Fishing trip: fish count 1

Trevor preparing live bait

Yesterday, Trevor took Kyle and I out on a fishing trip to Leader's Creek. I was pretty thankful to be going out somewhere in Darwin and that I would get the day off real work. So we got all our snacks together  n' stuff like that the night before and set off at 6 in the morning. 

When we arrived, even the entrance was beautiful. It would be a great place to camp with no one around and birds everywhere. This is what I captured even before we got on the boat. 

Once the boat guy came round with the boat, we packed ourselves up and were ready to go. 

The boat man pushed us into the water then we set sail. I was pretty hopeful to see crocodiles Trevor said there was a four meter monster that lived right beside the harbor. I kept my eye out but couldn't see it anywhere.

I was traveling up front and it felt like being in a movie. Mangrove trees grew out of the water making channels where we could sail. We sped along for twenty minutes zooming down water ways until we got to an area of open water. It was where the sea met the fresh.

The journey

Anti-sunburn cap 

Once we were in the right place, Trevor taught us how to cast and we tried a few times. I messed up and kept getting the line tangled. Untangling sucked so I learned quick. Then we attached our lures and started trawling - where you just hold the rod and ride in the boat until something bites.

Louis the loyal lure

Birds flying

Honestly the first part was pretty boring. We just sat in the boat baking in the heat (cause it was like 33 Celsius or something) and waited. Nothing happened for literally four hours. There were birds flying and that was about it.

As we came around one of the bends, Kyle noticed some prints and said he thought they were crocodile tracks. Trevor said they weren't and there were no crocodiles in that part of water. Trevor's always right even when he's not. Anyway, despite the fact that Trevor was right, Kyle spotted a croc two minutes later.

The Croc that wasn't there cause Trevor said

 I was like "Woaw," and Kyle was like "Cool," and Trevor was silent. Tee hee. So I snapped (get it) as many shots as I could then we continued on trawling.

For some reason nature had suddenly awoken and I began to see animals everywhere. 

Thin white bird

Eagle

Pelican

I couldn't get a picture, but the trip's highlight was the dolphins. They didn't jump out of the water, so they were really only fins. There were two of them hunting for fish around the boat. I got within a few meters. I didn't think I was going to see wild dolphins.

Once all the wildlife hullabaloo was resolved, Trevor took us back to get bait. We got bait, got half way back then ran out of gas in the middle of crocodile infested waters. We had to shake the can a bit and tilt it in the right way just to make it back to camp. Once there, we got some more gas then finally made it back to the fishing spot.

We started fishing by hand, where you take a line and tangle it and wait. Like Kyle is doing below.

Hand fishing

 We tried that for a bit and Trevor got two straight away. Kyle got one, then so did I!

Prize catfish

 It's about the size of my hand. Maybe smaller. I don't care I caught something. I had to tear off its spikes with some pliers, then I hooked it through the back a threw it in for live bait. I cast it a few times, then I slipped and the cat fish escaped.

Oh no! You may by thinking. But this story has a happy ending, well not for the fish. When my prize escaped he slowly swam away. The eagles saw him though. I watched as the bird circled the boat and swooped in for the kill. I tried to take a picture but hit the shutter too late.

This was the attempt. Better luck next time.

After that we went back, packed up and went home. We found a kangaroo we'd hit on the way accidentally. There was no way we could have missed it. It jumped out of the long grass and ended up under the front wheel.  Then the hawks got to him.

R.I.P Kangaroo, you did feed some stuff so not a waste. Also Kira-J got a skull for her project. Good for her.








-James

My Voodoo Van

The Moon

So I've been wondering for a few days why my van is so cheap.

I was worried that maybe there was something wrong with the engine, but the only thing thats happened so far is the battery has gone flat. Thats easy to fix though, so no biggy. A few rides around and I'm starting to think that maybe I got lucky.

So today, extremely happy with my purchase I started going through, cleaning it out and taking an inventory of all the items. In there I found everything I'll ever need camping. I have pots pans, knives, forks, plates, tools, torches, hot plates, propane, spare parts, a music player, the list goes on.

Ma stooff

The inside was clean too.

So why the phoque was it only $1500. Is it some kind of miracle, sent from the gods to push me on my way. Is, for once, absolutely nothing going to go wrong. Something always goes wrong. Why is she so cheap?

Well, I'll tell you why. It's because of this.

CRAZY VOODOO DOLLS

That's right, part of my inventory is the previous owners and they've been turned into voodoo dolls. This van is a crazy voodoo van that turns the previous owners into little dolls to travel in the back forever and ever and ever. 

And that's the price I have to pay for a cheap mini van, $1500 and my soul. Anyway the dolls came with a notes in some mysterious incomprehensible language which turned out to be German. Luckily I made two German friends the week before and Olivia helped me out. 

'sorrow-dolls' from Guatemala.
People say the children from Guatemala tell the dolls their worries/sorrow before they go to bed. Only one problem per doll. Then they put it underneath  their pillow. By the time they wake up the next morning all the worries are gone. 

