Stroking a Barra and Eating One, Too

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It was very windy overnight and I could hear seeds from the nearby trees dropping on the roof all night. The forecast is for rain later today and tomorrow and cloudy. We wanted to see Karumba when it still looked good in the sun, after driving all that way just to look at it, so we’ll have the rest day tomorrow.

It took about 45 minutes to drive to Karumba with one short stop to take photos of the large group of Brolgas that were feeding in a waterhole next to the road, just out of Karumba. They moved off a little way as we stopped but were still clear. One male started to do the mating jumps, just a couple, but the female wasn’t interested and walked off – bad timing buddy!

On arrival, we went straight to the Visitor Information Centre (they had VIC on the outside of the building which made me look twice – I thought we were back home, especially as we’d passed a property called Hillside!). We were shown the point for viewing the Gulf of Carpentaria, the fish and chip shops, and the Barramundi Discovery Centre. We checked the Barra Centre out first and found the tour started at 1.30pm so we had time to look around town first.

While buying bread at the bakery, I saw some scrumptious looking fresh cream donuts so I treated us to some. We went along Norman Street to a little park at the end where we could sit next to the Norman River and watch the birds and fishing boats while enjoying our snack. It was very peaceful.

It was then time for the Tour so we zipped to the other side of town and joined the large group already waiting in the shop. We were taken into an area with a few information boards and models of various stages of a Barramundi’s life. Our guide explained that all Barra start off, in fresh water rivers, as male and don’t change to female until they reach about 58cm and are exposed to sea water when the floods wash the estuaries sending all the fish out to sea. Once they have changed to female they don’t revert. When fishing at sea you are only allowed to keep the middle sized fish as the young, small ones need to grow and the largest ones are the breeding females, which are protected. When full size they can open their mouths so wide they are capable of swallowing a small crocodile whole (although they are food for bigger crocs themselves)!

The next thing we had to do was wash our hands and forearms thoroughly and have iodine spread on them. We were going to be able to stroke the fish but we couldn’t touch them unless we were germ and chemical free. They are kept in filtered and aerated water in tanks. We climbed up the stairs to the top of the tank and a group of young males came up to the surface where we could touch them as they swam around. As expected, they felt slimy. Even though we weren’t feeding them they stayed at the surface. They get fed every second day.

Two other tanks had large breeding age females in, which we couldn’t touch but watched through the portholes. We then watched a video that showed how, when it is time for breeding, they give the chosen females an injection of hormones to start them releasing their eggs (they require very specific conditions for it to happen naturally, which are difficult to duplicate in captivity, like a full moon, dark, temperature, a particular area etc.) and put each into a tank with 2 or 3 males and darken it.

Once the eggs are laid, they collect them into buckets and put them into another tank. A few days later, when the larvae emerge they are taken out to the hatching pond outside. They are left to grow for 2 weeks, with lots of feeding. At this stage they are called “fingerlings” because they are about the size of a small finger. The pool is drained slowly to allow all the fingerlings to stay in water until they are scooped up and put into plastic tubs. They are then taken out to dams, estuaries and rivers as required. Before releasing them, the water they are in is mixed with the water from the place they will live for a night so they get used to their new environment. Then they are released to live out their lives. If they are in a dam, they will remain males. If they are in estuaries they stand a chance of becoming female, if they get washed down to the sea. That’s one complicated fish!

By the end of the tour, we were getting very hungry so we headed straight down to Karumba Point, where we bought some Barramundi and Chips, along with a mango smoothie each and went to sit in a picnic shelter overlooking both the river and the opening to the Gulf. The fish was supposed to be locally caught but it was rather disappointing. It didn’t even taste as good as the last lot we’d had in a non-fishing town! Still the Mango Smoothie was delicious, if you could get it up the straw!

