Fish Feeding and Other Wildlife Encounters

Since our last blog update we've been to a couple of other ranger talks at local national parks. The first of these was at Holmes Jungle, only a few minutes from our caravan park. We had done the walk here when we visited Darwin a couple of years ago, but were interested to hear more about it. The park is now rather neglected, apparently almost no funds are spent on it, and the walking track was quite overgrown and obviously rarely used. The plus side of this is that the local wildlife don't get too many visitors, and we saw heaps of spiders, a cute tree frog and a big pile of snakes, which slithered away when the ranger poked at them with a stick.

Another park we have visited was Howard Springs, where we did an evening spotlighting walk. Although there were only ourselves and another couple on the tour, apparently it was too much for the local fauna, as apart from a cane toad and one possum, the only wildlife we saw were fish and millions of mosquitoes. A real test of our tropical strength insect repellent, one which it didn't quite pass.

This morning we went to Doctor's Gully, where they have fish feeding sessions at high tide. The fish have been coming in for many years, and it is now quite a big tourist attraction. Some of the fish will actually take the bread out of your hand, and if you are game you can give them a pat or a tickle at the same time. There were probably nearly a dozen different species there, ranging from mullet to batfish and even some barramundi, lurking on the fringes.

With the amount of golf we are playing here we are really getting into the swing. We've played in tournaments at all of the local courses, and have done pretty well between us. We've managed to win enough vouchers to get a pair of golf shoes each plus a rescue wood for John, as well as several dozen assorted golf balls. We've also won $200 worth of vouchers between us for the local RSL, which so far has translated into a lunch and a dinner, with another dinner planned next week to finish off the last $50. We've found room in the van for an electric food steamer and an MP4 player, and we're hoping to accumulate enough winnings credit to substantially pay for a new golf bag John has his eye on before we leave. The trouble is, of course, that as you win things the handicapper catches up with you!