Jesse: Rock Cod and Red Ochre

After a trip with the kids to see the never-dry waterhole at Cogol on Friday, Robin told us to get some rest and prepare ourselves for a big day on Saturday. All manner of snacks and supplies were packed into the troopies for the 2-hour drive and the all-day fishing trip to Blackwater.

A perfect spot for a fish.

While it doesn’t quite have the same majestic rock formations or inviting swimming holes as some of the other places around Minyerri, Blackwater is an out-and-out fishing hotspot. Turtle, catfish, bream and barra are in abundance. If the billabongs at Blackwater were just a little bit smaller, it would surely be as close as you could come to shooting fish in a barrel, without actually having a gun or a barrel.

For my part, this was the fourth year in a row that I had made the trek to this fisherman’s Mecca. I had never caught a fish at Blackwater, or anywhere else for that matter – a pattern of dry luck that has seemingly been passed from my father down to my brother and I.

A perfect spot for a sit.

We drove on past the usual spot at Blackwater, ploughing through the scrub and playing dodgem with termite mounds. We came out at a small clearing, meters from the water. A few hours were spent casting and recasting our lines, tying on new hooks whenever we lost old ones to a snag. Amy dropped her bottle into the water and one of the kids fished it out. To that point, that was probably the best catch of the day.

To ease the pain of our barren haul, Micheala made the best damper any of us had ever tasted – bakery quality, if the bakery produced a multi-award winning damper. Seriously, it was like biting into a cloud. Yum, yum.

Picturesque billabong full of yarlbun. It doesn't look real.

After some tea, we headed back to a twin set of billabongs that I have been to many times before. The front billabong was laden with water lilies, giving Amy and Phoebe another chance to try their hand at picking yarlbun, lily roots. Over the back was another billabong that has reached the status of legend since my first trip, when Micheala caught two turtle – the second of which she somehow hooked on its back leg as she pulled in her line ready to head home – and her younger brother, Abraham, pulled out a catfish the size of a small child.

Phoebe claims a lily root.

And so I sat. Determined to catch my first ever fish, I cast two lines out in different directions and waited. And then I felt it. A couple of big tugs, the kind that I had never felt before. It must be a fish, I thought! As I was about to pull it in, a young girl named Valerie cast her line, hooked herself on mine and pulled in my fish in an attempt to get untangled. Stolen. My first fish. Stolen. A rock cod, apparently delicious – better than barramundi. Stolen. I’ve since decided not to claim it, as I don’t want my first catch to be in dispute. I am still fishless.

I claim a fish (and then unclaim it).

Sunday saw our team with its first sleep-in in memory. Eggs, bacon, baked beans and avocado featured in our first official breakfast cook up. Robin had a short trip planned, but that wasn’t happening until late-afternoon, so we used most of the day’s remainder planning for our post-program community engagement.

 The afternoon excursion was a dusk-drive to find some red ochre for ceremony and painting. The sandy bush track turned pastel-red just before we pulled up near a small hill. Robin got out and cracked a big round rock against another. It split in two. He picked up the near perfect halves and rubbed his thumbs on the insides.

3 or 4 years worth of red ochre.

“See, ochre” he said. We wandered around for a little while looking for more. Robin found two that he thought were pretty decent, and enough to last him 3 or 4 years. He playfully spread some across the bridge of Tom’s nose, reminiscent of Michael Hussey’s zinc stripe during his playing days. Phoebe ended up with a whole lot of ochre on her hands, which she kindly wiped over my cheeks.

Phoebe, ready to stain my face.

We’re into the last couple of days of activities on Monday and Tuesday, before community engagement chats, cleaning and farewells on Wednesday and Thursday. Looking forward to another big week!

Mr. Cricket himself. And doesn't he just love it!