The Lulu-less Diaries: Lulu's most northern point

Well it's been a while since our last blog. From Bluemetal Creek we headed further north but we stopped off for a spot of bridge fishing on the way. As we were driving past the Russell River I thought to myself that sandy bar over there looks like a good spot to have a fish, then moments later Brons hit the brakes saying "Croc!". On that nice sandy bank was our first confirmed sighting of a croc. Not a big fella but made that nice little fishing spot appear not so nice anymore. We saw heaps of fish off the bridge and the 10m drop wasn't enough to stop Brons from heading back to Lulu to collect a rod. A couple of tricky casts later and he had hooked into what we think was a jungle perch but we're not entirely sure. Then to the Boulders (it had been a couple of days without a wash) for a swim. The water was crystal clear and deceptively deep. A brisk swim across the river and back and we were all clean again! Then onto Goldsborough State Forest where we ended up staying three nights (it was a public holiday up here and nothing would be open to restock the fridge). Here we floated down the river a couple of times, again the water was clear as and we were all set for a spot of fishing until we found out how deep it was and that wading wasn't an option.

Then onto Cairns to restock and find a second hand book shop to do a spot of trading. We then headed north to Barron Gorge for a night but called into Machans Beach along the way to check it out for fishing options. Didn't fish but looked ok for flats fishing on the right tide. Barron Gorge had a cold shower and no one else there. Up early and hit the road checking out some fishing spots along the way. Yule Point didn't look as great

as the fellows on Brons' fly fishing forum had made out so we kept on going to 4 Mile Beach. Here we trudged through the mud (knee deep in spots) in bare feet to the mouth of the Mowbray. Here there was more mud, heaps of oyster covered rocks and angry crabs trying to attack. Brons landed a small GT and we found an aerobee on the beach. Off to Cooya beach to inspect the mouth of the Mosman (apparently a hot spot for tarpon). Ended up at Newell to have a look at the mouth (bit of a walk from Cooya) and ended up camping here for the night in a no camping area. That night it hit, think we had some dodgy water at Barron Gorge! A couple of emergency toilet runs and madly foraging for toilet paper in lulu and we were ok. The next morning we noticed that in the rampant foraging that we had knocked the fridge plug out and it had been off all night. Better throw out that chicken to be safe! Fished early and didn't turn anything up.

Headed to Mossman for supplies and then onto the ferry to cross the Daintree River and headed up to Cape Tribulation. We camped at Noah beach for four nights in amongst the fireflies and had some really good fishing. The best thus far. We fished the mouth of Noah Creek which was about 20 min walk from camp. Here we caught dart after dart and occasionally hooked into something a wee bit better. We managed a couple of GTs, a couple of long toms, Brons got a very nice Queen fish and Ruth lost a diamond trevalley. A great spot but a bit variable it didn't turn on quite as well the next day at the same time in the tide, the locals also told us about a 5m croc that lives just near where we were fishing! Think this area might be another hotspot for nudists, there was a lot of wang and boobie out action on the beach there! We also fished Myall Creek mouth but only managed a small cod and some baby GTs. We headed out early leaving probably our favourite place in Qld so far, to get some more supplies and head up to Cooktown.

Bit of a boring drive to Cooktown going the conventional vehicle way but we made it and headed out to Archer Point to camp and hopefully fish. The road was 4x4 only but Lulu managed to cross the creeks and negotiate the pot holes ok. Here we camped right on the beach in amongst the coconuts and managed a little bit of fishing before the wind started. Wow it's blowy up here. We fished a small inlet around in the next bay from where we camped. A bloke we met who has been camping there for a month or so said there had been a fair bit of croc activity there recently, and he was right! We saw some lay marks in the sand and one just over the creek from where we were fishing, but we think we scared him more than he scared us. We saw a couple of decent fish in the creek, we rec

kon they were barra but didn't catch them. Brons caught several baby Moses perch and Ruth another small cod. We took a walk up to the lighthouse on the point and just about got blown into Cooktown. Couldn't excite anything off the reef with a popper so we are now in Cooktown bloggin.