I have this week been publishing an account of my trip from Baotou in Inner Mongolia to Brisbane in Australia. I've written about the ice and snow in Baotou, my stay at the Beijing Olympic Hotel, My Qantas flight from Hong Kong to Brisbane, and my troubles getting my mobile phone to work when I arrived. Today I am going to tell you about a recent activity that would have shocked my father, were he still alive. I went fishing!
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| Lake Baroon. Quite a small Dam at least 34 meters in depth in some places. |
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| That's the little brother! |
My father tried his best to be a good father, and he loved fishing, but fishing is one of those things that I put on par with having teeth pulled at the dentist.
My dad loved to fish, but for some reason thought it was a good thing for me (certainly not for himself), to take me out in a little boat with oars and outboard, to try my hand at the game.
My father simply couldn't get it through his skull that I simply did not W-A-N-T to be sticking worms on hooks and nor could I master the simple art of tying hook and sinker on a fishing line.
I frustrated the hell out of him on every occasion we went fishing, but he persisted. And I never learned a thing. Watching paint dry in my opinion was just as exciting as fishing, except when he would catch a shark.
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| View from the boat ramp. Sandy area indicates where the water used to reach. |
My dad would hook the sods and spend ages dragging them to the side of the boat where he would proceed to bash their heads in with a hammer. I remember on one occasion when, having concluded that the shark was dead, he proceeded to drag it into the little boat. He miscalculated.
No sooner had he managed to get the 2 meter monster in the boat when it came back to life. The boat was only 3 meters long (if that), and being shorter than either the fish or the boat was long, I was terrified.
I have always been terrified of sharks, and with good reason. My father's favourite fishing spot was down at Hayes Inlet near the Hornibrook Bridge at Redcliffe, and the area was infested with the monsters. Hell they infest all the rivers as far as 40 kilometers inland. I've had a close and personal encounter with a shark in the ocean, and I fairly walked on water - or was that ran on water to get away from it.
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| This is a real house. Normally 'Queenslanders' are set on 'stilts' to keep them cool and protect from flooding. |
Such is the morbid and ingrained fear of sharks that once when I went swimming in the Hanjiang river, just 100 metres from the Yangtze River junction, that it took real will power to convince myself that I had absolutely no fear of being eaten by a shark there - 1000 kilometers from the sea.
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| Just a lovely shot! Much prefer horse riding to fishing. |
Another thing that drove my father crazy when we went fishing was that I seemed to have a wonderful knack of getting my line tangled and he spent most of his time untangling my lines. To add insult to injury, if we ever caught anything, I simply refused to eat it.
But all that said and done I do admire my father for having had the patience that he did. It was something I could not give my own boys, cause they knew more about fishing than I ever did, so we didn't indulge in the pastime together. Sorry boys!
Given my disdain for fishing, you can imagine my reaction when my little brother decided it would be a great thing if we caught up with each other and spent some quality time together by going fishing. I did gently try to dissuade him from the idea, but his love for the sport overrode his aural senses, and so it was that I found myself going on a fishing trip. At least I knew I was not going to have to contend with sharks, for he had chosen to go to Lake Baroon.
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| A Barn! |
The exact distance from the heart of Brisbane is unknown to me, but I can estimate that it is around 90 kilometers. It's a small manmade lake which in parts is at least 34 meters deep. This I know for a fact, because my brother, the penultimate sportsman who never likes to leave anything to chance, has a sonar device installed in the Kayak (our mode of transport for the occasion) that lets him know not just the depth of the water, but where the fish are, and whether or not it is worth the effort to circle the area in an effort to catch something.
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| Sinkable Kayak on Lake Baroon. |
Now you did read that right. In a lake - no sharks - with sonar and paddling around in a kayak. No ordinary kayak mind you. This one has peddles that you ride like a bicycle (both of you) and they power the kayak, being as they are, connected to paddles under the kayak. My brother assured me that I would not have to contend with worms, hooks, tying lines or untangling them. And he was right. There is no sinker on the line, and he uses lures with multiple hooks. You don't even tie them on the line. You just snaplock them into place and 'bob's your uncle'.
While all of that sounded great, what I was not sure about was the actual kayaking. I can't keep my balance at the best of time, and he warned me that I must never move suddenly or lean too much to one side or try to turn around in the kayak. So there I sat in the damn thing, transfixed like a kangaroo in the headlights of a car, fearing to move a muscle.
By now you have already noticed a number of photographs taken of the countryside location of the Dam, so I will show you a little map to give you an idea of where we were.
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| Montville, Maleny, Lake Baroon |
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| Maleny Pub. Been there! Eaten there! Even had a brother-in-law who was a chef there. |
Of course, given that most people reading this live in the USA or Canada, it ain't gonna be of much use to you, but you never know when you might be passing Australia and feel like dropping in.
