Mud crabbing and whales

Next day we travelled 50 Km down the track to a place called Middle Lagoon. Before we departed the boys and girls went on an adventure.

Boys
I managed to get a mobile number of a local aboriginal 'crabber' called Fred – apparently he takes the odd tourist out to catch mud crabs. After driving the 30 k’s to his community ‘Mudnum’ Fred was gone so we went out with his cousin Dominic. We caught nothing because the tide was too full, so we came back the next day and ventured deep into the mangroves with Dominic and his brother Peter. A couple of thoroughly delightfull blokes.



Here’s Jesse’s account.

Peter showed me how to use the hook to find mud crabs hiding under the mangrove roots and in the tree trunks and in mud.



Peter was good at mud crabbing.



Peter showed me a mud crab hiding under some roots and I used my hook to get him. The trick is to get the hook around the claw and lift him up. You have to be careful cause their claws are so big they can snip a finger or toe off. Peter and Dominic were really nice they called me Jesse brother all the time.

We caught 2 huge mud crabs. Mud crabbing was fun!



Later that night we made a fire at our camp in the sand dunes and cooked the crabs in the coals.



Then we ate them. They were yum.



Girls
While the boys went mud crabbing us girls went on the glass bottom boat it was amazing. Most of the time we were watching whales and dolphins so we didn’t look through the glass much. The first thing we saw was 7 dolphins which was amazing the way theywould dive up and down. One even came right next to the boat. The next thing we saw was a reef with coral and fish and for the first time on the cruise the tour guide spotted a barramundi cod. Then we went whale watching and saw at least a dozen whales, they were my favourite part.They would just jump out of the water one by one and make a big splash.
They were amazing.
By Sophie