I
seaplane, boat or, in our case, a
ten-minute chopper ride from
Mitchell Plateau in the north
Kimberley region of WA, where
we’ve left our four aircraft.
Thrown onto the boat an hour
after we’d arrived, and tasked with
catching our own dinner, we’re on
a dedicated mission. At the helm
is Tub, head honcho and minister
of mischief at KCC. I’d asked Tub
for a handline as that’s the way
Mum taught me to fish; I have no
intention of getting endorsed on
one of those ludicrously unwieldy
rod things.
Anyhow, my sinker had no
sooner hit the bottom when the
action started. Even though I
want to, I won’t drag you through
the next seven minutes of angling
chaos, involving an ancient plastic
reel, a hundred skin-burning
metres of line and some spirited
commentary, but it did end with
six blokes staring disbelievingly at
my beautiful 17kg black jewfish
now sharing the deck with us.
Look, it’s hard to be humble,
OK? I’ve never hooked a fish that
big. The fact I needed Tub and
fishing guru Jonas to help me
encourage it onboard is, in my
mind, superf luous detail. I knew
I was being particularly helpful
jumping up and down on the spot
shrieking with excitement. As theweek wore on, everyone in our
group of ten had plenty of glory
moments, as we caught (and often
released) an incredible haul of
one-metre-plus Spanish mackerel,
fingermark, GT, stripey perch and
mangrove jack.
KCC can accommodate 16
guests in well-spaced huts and
is Tub’s and his partner Jules’
home. They live here all year
round, including the roaring wet
season. Gathered at mealtime in
the open-air ‘big house’, where
Jules works her daily magic with
various seafood dishes, they share
stories about life in this very
remote location and offer an insight
into the surrounding Yalrundair
country and the traditional owners,
the Wunambal Gaambera people.
A half-day walk into the bush
with Tub is a fascinating journey
into the Dreamtime stories behind
the incredibly preserved rock art
he leads us to. At several points
having to lie down on the dirt
f loor of a cave to see the roof,
or squeeze through a narrow
opening, we feel privileged to be
viewing such a palpable record
of indigenous history. We see
typically Wandjina art, with a
couple of small walls of Gwion
Gwion (Bradshaw) paintings. It
makes the hot and dusty walk
worth every step.Safari launch
To put things into perspective,
let’s back up a little and have a
look at the whole safari. From
the map, you’ll see the route we
took, a trip of 4400nm. Bluebird
days for the whole three weeks
once again confirmed mid-winter
as a consistently reliable time for
sensational f lying conditions in
our northern tropics.
With aircraft launching from
Camden, Bankstown, Merimbula
and Tyabb in Victoria, we met
up on day one at Bourke. Our
first night together is always oneTop End
Touring
High end destinations
booked-ended with
budget gems: Shelley
Ross is reminded why
flying northern Australia
in winter is worth every
ounce of effort.22
AUSTRALIAN FLYING November – December 2017Destinations SHELLEY ROSS
look disdainfully at the metre-
long esky on the deck, empty but
for a couple of hessian sacks, and
comment that there’s no way my
massive catch is going to fit in
THAT. This is, naturally, met
with peals of laughter. Until about
three minutes later.We’re gunna need
a bigger boat
I’m going to try really hard to
make this story about f lying. But
seriously, it won’t be easy. The
safari route we took through
Arnhem Land, Kakadu and the
Kimberley in June this year was
heavily laced with water encounters
and any astute fisherman knows
the tropical waters up here are full
of, let’s say, promise.
We’re at Kimberley Coastal
Camp (KCC) on the eastern edge
of Admiralty Gulf. As the crow
f lies, it’s about half way between
Darwin and Broome. There are
no roads in; so guests arrive by