King Ash Bay

This morning Monte and Matt came over and said we should travel with them today as they were going the same way and the word was that the river crossings at the Calvett and Robinson were a bit scary and it was better to go in pairs - so we did.

By the end of today we had done 440klm on unsealed road, some graded, some not, some smooth gravel, some chunky stone, some just crap and it was a hard slog, but we got here in the end. The river crossings that were diabolical never came to fruition, nothing over the running boards again but it kept the boys interested and they didnt complain once all day. We are really happy with the way they are travelling, problem is that when they get out they have all this stored up energy to expend and Mum & I just want to sit down and relax....oh well, its all good.

We had lunch at the Robinson River crossing with Monte and Matt, and morning tea at Hells Gate also, they are a couple of great blokes and good company. They went out to Seven Emu and we kept on through to here but I think we will see them again in Darwin when Monte does his Markets trilogy and pumps his books and DVD's.

King Ash Bay, very nice, again if you have a boat. The lady wouldn't let us camp near the river because the boys are too young and she was worried about the crocs, so we ended up in the general area in the middle which had plenty of space and shade, so a good spot. Amenities were average, and there was a pumping station that went all night long and annoyed the shit out of me, so without being able to fish here, I would go to Karumba before here although there definitely would be some good times here with the boys fishing and drinking. There are some good house boats you can hire which would be a good option because you are on the water all day and night, with 2 tinnies behind you. No need to come in each day and launch a boat etc, so a good cheap way to do it. I got the business cards of the operators if I ever want to come back. A local bloke said they were getting some good bara but I am finding that there are a lot of stories out here as well. Everyone has caught something that was massive and has a story to tell.

We thought we might have stayed another night but it didnt really press our buttons so we think we will move on to Daly Waters tomorrow.

Jase