The Last Crab

Brisk winds got us from Dunk Island to Goold Island in only 2 hours.  Ian was hoping it didn't turn nasty because he had bought bananas during our last shop.  

Bananas are meant to be bad luck on boats so I thought I might like to buy one and eat it before we got back to the boat. Ian had the same idea but he had bought a bunch of them and was ignoring his superstitions. 

  

We had a relaxing afternoon after anchoring off Goold Island and did a bit of fishing, deciding to go over to the island the next day.  Ian had better luck than I did by not catching anything.  I caught a small fish (hooked in the gills), which I released,  Unfortunately, it had been mortally wounded and slowly sank, belly up.  I felt lousy!

Cameron and Colin had also anchored at Goold and had gone over to the island in their dinghy.  On their way back, they dropped in to warn us about a particularly nasty stretch on the beach, and whatever we did, don't go there.

Horrified, we said "Crocodiles?'

No, it was Paper Wasps.  Colin explained that one minute they were walking along the beach, minding their own business, the next thing he was being stung all over.  They even got up his board shorts.

We tried unsuccessfully not to laugh.

The following day, Ian goes to the danger zone to track down and photograph the culprits.  

I stayed well away.

That afternoon, we sailed to Hinchinbrook Island via the Hinchinbrook Channel and anchored in Gayundah Creek a beautiful mangrove lined estuary set against the magnificent backdrop of Mount Bowen.

It was a perfect habitat for mud crabs

THE MUD CRAB SAGA

About 14 months ago, while in Darwin, we decided we should buy a crab pot as there were millions of Mud Crabs out there in the mangroves waiting to be eaten.

Although we almost set it once (see A Conundrum), it has just been one of those items which adorn our boat - until now.

This was the perfect opportunity in the heart of Mud Crab territory.  Off we went in the dinghy to set the pot in a likely place.  Then it was off to do a bit of trolling while we waited for the Mud crab to get in the pot.  With Coral Trout heads as bait, how could he resist.

A while later, we returned to inspect the pot. Nothing!

We relocated it just around the corner, maybe it was too secluded where we had it and the crabs didn't even know about that little estuary.

So far, no fish and no crabs.  We had curried vegies for dinner.  

Ian wanted to check the crab pot before we went to bed. I was worried about him getting eaten by a croc, so I went with him, that way he had only a 50% chance if there was a croc about.

We pulled up the pot. Bingo!  A beautiful fat mud crab.

Now a Mud Crab has powerful claws and can be the cause of lost fingers, so it took a bit of maneuvering to get him from the pot to a bucket.  From there it was over to Winkali where Ian had to truss him up with string before putting him into the freezer which would put him to sleep before going into the pot.  By now I was feeling sorry for the Mud Crab.

An hour later it was into the cooking pot.  I looked sideways at the pot as its legs were waving about.  Ian explained that it was only nerves left.  The crab had been killed instantly with the boiling water.

The following day, we sat down to a fine lunch of Mud Crab.

We cracked open the huge claws and found . . . . . a small amount of meat in them. 

Does anyone want to buy a used crab pot?

View of Little Pioneer bay on the west.

 Our next island was Orpheus Island.

We picked up a mooring the first night at Little Pioneer Bay.  When disembarking from the dinghy we had to be careful not to tread on one of the numerous Stingrays or Fiddler Sharks which bask in the bay.

We needed a bit of exercise and found that the walk to the top of the islands provided just that.

View of the east side

A butterfly floats to  a melaleuca flower for a sip of nectar.  Ian and I follow its erratic movements with jerky cameras till it alights.

Ian and I pose by the ruins of a disused hut.

Cotton Harlequin Beetles.

We found these colourful beetles covering a certain type of tree on the island.  The one on the right is guarding her eggs.

Below are more at different stages of development.

I looked these beetles up on the internet when we got back to the boat and found that they are quite a common garden pest.

I was expecting a rare endemic beetle, only found on Orpheus Is :(







From Orpheus Is, our next destination was Townsville.  This would be our best chance on restocking fresh food and boat fuel for a while. 

We even bought more bananas.

Also, it was time to do some serious laundry, in a machine rather than by hand.

Overlooking the Townsville Yacht Club marina towards Castle Hill.

 This odd looking sculpture looks at first glance like a mustache decorated with thongs on a pedestal.

It's really a Whale Tail (decorated with thongs).

Well, it's a new theme on the thong tree.

Finally, I decide to get a haircut and Ian decides I should put a photo of it in this blog.  He thinks I've been taking too many liberties with photos of him.