20th August

Clear, hot (35c), light breeze thankfully, and we laze around the van and swimming pool. A day for emails and blogs. Best mate Peter and Francis have invited us to have a BBQ at their house up in the hospital grounds this evening, but Peter will pick us up at 1pm for a tour of the local area. 

Francis is the Matron at the hospital, and Peter? Well Peter works with aboriginal kids at the PCYC and also mentors some for TAFE and the local Aboriginal Council. When he picks us up he has a 17 Aboriginal boy, AP, with him. AP has had a couple of altercations with the local police and Peter is helping him onto a straighter road. AP was our tour guide and he was a treat! Roscoe asked how many police there are in town and AP seemed to feel that there may be too many, especially the local Detective! :-)
 
After the tour Pete took us to the local butcher to buy the meat for tonight. There we met the three Gallagher brothers who also own the local abattoir, 4 or 5 cattle properties around Normanton and Richmond, run the local Rodeo and are members of the SES, Fire-brigade, Girl Guides, Council, Single Mothers Club and hell knows what else. 

Troy Gallagher was coming to dinner and met us at the Central Pub at 6pm for a pre-dinner skool! Dinner was great, the steaks brilliant and Troy's Worcestershire Sauce & Black Pepper Beef Sausages...too good! At 11pm Peter drove us home, but on the way we came upon a fire lit by some local kids in bushland behind the Albion Pub. With the Fire Chief in the car there was no way we were getting out of this one, and after 30 minutes using green leafy branches and bashing the flames back into the burnt areas we had it under control. Also under supervision of 2 police cars and officers! Thanks Pete and Troy for a hot August night in Normanton. 
PS: Troy's wife is the local Detective!

21st August

A wobbly 5:45am start to be in Karumba by 7:30am to meet our fishing charter, The Ferryman, organised by Pete. The Ferryman turned out to be Allison, a hyperactive forthright person who informed us that the charter was yesterday, not today! Crikey! Bloody Pete! Not to worry, Allison cancels the people who were booked today and puts them off till tomorrow and we are set, we including our Police mate John and Jo. 
 
Over the next 4 hours we catch 14 Blue Salmon, 3 small sharks, a Leopard Ray, a few huge catfish and Roscoe lands the biggest fish of the day, a King Salmon (my hero). The day was only marred when we learnt that the crew don't clean and fillet the fish and Roscoe gave them a mouthful on behalf us all. Didn't help, but he felt better. We returned with John & Jo to their caravan park and the boys cleaned and filleted the lot. All good, followed by post-fishing drinks all round and back to Normanton for a swim, happy hour, dinner and bed. Good night!