McGowan's Beach - day 2

Wednesday 17 July 2013

McGowan’s Beach

Up around 5.45am and had fishing line in the water by 6am. Fished for 30 minutes but no luck as I had no bites. It was a beautiful morning, cloudless sky with a light cool breeze from the west. The tide was receding so conditions were good – not sure what is going on re the fishing? Back at camp by 6.30am and both Paul and Rob were up. Our supplies have run low so we needed to drive into Kalumburu for fresh provisions. For breakfast we each had one piece of toast with a couple of slices of tomato and butter and vegemite and black tea. One positive with being here is that there are no limits of generator times so we cranked it up at 7am and will run it all day. We should be able to get a good charge into the battery by day’s end.

 

Paul and I drove into Kalumburu about 8.30am – Rob elected to stay at the site as he had found that he could get an internet and email connection and wanted to catch up on some things. We went into the local store and were pleasantly surprised about the selection and choice of goods. We ended up spending $170 on assorted supplies – the most expensive being a slab of cool drink for $42. We also purchased $100 worth of diesel for $2.99 a litre – that is 33 litres of fuel. We also found a phone that was in working order in the community centre – the public one had been ripped open and we could not get it to work. Both of us were successful in updating our wives re our travels to date and some of the changes we had made to the agenda. We returned to camp with fresh bread ($6 a loaf). Salami, tomatoes and lettuce for a tasty lunch.

We pretty much rested during the heat of the day by sitting in the shade. This was made even more pleasant by enjoying a cold Solo after they had cooled down in the ice. I started working on downloading photos while Paul pulled off one of the trailer wheels. The grabbing of the breaks had bothered him for quite some time and the heating in one of the wheels was also a concern. What he discovered was quite disturbing to say the least. One side, the electric brake wiring was not connected and was just hanging so that was quickly fixed. On the other wheel, he found that the brake wire had been cut into as it had been incorrectly fitted. The wiring had been routed under the shackle holding the suspension limit chain. With movement of the trailer and chain movement the shackle was making contact with the wire wearing through the protective flexible conduit. Hopefully the problem has been fixed.

In the late afternoon, Rob and I went fishing, but again no luck. Of course nobody else down on the beach was catching fish. We tried our lures both bottom and top as well as trying bait both top and bottom. Just nothing happening. The only ones having luck were those who owned boats. We were lucky enough to be in camp when a young bloke came around and offered us some fillets of Red Emperor and Mulloway. I took four, about a kilo, as the boys were holding back. That night we pan fried the fillets after coating them in flour. They were delicious and with some tomato and fresh bread they tasted even better. Also not to forget the mayonnaise. We also have front seat viewing to some fireworks being let off on the beach – not sure where they came from but there you go. In the middle of nowhere and here we are watching a bloody fireworks show! The projectionist was back on the job tonight – I think he would fit in well with the locals – we watched From Paris with Love. As a black comedy it was entertaining. The level of casual violence was a little excessive even for Lindsay.

 

Movie Night