Fishing trip

Today we took Nancy and Robert's boat to a place called Guilderton, about 100km North of Perth city for a fishing trip on the Moore River.  The drive took about 90 minutes, including a stop to pick up fishing supplies.  The scenery we drove through on the way up was very unexciting.  The highlightof the journey was when we pulled up alongside Nancy and Robert's car and Peter noticed for the first time that Joseph wasn't in our car.  We all had a good laugh at him - he had been so engrossed in his book and hadn't noticed when Joseph and his booster seat had been removed from our car so he could ride with Nancy and Robert.

By the time we arrived at the riverside we were all hungry, so we tucked straight into the picnic we had brought with us while Robert sorted the fishing gear.  

It wasn't long before we were backing the boat into the water by which time Joseph and Luke were getting very excited about the prospect of going in the boat on the water (since we first arrived in Perth their favourite game has been playing in the boat - parked in the garden).  Peter agreed to let the little two have first shot (partly bribed with an ice-cream).  We took a quick spin around the lagoon before heading upstream and dropping anchor for our first attempt at fishing.  Robert gave us all a quick lesson with the fishing rods and it wasn't long before I had managed to put a knot in one of the lines, reducing our rod count to two.  Luke managed a very basic fishing method, while Joseph worked on casting the line properly.  

After a short lesson we headed back to port where Nicola and Luke disembarked and Peter joined the crew.  Peter had his lesson on casting and we headed further upstream, trying several different spots.  Both Joseph and Peter were soon fishing like little pro's, while Robert watched on (probably wishing I hadn't wrecked his chance of a catch!).  

Despite improving technique and a host of spots, we failed to see a single fish.  We did, however, have great fun and saw loads of birdlife (black swans, pelicans, parakeets etc).  On the way back Joseph helped Robert skipper the boat back - mainly making sure he didn't go too slow.

The boat was easily winched back onto its trailer as the sun gave up the last of its heat for the day and a tired group headed for the long drive home and some well earned bangers and mash.

Full set of photos can be found by clicking here.

Dave