Tried our luck at Triluck!

Hubby had to go out to Cairns for a few days PD so the kids and I said yes to our mates who were going to throw a swag into their tinny and head up to Triluck Crk for the night for a fish. 

I threw some beers and snags in an esky, wrapped up a swag for us to share and the kids and I were set.

The shack is on a sandy bank in between "Crocodile lake" aka Triluck Cr and the ocean.  There's a dog cage up in the tree and the whole shack is enclosed with sheet metal about a metre high as the crocs walk across the bank in between. (you can see their tracks and they are tracked online).

We flicked some lures, got a couple of fish then settled in for sunset over the ocean.  A few rolling clouds of a monsoonal storm began to encroach on our turf and the wind was building quickly which was great cause it blew the mozzies away but we strapped down in case. Lucky.  The kids jumped into the swag off the ground and it wasn't long before the rain came down hard.

They checked the boat a few times to make sure it was tied up right and not taking on too much water then we settled in for a few reds and solved the problems of the world.

Squished in between my two rats in a swag I was awoken at 3am with my girlfriend shouting "The boat's going under! Cass HELP!".  I leaped out and ran down to see that the transom had gone under with the weight of the rain water and angle it was tied up to when the tide went out further than expected.  My mate was in the boat bailing like mad but the water and rain were coming back in two-fold.  HOLY SHITE! This was not a place you wanted to be near the water let alone at night or worse - stuck here for days until someone came looking....

My girlfriend held the spotty while I climbed into the boat too and used my weight (who knew my ass would come in handy one day lol) to balance out the boat while my mate bailed.  At one stage the boat swung out into the middle of this damn creek with me perched on the bow like a human sacrifice. I was hoping to God not to lose my balance in crocodile lake cause there'd be no coming back.

Have you ever heard a crocodile up close?  They sound like the GRUDGE aagggaagghhhaaggghhh and he was not happy with us in his bed.  He popped up a few times then we lost sight of him but you could hear him and he was way tooo close for us who were now knee deep in his home.

My girlfriend kept the spotty on him while we bailed like crazy, balancing and hoping luck was on our side.

About 20mins later the boat was looking better and we came closer into the bank, tied her up and took it in turns to check her.  The rain was pouring and we all knew the croc was next to the boat so there was going to be no chances taken on repeating that exercise ever again.

The following morning the kids woke up and we headed back into shore with my rats none the wiser of the events of the past few hours.

We tried our luck at Triluck and, if anything, came home safely with another good story to tell.

NYE is swamps, waterfalls and open country

Loaded up with sparklers, glow sticks, party hats, fuel and poppers, we set out for one of our favourite spots with friends to bring in the new year with the typical muddy shenanigans that a campout brings during the wet season and this one did not disappoint. 

We spent the first few hours swimming in the creek then moved up to the waterfall to wash our hair and get a natures-own fully body massage.  We flicked some lures at the base of the waterfall and picked up a couple of barramundi but nothing big enough to eat for lunch. 

In the arvo we set off on quads to check out the swamps and see if we could pick up a few pigs in the marshland.  The kids strapped on their capgun rifles and day packs and dad loaded his .308 to his bike.  I'm certainly not the best quad rider and have had more near misses than anyone in our group so I like to take it fairly steady but when you've got two keen-as ratbags hanging on the back, the esky, and trying to keep up with the boys who only know flat-out, there's going to be issues.  I hit 1 bog hole in 2nd gear and quickly lost traction which meant I had to get off and push myself out. Lucky for me, Mak took the control and she drove us out while I dragged my legs through the mud and grass to catch up.  Xavie was on croc control and after spotting one in our local fenced in sewer pond this week, I wasn't taking any chances.   As we rounded the swamp, the water was getting higher and we noticed the black clouds heading straight for us and we were at least an hour away from camp so thought it better to head back.

It started to rain within minutes and every creek crossing was deeper than the last.  Some of them I had to walk the kids across then tried to negotiate the rock bottom blind and hoping for the best. God I love manual motorbikes!

What came next was one of the biggest storms this season.  The dogs went crazy in the mud and so did our kids.  Mud angels, mud slippery slides into the creek, dad's skiddies and doughies, rain showers and shenangians.  One minute the water was at my waist and within minutes it was up to my arm pits. The creek was swelling and swelling fast.  We pulled all the tubs off the ground and the creek burst it's banks and the water flowed through camp.  There was nothing to do but give a good ol' cheers to the clouds and make the most of the cool weather. 

3 packets of sparklers, 50 poppers, glow necklaces and glow sticks hanging from the tarp, music pumped, drinks flowing and we saw in the new year with all the grace that 2011 could muster.  The rain stopped about 4am this morning and the river bank receded slightly but not enough to swim in safely so we packed up and headed on home after a last minute quad ride.

So many wonderful memories and adventures were had in 2011 with fantastic people but it'll be nothing to what 2012 will bring I'm sure of it!

Bring on 2012!