Hi All,
Well I'm from the top of AUS in a place called Darwin.
I have quite a few aboriginal friends and years ago I had the opportunity to go and stay with a friend of mine on his parents property just outside of Darwin called "daly river"- now this rive is INFESTED with Saltwater crocs that you see both in the water and on the banks of the river. I was out there for a few days helping clear the block of land from trees etc as they were about to make a house in the middle of there land and the nearest shop was about ys drive away- Anyway for our water source we had to go to a section of the Daly river where it was fresh water (saltwater crocs can and do live in freshwater aswell) and fill up 20-30 litre water jugs and take them back to our tents. One day my friend said it was our turn to go and get the water and as he said this grabbed a 12 gauge shot gun and away we go on his quad bike to the river. One of us had to stand with the shotgun and scan the water looking for crocs whilst the other filled the water jugs. we were knee high in mud so there was no quick get away if a croc lunged at us from the water so I had my eyes glued to anything and everything in that water. We were 15 years of age and shitting ourselves but had to do it, Luckily we filled those jugs and got out of there before anything really happend.
You've got me started now as I have a lot of these stories for you mate.
Another time myself and a friend were fishing in a pretty safe area called "rapid creek" which was a saltwater creek that was kind of a snake bend to it. It was the boxjelly fish season and you could easily see them in the water as the current was strong as the tide came in. Anyway one of us had this crzy idea to SWIM across this creek to the other side and try a few different fishing spots. It was literally a 30 second swim from one side of the creek to the other or you could walk for 15 minutes and cross by land so we decided to swim. We get about a third of the way across when my friend starts screaming his head off- As soon as he sreamed my heart skipped thinking he's been taken by a croc as we are right next to each other but im a little more down stream than him but wqe could still touch each other. As we both get out of the water I then realised WHY he was screaming- his legs were covered in boxjelly fish tenticles andf his legs were red raw. Another person who was fishing heard my mates screams and ran over to us and luck have it this other fisherman had a botttle of vinigar( vinigar neutralizes the stings pretty quickly) and poured it all over my friends legs and put gloves on and peeled the tentacles off of my friend. The pain subsided enough for us to carry him to this fishermans car and we took him to the hospital where he made a full recovery- he was there for a week with badly swalon legs but at least nothing further happended to him- we still keep in touch and always talk of that day.
When I was in high school I knew this kid but wasnt friends with him or anything- well unfortunatly about 10ears ago it was on the news and papers that we he attacked and eaten by a crocodile.
I found the article on it and here it is
23rd December 2003
Finnis River 80 kilmetres south west of Darwin Northern Territory
3 Teenage boys quad biking stopped to wash the mud off themselves in the Finnis River which was flooding due to a recent cyclone. Brett Mann a diesel mechanic from Darwin slipped into deeper fast flowing water and his friends Shaun Blower & Ashley McGough swam to his aid.
Ashley and Shaun saw the 4 metre crocoile and Ashley screamed out a warning before he and Shaun climbed into the top of a tree that was partially underwater. Neither of them saw Brett taken but as they looked for their friend the Crocodile surfaced with Bretts body in it's mouth and seemingly waved the boys body in the direction of the other two while looking at them.
The Crocodile swam away with Brett. The Crocodile returned a short while later circling the tree and eyeing the boys trapped in the top of the tree. The boys spent the night in the tree before they were found by searchers and air winched by a helicopter to safety.
Authorities are still looking for Bretts body and the Crocodile.
There has been no report of either being found some 3 days after the attack.
Oz Magic offers our condolences to the family of Brett Mann.
Oz Magic Note:
The Finnis River is well known for being home to large Crocodiles. In the "dry season" the rivers dries up into a series of separate Billabongs with very high steep banks. In the "wet season" it can turn into a fast flowing river joining all the billabongs together.
The author of this section has been invited fishing on a property at Batchelor that the Finnis River runs through. After being shown the tiny 2 man boat he was to go fishing in Gary refused the invitation.
The Billabongs had a creepy feeling about them and the knowledge that large Crocodiles could be anywhere just made the fishing trip in a tiny 2 man wooden boat seem not worth the risk. A large crocodile could easily snatch a person from this boat as they sat in it.
Oz Magic urges all visitors and locals to start taking the threat of Crocodile attack seriously. They have been protected for over 30 years and in 30 years a Crocodile will grow to a very large size, which means there are numerous large Crocodiles in Northern Australia. With a little caution and common sense nearly all Crocodile attacks can be avoided.
Here is the link where you can find MANY more attacks in my home town
All I can say is when you a born and bread into a place like darwin you become somewhat of a hard arse but always respect your surroundings- these boys were true bushman who knew there shit but it just wasnt to be on that day.
I worked on a prawn trawler for 8 years and would be out at sea for NINE months a year and not touch land- I have photos that I will upload of SEA snakes biting my gum boots- me surfing on the back of a 15 foot tiger shark that we caught ion our nets but the best one is of me out on the boom of my boat ( have you seen the fishing boats that have the big side arms that come out the side of the boats that hold the fishing nets?- well im out on this small pole and in the water you can see about 20 sharks circling me waiting for me to fall into the water- I had NO harness or anything for support just a small railing to hold onto.
I've got plenty more stories if any of you want to hear them.
Regards,
Same_old
...but anyway ...
(yes, Nifty, it's here to stay..lol)
Oh in saying all that, we're moving to Brisbane - pretty central so no bugs or snakes or any other nasties should be around the city right?
