Around Oz the First Time - Chapter 61 - 80 Mile Beach Day 6

An early morning call from our daughter wakes us. The father of her close friend has died over night, having only just been put into palliative care. She is distraught for her friend and simply wanted someone to talk to. The call is difficult as the internet coverage is ridiculous this hour of the morning. Robyn get up and walks around the park attempting to get better reception.

We are thinking of making a dash back to the highway early to refuel this morning. Hopefully the internet reception is better there. Once back from the call, Robyn suggests she got enough internet to check her emails and the pressing need to get internet has one less distraction.

High tide today is 12.00 noon, so I have plenty of time to service my gear, give them a good wash and silicon spray them, to ensure peak efficiency. I also have had an issue with one of my plastic containers which has opened inside my carry bag and now there are sinkers and hooks all through it.

We also have to re-book our spots for another two nights. We wander up to reception to pay for to pay for two more nights and buy a few other items. Robyn grabs some post cards and I just have to suffer an ice cream in a cone, two scoops, the bottom with just chocolate and the top with chocolate vanilla fudge – delicious.

We head back to the van and I start on the remedial work on the gear. Silver Leader has heard nothing about the part other than to say they expect it will be Thursday before they can confirm it into stock. He is hoping to be able to have it confirmed no later than Wednesday afternoon and be on their door at 7.30am to pick it up, bring it back and fit it, then perhaps being able to leave for at least Port Headland that afternoon. Personally, I think we have two chances, none and Buckley’s.

Fishing time, and today again it will be catch and release. I start with a small shark as I have done in the past, followed by a slightly larger one, then an even larger one, etc. A small trevally breaks the trend. The fishermen next to us, is the one from yesterday that I gave the fillets to, and his son. The younger one is fighting a fish and snap, his rod breaks. The fish is gone, and he is disappointed. I have two rods available and I walk over and offer the lighter one to him, but he says he has another and will go and get that.

I return to my spot and almost immediately I have a better bite and hauling it in, expecting another shark am surprised to see a good salmon emerge from the waves. We will keep this one for filleting and making strip baits, which seem to last a lot longer than the pilchards.

Now with the chance of strip baits, I change to the heavy gear, with full gang hooks aboard. Filling the gang with a full strip I launch it out to the awaiting fish. I don’t have long to wait and another shark is on its way to the beach. This one is almost a metre in length and give me quite a fight in the breakers. I take it to the bags for a photo and to get a pair of plyers to remove the hooks. The youngster from next to us has come across to look at the shark. Once I get it off, I ask him to take it back to the water as I have to re-rig as the leader has become quite rasped. While I am re-rigging, Forbsy comes with a small fish he has just caught. I cut longitudinally and stick it on the gang hooks.

Initially there is no action on this new bait. I am almost about to pull it in and change to a “proper” strip bait, when I am almost pulled into the water with the attack. Its obviously a shark, but a much larger one than previously caught. I am making way with it in the fight until I get it to the back of the waves, at which point it obviously turns to the side to run parallel with the beach and can fully chew don on the leader and the teeth do the rest.

As I start to walk back to re-rig, Silver Leader attracts my attention as the shark has remained just behind the waves, and its dorsal fins are exposed. The shark is almost two metres long, and I think I have done well to get it this close. Not sure what I would have done if we had landed this monster of the sea.

We have caught two salmon today which I have converted to strip baits for tomorrow, along with the remaining pilchards will be more than enough for that foray. I retire back to the van for lunch. Forbsy has suggested an afternoon of Scrabble.

Scrabble and I are not the best of friends, invariably other, better players, manipulate the board to gain the best scores. Fully expecting a hiding, I attack the game with zest. I only lose the first game by 6 points.

The second game is much different. Forbsy manages “Squirts” a seven-letter word on a double word score and with the 50 point seven tile bonus he scores 97 points. Looking back I think I might have been duped, looking at it now on paper. I recover a little before the end of the game, but am thoroughly beaten.

Game three and Robyn has joined in. This game is much closer. Forbsy goes out first and Robyn has a lot of high number tiles, but not enough to give him the win. I have a win for a change. Three games down its time for a change of scenery, its time for the Silver Leader Beer Garden, leading into dinner.

We gather for pre-dinner drinks, and then dinner. Tonight, we are having pork chops and salad. We talk about the logistics of the part retrieval, assuming it is available when we believe. There is talk of what we will attempt to do IF the part arrives on schedule AND if we get the part installed AND everything works as it should. Only tomorrow will see.