We enjoyed watching the boat ramp nearby, with lots of activity and comings and goings, as well as the birds, mainly Black Kites and Seagulls, as usual. Then we walked along the beach towards Karumba Point. The tide was well out and we walked across thousands of shells, mostly broken up, that formed a gritty sand and down to the sandy mud where there were hundreds of little crab holes.

A little further along, there were small clumps of exposed mangrove trees, with their breathing tubes sticking up like a spiky wall all around them. We could see lots of footprints in the firm mud, including kangaroos which were very deep and had obviously been made much earlier in the day as the tide receded. Evidently they only have two tides a day in the Gulf (one low and one high) as it takes 12 hours for a wave to travel through to the beach and back and this wave movement cancels out one of the normal double tides coming from the Indian Ocean at the head of the Gulf. This also happens in two other Gulfs in the world, the Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf of St Lawrence, Canada, and is believed to be why these are areas are so good for fishing.


Further along the beach, near the Point, we found shelves of rock that were completely full of shells, forming a conglomerate. It was strange to see the whitened shells so firmly fixed in the rock with lots of scattered, recently dead and still colourful shells of the same types lying next to them. I really liked the spiral ones. From here we could see into the Gulf of Carpentaria, at least a little way. It just looked like another sea but the tide was well out.


As it was starting to get late, we walked back to the ute through the town, just detouring for a quick look at the Boardwalk, which was supposed to be through swamp but was dry due to the drought. There were a few succulents and some nice plants but no sign of any wildlife.


Once back at the car, we started back, with a detour only to buy some locally caught fish, King Salmon. I would have bought Barramundi but the pieces were too big for my little fridge/freezer and were all frozen so I couldn’t cut them without thawing them first. We were told the Salmon was even sweeter than Barra, so we’ll have to see.


Barry then drove at full speed (110kph) to get back before dark. He was worried about animals jumping out in front of us and damaging the car (I was worried about the animals, too). It was difficult to take photos of anything at that speed but we did spot a Jabiru at the waterhole we’d seen the Brolgas earlier so he turned around so we could film it. We saw another at the far end of the pool as we moved back onto the road.



Further along we also saw some Sarus Cranes, which look just like Brolgas but have more red on their heads and have pink legs. We also had to slow down, and even stop once, for all the little Walleroos that were hopping about near or across the road ahead of us.



We got back to Normanton just as the sun was setting, with no animal hitting accidents, thank goodness. Barry drove to the Station, where we thought we’d get the best view of the sunset. It was a lovely one, but much of it was hidden as we were rather lower than the land nearby, but at least it was open. One part of the sky did glow beautifully and had amazing lines all across it.


We then went back to the van and both fell asleep, Barry on the bed and me in my chair (where I had been trying to write my diary and left a pen trail across the page!). It was a late, light meal when we finally woke up.

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Photos

Sunset over Normanton
The day finished with spectacular lightshow. The Gulf dished up a Goodbye treat.

A Badly Timed Mating Dance
We had just passed a large pond beside the road and scared the big flock of Brolgas into moving out of the water and further into the scrub. This male than decided he was going to woo a lady but she wasn't interested so he didn't get far in his dance. Better luck next time, mate!

Stroking Barramundi
We had to wash our hands and arms and apply iodine before touching the fish, which stayed around while we stroked them, even though no food was given today. They are fed every second day.

A Little Walleroo
This cute creature was one of only three live ones we saw. Most were roadkill.

Mangroves on the Beach and "Roo Prints
You can see the mangrove breathing tubes sticking out of the mud. In the front are lots of footprints made earlier when the tide had just gone out and it was still sticky. It almost looks like another Dinosaur Stampede!

A Jabiru
The correct name for this bird is Black-Necked Crane. Check out that huge bill!

The Rocks at Karumba Point
All the rocks on that beach were Conglomerate Rocks made up of enormous numbers of bleached shells. It was interesting to see that the shells on the beach were the same as those in the rocks, just more colourful.

The Gulf of Carpentaria
Looking across the Gulf from Karumba Point we could see more sea on one side and to our left. the Norman River estuary.