Mary River Houseboat

Our houseboat Ullinda

Skipper Lyn and her motley crew

Skipper Lyn

The fishermen

Never smile at a crocodile - this is why you don 't get off the boat!!

Mary River

Lily pads along the Mary River

A tree in the early morning light

The fisherman turned into a catcherman!!!

Flood plains along the Mary River

Beautiful sea eagles

A jabiru

Well Skipper Lyn and her motley crew decided to hire a houseboat on the Mary River for 3 days and 2 nights and what an experience that was.  We all had our jobs to do - Lyn was the skipper, Charlie and Graeme the fishermen who would hopefully catch dinner (however the girls went to Woolies first and stocked the fridge just in case) and Jane was the "Princess Drinks Bitch"!!

We actually cruised the Corroborree Billabong which is part of the Mary River system and it was just magical.  The birdlife was prolific and we saw lots of sea eagles, kites, kingfishers, jabirus to name but a few.  We also saw lots of crocodiles and you certainly wouldn't want to fall off in these croc infested waters.  So very different from hiring a houseboat on the River Murray where every night we got off and had a fire on the banks of the river!!

On the first day we motored along taking in all the sights - there are lots of floodplains along the river and it would be a wonderful sight in the wet as the billabong would be endless.  The vegetation is quite diverse as well, with lilypads, big clumps of pandanus trees, and paperbark trees all side by side.  Skipper Lyn drove the boat effortlessly, Princess Drinks Bitch made sure that everyone had a stubbie in their hands and the fishermen did what they do best (which is fish, not catch!!).  On that first morning Graeme caught a barra but unfortunately as he was reeling it in, it spat the lure out so that was a great disappointment.  The weather was perfect.  We then had chicken kiev on the bbq for dinner along with a few glasses of beer, wine, Jim Beam etc and went to bed.  Our bedroom was upstairs and was accessed from the back deck up a ladder - As I was climbing it I kept thinking of all those crocs I'd seen in the daytime!!

Next morning, we had a visit from the owner of the Mary River Houseboats who brought us freshly baked scones, jam and cream and also the morning paper.  What service.!!  Another day of drinking, eating, fishing, cruising and then another yummy bbq for dinner along with a few glasses of beer, wine, Jim Beam etc. - this could get monotonous!!  Who am I kidding - I'm in heaven. 

We anchored that night and just watched the sunset which was magical but during the evening our anchor slipped so it was fun and games trying to manouever and anchor again in the dark!!  Charlie was anchor boy, Lyn was driving and I was out on the back deck with the spotlight making sure we didn't hit anything.  It was very eerie seeing all the red eyes of the crocs in the water!!  Anyway all's well that ends well and we re-anchored and spent an uneventful night waking to the most brilliant sunrise.  Another paper delivery and we set off for more of the same.  A few fish were caught but at the end of the day we had a brilliant time and such a great way to enjoy the Corroborree Billabong!!

Thanks Lyn and Graeme for your great company and I'm sure we will be meeting up again some time soon over in the West.

For now Adieu from The Wandering 2s.