Darwin Harbour
This is a historic Aussie location. The site of the Japanese attack in 1942. It was recently featured in the movie "Australia". A visit to the wharf on a balmy summer evening is very relaxing. Particularly after one of Darwin's hot and humid summer days. Chris and the family relax with a few nibbles.

The Customs Boat tied up along side the pier.

Paspaley are a well known pearl company with pearl farms throughout the North west of Australia. This is one of their mother ships tied up after a repaint.

The recently opened Entertainment Centre.

Kakadu and Territory Wildlife

The gentle stuff first. Susan and I found the Ta Ta Lizard a charming little chap. When he runs and stops - he immediately lifts a front leg and waves it in the air for several seconds. Who knows why? but it is cute as Susan says.

His larger cousin on the other hand
is a lot more threatening. This fellow put the wind up me as I sat taking photos of him. I distinctly remember telling Tony DeGroot my fishing mate, " Tony, I'm getting bloody scared here!" his Territorian comment, "No he's alright mate!" My response to that was, "Well I'm very @#$^^ scared, get me out of here!" Moments after this shot was taken he took off into the water in front of the boat showering us both with mud.

I was much more comfortable with this pair.
As you can imagine, with Kakadu a wild life preserve, there is a wide diversity of bird and animal life.

There are many pairs of Jabiru and this is probably the reason the town was called Jabiru.

My Mate Chris Suitor,
he's a big unit I'll tell you.



What a generous family the Suitors are. Susan and I met Chris and Jill at the end of the Darwin Airport back in 2007. We were waiting to see the jet fighters from the Australian and US land. After a bit of a chat Chris offered me a chance to fish in Kakadu if we ever got out to Jabiru where he is a Project engineer. Say no more, we packed the van a got out there as quickly as possible. Chris was as good as his word and we had a good day on the East Alligator, catching quite a few medium sized Barra. This shot is one of Chris at the Mine processing plant near Jabiru.


This is the ore crusher where the mined ore is reduced in size for further processing. Chris generously invited me to come up and stay with him in Jabiru so that I could do some fishing. He also arranged for me to fish with possibly the best Barra fisherman in Jabiru, Tony DeGroot. Who's the best fisherman in a town is always under some dispute but I add that many of the locals confirmed Tony's ability when they inquired as to who I was fishing with.





Sunsets are always a fascination. Here's a Territory sunset over the South Alligator flood plain. Too bad you weren't there with me.








As easter was approaching, Chris headed back to Darwin. He and Jill have a place in there so that Jill can follow her profession. From darwin we had a day trip down to the Daly River, another very well known fishing river. The evening before our arrival an Aboriginal man had been taken by a crocodile and they we searching for his body.


While this boat is not active in the seach, it gives an indication of the Daly river. We had a great day touring around with a picnic lunch. The Daly river is about 240 klms south of Darwin.

Fishing in Kakadu April 2009

I recently spent a fortnight in the Northern Territory. A week of this was spent at Jabiru, the site of a Uranium mine. Jabiru is a lovely mining town and I was invited to stay there with a good friend Chris Suitor who is a Project Manager at the mine. My fishing mate was Tony DeGroot. He has the reputation of being one of the best fishermen in the area. I can vouch for that as well. "The runoff" as the wet season conclusion is called was disappointing due to the lack of heavy rainfall. The fishing was therefore not a spectacular as normal. But we did get a couple of nice fish as you can see.
The shot above is one of Tony as we head down the East Alligator river in Kakadu.


Tony was the first to score a decent fish. Here he is with a Barramundi which is close to a metre long. We release all fish caught. You are allowed to take a "Limit" but we prefer to let them go. Kakadu National Park is on one bank of the river while Arhnem Land is the other bank.








My best fish for the trip was this 80 cm Barra from the South Alligator.












A nice shot of the sunset over the East Alligator River as Tony brings us back home after a hard days fishing.

Our Northern Ireland Cottage

Florence Court, a heritage listed estate. Susan's choice for northern island.
The Main Manor House of Florence Court. Our cottage was in the grounds of the estate.














A summer house in the garden.

Our Southern Irish Cottage

Susan's selection for our southern Irish Stay. On the edge of Loch Ern on the river Shannon.
Toadstools?? or Mushrooms??
Castleconnell Fishing Tackle shop












Castle ruin by Loch Ern.

Guided Fishing in Ireland

Anybody who knows me, know that I can talk. Well, our guide Marty O'leary could "run rings" around me on any occasions. He managed to keep us entertained all day. This was a day spent trolling the lake. Not hard work, but we were hoping for some big Pike, unfortunately only two fish. See below. If Marty is to be believed, he is very well known, but then so am I.
Tranquillity on the lake in the early morning.
Vic's Pike, released.












Ted's Brown Trout. Unfortunately kept to prove a point. 5 pound weighed not as big as the guide said it was.

Vic fishes Lake Coniston.


Just a few shots of the old master. We spent an afternoon spinning for trout and Pike.

I think that's Robin Hood disappearing into Sherwood Forrest.

The Lakes District, Lake Coniston.

For those who don't recall, Donald Campbell died on lake Coniston in his jet boat the Bluebird.
By this time Jo and Vic had caught us up. The cottage was very nice and a nice hike from Coniston, the Town. The weather was a little wet through this stay but we still enjoyed the location. The stop was again set up so that Vic and I could fish some of his old haunts.







This is one of the ferries on the lake. It is a very popular tourist area . Our residence is on the far shore just left of frame.
One of the most enjoyable characters we met on this trip was Jimmy Pollard. He offered Vic and I a fish on "His Waters" a two and a half mile stretch of private fishing water. This is me with Jimmy on a recce before Vic arrived. We caught fish here as well. Trout and Salmon. This is considered one of the better Salmon rivers on the Cumbrian Coast.








One of the main reasons for the visit to England was to Let the Briand Family catch up with relatives and friends. Vic and Jo are pictured with Jo's brother Kevin and Susan.

Scotland August 2008

Susan and I visited the British Isles last year. We were there from the end of August until late October. The first week was spent in Scotland. This shot is the cottage we stayed in while near Aberfeldy and Pitlochry. Susan's parents Vic and Jo were to have been with us for the whole journey but Passport delays kept Vic and Jo until the middle of the second week.

Our plan was to do some salmon fishing while in Scotland, well I did and caught Salmon and Trout.

Susan speaks to the local butchers. One of these lads is a keen fisherman. I was giving him some lip about pies he had on sale and during the conversation he discovered that I was a fisherman. So he told me quietly about Glen Lyon and a good section of the river. It was about 30 mile away from where we were staying. Nobody on the river here. 5 pound a day for the licence not the normal 15 Quid. I can't describe the natural beauty of the glacial valley with sheep grazing up the slopes. Local shepherds would stand on the road and work their dogs by whistling. They didn't bother to go up the mountains, the dogs worked the sheep by whistle.

The following photo is one of those postcard shots that appear as you drive around. This is the pick of them though. This is a hotel at Pitlochory

It was with a heavy heart that I left Scotland. I would love to spend a couple of months there while the fishing was at it's prime. 17 trout and a Salmon on the first day. A salmon and 2 trout on the second day. Thats more fish than some fishermen see in a month. I must be part Scot, I did my fishing for 5 quid a day and had it all to myself. Lower sections of the river cost a lot more.