Author Archives: stuart

Douglas Hot Springs

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Is a campsite that has water (that you need to boil) toilets and showers. It also has hot thermal springs which are (in parts) hot enough to burn you. Pay attention to the signs and it is a great place to visit. The spring itself is about waist deep at the deepest, and knee deep throughout most. You can light fires anywhere, and firewood isn’t too hard to find, but generally best to gather some on the way in.

Long weekend in Wagiman Country

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Just got back from an amazing long weekend away.

On the first day we got to Douglas Hot Springs to find the camping ground was packed! I guess you can’t really expect much else on a long weekend. We found a nice spot and then went to the thermal springs. I was expecting them to be like the luke warm pools of Mataranka, but I was wrong. Parts are hot enough to burn you! Everyone sits up a bout 20 metres downstream and the water temperature is fantastic, ranging from a hot bath to cool.

Claire and I had a swim and a drink, before heading back to camp. We were treated to an amazing sunset. I used this to take some snaps of Suzi with her new roof rack. (And everyone knows bullbars double as clotheslines).

The next morning we went to Butterfly Gorge, and I managed to leave my camera at the campsite! We had been there before it wasn’t so bad. It is one of the best places to swim in the NT. I have to admit the rock hopping can get quite difficult – I am always a little relieved that Claire manages to get out uninjured.
We went back and hit the thermal pools again in the afternoon, it was much needed, as the water at Butterfly Gorge was freezing.
The Sunday night was slightly less crowded but unfortunately it brought out the camping behaviour that makes me avoid busy periods. A shame, but I would still recommend the campsite, especially to those with young children.
Got up on the Monday and headed to Umbrawarra Gorge. It took a bit of finding, but it was a really lovely spot, a nice beach next to a striking gorge. You could have spent a lot of time moving up it, but we only had a few hours, so we just had a swim and some lunch, before having to head back home.

Channel Point adventure

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Decided to head down to Channel Point to go blue water fishing for the weekend, have a camp and two days of fishing. Got amazingly lucky with the wind, I did not realise how much the boat ramp is affected by the slightest breeze.

Got down there on Saturday afternoon and launched in around 12 knots which was difficult but not too much worries. After the difficult launch I realised I had left the sounder in the car so we got to go back in. I was glad I had a poly anyway. Tried to fish the low for some Jewies on the shelf but got smashed by sharks and catfish. Plus a goldie, which was borderline, but we were in 6 metres so decided to let him go. Mud got the best of the sharks. Headed to one of the nearby islands where Alice got smoked off a lure, but we were unable to get them to bite and we were fast running out of light.

Camped the night, it is a pretty cool place, toilets and some cold showers. Had a really clear night for the stars, I think it dropped to around 9 degrees, really enjoyed it getting down that low.

Woke up the next morning. While we were getting ready Alice decided to go for a wander down at the magroves, came back holding a sizeable buck. She’s getting pretty good at chasing and catching them, little did we know that would be the best thing of the day…

We just got nothing! Hit some structure, hit some reefs marked on the map, never got a single bite. Hit the reef at about 2 metres casting some lures, got nothing. Didn’t even see a fish, even a small fish. Went back and saw some birds working a section, cast some lures but they were 20cm Blue Salmon. The wind was totally dead on Sunday, it was such a shame that there weren’t any fish in the ocean!

Got:
Me: Lots of sharks and catfish, 1 goldie, estimated 30cm
Alice: Lots of sharks, blue salmon, 1 nice mud crab
Mud: The biggest shark, catfish

Story of the trip:
Getting so luck with the wind

Boat problems:
Motor was acting pretty funny at the end, though it was pretty low in fuel. Anyway I won’t be fishing for a while 🙁 so I am going to get it serviced.

Snap