As kids we were often taken on long drives in the country on the weekends. I'm not sure why because I'm sure we drove dad crazy.
It did however leave me with a love for the countryside and the Maleny-Montville area is certainly one of the more beautiful places that can be found within a short distance of Brisbane.
Located to the north of the city and with views of the ocean, the area is quite hilly. The Glasshouse Mountains can be seen from most locations, and they are remnants of ancient volcanoes. Their name derives from the fact that from the ocean, they reflected the sunlight and so appeared to be made of glass.
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| Poets Cafe Montville Monday Feb 1st 2010 |
My brother was kind enough on our return trip, to stop in several places to allow me to take these photos which I am presenting here today for your pleasure.
Just 4 days later I was back in the area with my cousins just for the drive. We went up to Montville for breakfast at the Poets Cafe and had a bit of a 'chin-wag'.
We like to say that Australia is the lucky country, but within that country, I think the city of Brisbane is the luckiest place, because whichever direction you go, there are great scenic spots to visit, and of course, Lake Baroon where I went fishing, is one of them.
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| Just about to enter Maleny - a lovely little country town just north of Brisbane |
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| Green Acres is the place to be. |
We had almost no rain from 2001 to 2008 and our water supplies were down to just 5% if my memory serves me right, before we finally started getting rain. According to my brother, Lake Baroon is currently only at 40% of capacity, although given the rain we have had since the fishing trip, it has probably improved.
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| The only photo ever to exist of me fishing! |
Never having been on a kayak before, I did not want to take my bulky camera out on the water and more's the pity.
The wildlife is spectacular. Brother did however take his pocket camera, which is how I come to have a photo of me releasing a fish.
Dad would drop dead if he was still alive, to see me with my fingers in a fish's mouth.
The photo is not staged, and I am proud to say that I not only caught the first fish of the day, but caught enough to have to release one since it would have taken us over our permitted catch. I did rather well for myself actually. Three big bass (less one I let go), one something else which, while small, was a legal sized fish, and one something else, also small, which my brother dropped while getting it off the hook. I did tell you that I don't take hooks out of a fish's mouth - yes? Well I don't!
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| Taken from Landsborough Maleny Area looking at the glasshouse mountains |
We had a good day, and my brother learned a new side of my character.
While Nixon couldn't chew gum and do something or other as well at the same time, I apparently couldn't talk and peddle the kayak at the same time.
And when I didn't talk, I tended to think a lot, and that too was not conducive to peddling. Oh well! You get that with beginners.
At one stage we were peddling along when something struck my line. I quickly grabbed the rod and started reeling the fish in, but almost immediately the line went slack. Oh well! Doesn't matter!
About 5 minutes later brother yelled: 'I got one! Bring your line in so we don't cross tangle!' As soon as I started reeling the line in, I realised that it was a bit heavy and all of a sudden the line went crazy.
We both had fish on our lines. I reeled mine in but brother dropped it before he could get it in the boat. Mine was a littlie (small one), but brother lost a big one. Them's the breaks!
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| Close up shot. The mountains from the sea reflected the light and so were called 'glasshouse' |
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| Glasshouse Mountains |
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| I can't get enough of these views |
It was an interesting morning and well worth the effort. It's hard work watching brother load up that Kayak; sticking in the peddles, attaching the sonar, loading the storage compartment (which leaked and flooded) with all manner of strange equipment. It was equally tiring watching him dismantle it all. But I did help him lift the kayak onto the car.
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| Beautiful windows and paintings in the Poets Cafe at Montville |
It was a good day, and I am thankful that my brother gave me the opportunity to go fishing. Now I can add that to a long list of things I have done and will never do again.
Next time he invites me out, I'm going to nick off with the kayak before he can load anything into it and just cruise around the lake. Much more interesting I think. Then again, if he doesn't get that dam leak fixed, I'll probably drown while strapped into my seat.
I do hope that you have enjoyed this little story about my vacation, and I hope you don't expect any more such stories.
My idea of an exciting activity is getting up from in front of the TV and going out to the swimming pool to cool off in this summer heat. But if anything exciting happens, I'll be sure to let you know about it.
Best wishes to one and all.
R.P. BenDedek
Email: rpbendedek@hotmail.com
Australia photos by Captain Sandy Stewart
R.P.BenDedek is the pseudonym of the Author of 'The King's Calendar: The Secret of Qumran' (www kingscalendar com), and is a guest columnist at Magic City Morning Star News. An Australian, he is currently teaching Conversational English in Baotou, Inner Mongolia, China.
Stories from China at Magic City
"The King's Calendar" is a chronological study of the historical books of the Bible (Kings and Chronicles), Josephus, Seder Olam Rabbah, and the (Essene) Damascus Document of The Dead Sea Scrolls.
