Out of bed by 4:30am, a little bit of brekkie and of into the city for a fishing charter. Ilse and Andrea stayed in bed and had a girly day with Vicki. Us men-folk went out for some hunting and gathering.
The charter boat had a total of 14 fisher men and women on board and we headed out into the Arafura sea for some off-shore fishing.
Alexander hooked a Jewfish early on but pulling him up was beyond his strength and Dad had to help out and reel him in (and get the picture taken). At over 1mt in length he was a good size but not overly large for a Jewy. As it turned out, this was the only Jewy and the only fish of real size taken for the whole day. The rest of the day was spent hooking Tricky Snapper, Rock Cod, Spanish Flag and similar reef fish but nothing worth keeping.
This charter wasn't near as nice or professional as the one we did in Broome and the skippers lack of local fishing knowledge was evident by the low number of fish caught. However, it was a nice day out and Alexander hooked plenty of fish, which were much larger than what we catch at home, to make it a memorable experience for his upcoming birthday.
We were safely returned to land by 3:30 in the afternoon and back at the caravan park by 4pm for a shower and a little rest before heading out to Mindil Beach market, the most famous market in NT or maybe even Australia. The market is held in the parklands just behind Mindil Beach and has many bling products designed to attract girls (or their money to be more precise). We menfolk headed straight for the food stalls and tried the various foods on offer. Most foods came from somewhere in South East Asia and were cooked by stall holders from that nation which gives the whole market a real multicultural flair.
By 8pm we were back at the caravan filleting the Jewfish caught earlier in the day and by 9pm we were ready for bed after a very long day.
On of the facts we've learned today was that drink driving laws are quite different in NT. Any driver caught between 0.05% and 0.08% is dealt with as a traffic infringement with a $100 fine and 3 demerit points. It also permissible to drink and drive at the same time, that is, a driver drinking a stubbie while driving is quite acceptable in NT.
Things are certainly different up here ......
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