Our day started with a beautiful sunrise before 6am. The girls didn't even stir as we crept out of the camper to watch it. We made a coffee and watched the sun rise in the comfort of our camp chairs. We get the same view from our bed as our camper is high off the ground but it's also soooo nice to be "up" with the sun.
We had a swim before brekky, did a quick load of washing (1machine for all of Kooljaman so there is a queue) and then headed to reception to meet Brian, our Mudcrabbing tour man. Brian is a proud Bardi man and is a wealth of knowledge. We were mesmerised by his stories of dreamtime, history and everyday life.
It is a tag-a-long tour so we drove behind and followed Brian up the beach into a no access part of Kooljaman for cultural reasons and he showed us a great swimming spot.
We were swimming, the girls were swimming over and under the little waves and Brian remarks "oh there's a shark" !!! Michael grabs Rubes and puts her up on his shoulders and asks if we should get out of here...."Nah, he's not interested in us", as the shark swam away.
Brian was digging up some beach crabs
Two girls had driven past the 'no access point' on the eastern beach and got themselves bogged. The tide came in and sank the Prado, then the surf lolled it around until it was beached and someone rescued them a couple of days later. No car insurance is going to cover that! The log books were still sitting on the front seat.
The girls followed Brian wherever he went. This is Hunter Creek where we went Mudcrabbing and fishing.
Brian speared 3 Mangrove Jack in about 20mins. Beautiful clear creek. There are Salties here and he did see one last week so we were keeping a keen eye on the water and banks.
Olive and Brian looking for Mudcrab holes
It took at least 20-30mins to get the crab out of its hole so the girls had a swim and play with Brian, whilst Michael and Rick had a go at getting the Muddy out. I am still keeping a keen eye out for crocs.
At the start of the tour, the girls could not even pick up a soldier crab and at the end of the day Rubes was happy to even put a knife through the crab to kill it, in prep for the open fire!
The girls chased these little soldier crabs, which were in their thousands and picked them up and played with them and were just so happy to be playing in the creek, helping Brian and wading through the water.
It lost its claws in the process.
What a memory! Collecting firewood to cook our Mangrove Jack and Muddies. Soooo happy right now!!!
Rubes prepping the crab for the altar.
Not a bad lunch feed. The girls ate Mudcrab like they were paddle pops, and ate hot fleshy Mangrove Jack fish laid out on a "table" of mangrove leaves.
Olive sharing her muesli bar with her new bestie!!
What a day! We were so proud of our girls today. They got over their initial fear of crabs, let alone crocodiles, and had the best day. Brian was also very smitten with our girls and our half day tour turned into a full day tour. Our day finished with a swim back at our beach and we had to drag our girls out of the water (5:30pm) as happy hour and sunset was calling.
If you are ever up on the Dampier Peninsula, you must book on Brian Lee Mudcrabbing Tour. It was a day we will never forget!!
Looks fantastic as always. We have friends coming over for a visit & can't decide whether to take team to middle lagoon or kooljaman. Your photos are awesome. The crabbing tour looks great fun.
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