and Rutherglen, which is beautiful. The All Saints Winery at Rutherglen, has to be one of the most picturesque in Australia. The drive in through the archway of oak trees to the old castle replica was magnificent, with the oak trees shedding their golden leaves.

Says it all!

Rutherglen is Australia's premium fortified wine region. The ports, liquer muscats and tokays are to die for. Nothing better for a nightcap with a steaming cup of coffee. Of course we tried a couple, just to be sociable. We called into a lovely little cafe on a cold and windy afternoon, to sit by the fire and have a warm drink. The waitress embarrassed us by asking "I've been watching you. Do you mind me asking how long you've been going out? 30 years we replied. Oh! you look like you've only just started going out. So happy and loving!!" Well, it is a pretty stress free life we are living.

April at the Big Strawberry

We also headed west along the river to Cobram and Barooga. A bit of a deja vu feeling here. All looked very similar with big clubs and golf courses on NSW side and all the shopping and industry in Victoria. Still, a nice town, and the golf courses looked very good. Further west we came across the Big Strawberry at Koonoomoo. No prizes fo guessing what goes on here. We just beat the bus tours in, so got a good table to watch the onslaught as 100 bus passengers escaped the confines of their transport, and swarmed through the building, collecting armfuls of strawberry souvenirs, stawberry jam, strawberry sauce, strawberry wine, strawberry soft toys, and then sat down to consume giant plates full of strawberry pancakes and cream! Within 20 minutes the place was empty, except for us and a few other shell shocked witnesses.

The River Redgums

All along the Murray are the magnificent redgum forests. These huge, majestic trees line the river, and you cannot help but be impressed by the awesome display. We headed on to Shepparton. This is a large centre, that looks like most large country towns, with new shopping malls around the outskirts, and spreading residential estates, but looked nice with a large new development around a lake. Nice picnic areas and walkways all the way around. We headed back to Yarrawonga, driving through some beautiful grain farm country that featured huge, freshly ploughed and planted paddocks that looked like the beginning of a good season.

We enjoyed our stay at Yarrawonga, and one day will come back and do the tour along the Murray from Albury to Renmark. It is a well known trail for caravanners, and we want to make sure we do it justice. This has been a nice taste, at a time when the river is at it best following all the rain. We left, in the fog, and headed north. Stopped at Tocumwal, another lovely little river town, for a great hot breakfast at the only cafe in town open on Sunday morning, then back on the road for a overnight stay at Forbes.

Motoring 1909 style

McFeeters Motor Museum

Forbes seems a nice town, and we have overnighted here before. There is a fantastic Motor Museum here. This time we decided we had to go, so 9.00am Monday morning, we were the first customers through the door at the McFeeters Motor Museum. It is a fantastic display of 60 vehicles dating from 1903 to current times. We were given a personal tour by one of the McFeeter family, who told us about every car in the exhibition. It was a very worthwhile stop, and we would highly recommend this to anyone passing through Forbes.

So then it was back on the road to Mudgee, where we arrived mid afternoon, for a weeks stay and a good catch up with our friends Lynne and Paul, and April's friends Bayleigh and Harley.

IF YOU HAVEN'T LOOKED LATELY, CHECK OUT "THE BIGTHINGAMEJIG" POST AS WE HAVE ADDED SOME NEW ITEMS.