Lesson 2 - Be Prepared

At the time of writing this I'm Internet free so with a leap of faith I will credit Baden Powell with this sage like advice, or as my brother Dave likes to say "proper preparation prevents piss poor performance". Now it is fair to say that I have proven the wisdom in this saying by repeated episodes of no preparation ( or what I like to call spontaneity ) being followed by piss poor performance hot on its heels like a rabid dog with the scent of blood in its nostrils and murder on its deranged mind. It is also fair to say that the resulting chaos has often caused great pleasure for my friends but rarely for me. (Piss poor preparation perpetuates petty perverse pleasure in Pals)
So for this trip with a 12 month run up we were determined to get things right (ish). Our shopping list was as follows.
1 4WD Ford Ranger Tick
1 Off Road Camper Trailer Trackabout - Safari Tick
1 Boat 3.8m Makocraft Tick
1 Out Board 15 hp Yamaha Tick
1 Fold up Boat Trailer 38kg Mangrove Jack. Tick

Sweet, we were ready to go.
Now I may have skipped over some of the travel bits in my first blog ( if the truth be told I had done little preparation) so I'm determined to right this wrong.
One of our must do destinations was Cape Hillsborough National Park just north of McKay. We had been there before , 10 years ago and had great memories of the place. One of our purest memories , was our then 18 month old daughter Erin on the beach at dawn, as the sun was rising. It was a perfectly still morning and we could make out the silhouette of Pretty face wallabies as the sun unfurled its first golden rays on the beach. I remember the buzz I felt as Erin first innocently approached and was then able to touch the Wallabies. No one else was able to get close. To cap the moment off I managed to get a photo of the silhouette of Erin crouched over touching a wallaby on the tail with the Sun and Wedge island in the background. That photo now hangs in one of the consult rooms at Sorell. It was our dream to try and recreate this moment
In my greet wisdom I decided we could drive 800kms in a day to get there. Funnily enough no amount of technology or entertainment makes a drive of this magnitude fun. We turned up in the dark and ended up in the wrong campsite
The next morning we jumped out of bed at half past really really early and discovered we were at the wrong beach. In a frenzy with the day getting lighter by the second, we jumped in the car , no time for seat belts or even doors closed and roared off in search of the correct location. As we came into the Wedge Island car park I executed a text book hand brakey which ejected Liz and both kids in a graceful arc towards the beach. Pausing only to grab my camera I sprinted after them to discover a weather phenonemon known as clouds , there would be no sunrise. Now just when we were thinking things could not get any worse we were faced with another even greater shock. Turns out Erin is not the female equivalent of Dr Dolittle and she could not get within 50 metres of the wallabies on the beach.
The next morning we had decided to drive up to Townsville and stay on Magnetic Island. I had tossed and turned overnight and woke up with a burning sensation on my arms and legs. I was covered in sand fly bites. It was then another recollection of Hillsborough surfaced. Last time we were here I had been smashed by sand flies and my arms and legs suppurated and burned for the next week. At least this experience was perfectly recreated.
Magnetic Island is a typically beautiful little Barrier reef island , perfect for snorkelling, walking, fishing and relaxing. We indulged in all these activities in the short time we were there. After a full but tiring day I decided to sneak down to the boat ramp for a quick fish on Sunset. With suitably low expectations I was enjoying that special peace and rapture of an island sunset, when I hooked into a large Barramundi. To see this large fish take to the air back lit by a firey orange horizon was nothing short of glorious. On the third jump and now just 3 metres form the boat ramp he snapped me off. A passing local remarked "nice Barra - over 80cms, what size line you got on". Now it is hard to explain why you have 4 pound fluorocarbon ( perfect for Tassie streams) when your in Barramundi country. The local guy could barely be bothered shaking his head as he walked off. Baden Powell oh Baden Powell.Read more