I'll be riding worry free.

- James

James McCafferty - Home Owner

I, James McCafferty, have officially purchased my first home. There she is above, isn't she a beauty. 

This morning one of my hosts found the ad on Gumtree for a  camper van. "Thought you'd be interested," said my host very Australianly. 

 Well, I was. So I called the guy and I was all like, "Your van still available?" and he was all like, "Yeh." Then I was like, "When can I see it?" and he was all like "whenever."

So at lunch I rolled into Darwin and took a look. I saw it right away I knew it had everything. 

Doors

Wheels

Mirrors

Locks

This fence stuff

A smiley face air fresher 

Lights

And so a little negotiation, a test drive and $1500 later I was taking home her home. If she runs for more than a month a $1500 camper van is a steal on the market. So right now I consider myself lucky. 

This also marks one of my goals on my Australia bucket list. I've bought a camper van, so now all I have to do before leaving is get out of this country with more money than I came with. It's doable especially with a van. 

I had some other stuff to say, but game of thrones is on soon so I'm just gonna let you bask in the glory of my vans pictures. Soon she will be named. But her name must be earned first. 

- James

Bartholomew the Corella

DISCLAIMER: I may or may not have taken the following pictures of myself

Yesterday, we were feeding the Corellas that come to the front of the house every evening. I've renamed them pussy-birds because they are the biggest pussies in the world. They come down for a feed but if you so much as looked badly they'll fly away back to the trees and yell at you. 

They're rude too. They'll beat up other birds for feed. Assholes.

All except Bartholomew of course. As they say regularly in this country, Bartholomew is a good c*nt. 

Here are some pictures of me taming a wild bird. 

Inspiring. Anyway you know what else I found out today. In Australia kids still get the cane at school.

Yeh I know, wtf is with that. I know in this country they are a little behind on some things but to me getting the cane at school is ancient history. It's okay though, cause parents have to sign a paper before the schools allowed to beat their children. So that's a positive.

One of the kids that will enter this brutal, salts of the earth system is Kya. She's one and a half. She'll have a brother in the next few weeks.

Kya fits in here because she was the one who ran up to the bird and started trying to pat it. When we saw it wasn't scared of her we moved in. Then Kira-J got hold of my camera and wouldn't stop taking pictures. Here's a little gallery for you, internet.

 - James

Best job in the world

A few days ago I entered the best job in the world competition. You had to make a thirty second video to say why you should get the job. There were six options.

Outback Adventurer: I'm a man of adventure and self-proclaimed master of the outback. Perfect job for me.

Park Ranger: Once when I was a teenager I got a ticket for being in a park too late. That's how enthusiastic I am about parks. They have to choose me.

Wildlife Caretaker: Again, in my teenage years a squirrel came to me out of the forest. I learned that day that I could talk to animals cause it told me, "Tut tut tut tut, tut tut tut." So this job is pretty much my destiny.

Taste Master: I like food

Lifestyle photographer: Well this was the one that really caught my eye. Problem is it would be in Melbourne so I would basically be going back to where I was before. But I'm not going to complain if I get a $50,000 photography contract and $50,000 expenses. I'm fine with that.

Chief Funster: This was in Sydney. FU Sydney. You don't get a video.

So that's it. These are my submissions and if the stars are aligned I might get a cool job. If not I'll just sick to the road. Life could go either way. Both path are good, ones just more financially secure than the other.

- James

The pig is dead.

 Today I took part in the butchering of a pig. Horray.

If anyone's squeamish then you probably won't want to see the rest of the pictures. Today one of the pigs in the pen became pork.

 So how did it go down. Well, first of all we lured the pig out with some carrots and when it was in position Trevor put a bullet in it's head. The shot was louder than I thought it would be, and the pig spasmed for a few minutes after. It was strange to look at. I've never seen an animal that pig die before. It made me think about my own death and I wondered if I would spasm like that after being shot in the head.

Anyway, when the beast finally died we tied him by his back legs and hung him up. Trevor slit his throat to let him bleed then we put the body in boiling water. We then shaved the body bald and started the cutting process.

First of all we had to slit it down the middle so all the organs could fall out. Most of it was intestine. I was surprised how small all the other organs were. Pigs are mainly stomach I suppose.

I learned that pigs have an organ anatomy closest to humans in the animal kingdom. That was a interesting fact to learn as the pigs guts spilled out before me. I must look something like that on the inside.

Once we'd managed to cut off the head and cut it in half we moved on to slice it and put it in the freezer. Once that was done Kira-J wanted the skull for her project, for we started that.




Here are the pictures:

Me eating tongue

Now, I got some great shots and am a big fan of the Walking Dead. So I was inspired to make some posters. Here they are!

We ate him for dinner.

- James

Made a Documentary

I made a documentary. Watch it and be educated!

- James