Cowley Beach & Barnard Islands With Bushman Bud & Friends

G’day all,

22 August to 24 August 2010

We left Cairns mid morning and went in search of our friends.  We knew they would be somewhere down the Coast between Bramston Beach, Fly Fishing Point and Cowley Beach South of Cairns.  We headed for Fly Fishing Point first.  Stopping at the caravan park we realised they were not there…where to now.  Cowley Beach was the next obvious choice but it was about lunchtime so we made a sandwich in Innisfail near the skate park so the kids could have a play.

I should mention Fly Fishing Point is a small settlement right on the beach with a reef approx 300m offshore…apparently a good fishing area.  The only place to stay here was a caravan park which was over the road from the beach.  It was a small park and booking were essential.  The park did have a pool which was a bonus though.

So onto Cowley Beach and the decision was made to stay here regardless of whether our illusive friends were there or not.

Finally we had found our good friends Hamish, Alex, Jacob and Emma.  We were looking forward to a catch up them and the kids were eager for a play.  The rest of the day was spent by the kids catching up while I took a drive to the Liverpool Creek mouth for a fish.  I heard it was a hot spot for Queenfish, GT’s and Barra.  I threw out a few lures for about an hour without much luck before talking to a local aborigine who was fishing the point with live bait.  He had a great Mangrove Jack and we were just discussing Barra when low and behold several started jumping chasing bait fish.  He quickly through a live bait to where the Barra had been jumping moments before and wholla, Barra for dinner…quite amazing.

I left the spot well educated for the experience but without fish.  Hamish had been out on his dinghy when we arrived and had returned with a Golden Spotted Trevally, Coral Trout and Blue Fin Tuna…nice work and fresh fish for dinner.  Needless to say we had fish and chips for dinner courtesy of the onsite eatery who cooked up the fish Hamish had caught and provided us with nice chips.

The next day Hamish woke me up around 7:00am for a fish.  He had found a German tourist in the park who had a boat but no one to go out with.  Step in yours truly…cool.  So off we went out to the Barnard Group of Island a few klms of the Coast.  These Islands are spectacular up close with sandy beaches and thick dense rainforest.  Well worth an exploration and fishing is a definite bonus.

We fished for a few hours and caught plenty of reef fish with nothing big to note.  I must say though just been out at the Islands was awesome just in its self and a morning I will look back on.

Back on dry land we had a cruisy afternoon at camp, chilling out in the afternoon sun.  Later that evening we had a BBQ and caught up with our friends down the beach for a drink.

Next day we woke up early and caught up on some schooling.  The middle of the day was spent relaxing out of the hot sun until later in the day when we had a rather philosophical Hamish entertain us for a couple of hours.  The kids all caught up down the beach and later that evening we caught up for a dinner of fish and chips before a few beers down the beach.  It was a great evening spent with Hamish and Alex whilst the kids watched a movie in the van.  Hamish and Alex are great people who we admire and enjoy catching up with.  They are people with a similar mindset to ours and love the great outdoors.  This was our last night with them and hopefully we will catch them again somewhere on the road before they head West.

Bushman Bud…Enjoying Australia