Cairns/Townsville report

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Broomstick
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Cairns/Townsville report

Post by Broomstick » Mon Aug 31, 2015 4:46 pm

Hi guys,
As I write this report I’m currently 600km into the 2500km drive home from Townsville to Melbourne. We’ve just passed our 10 millionth cow and 6 millionth dead kangaroo and I thought I might as well do something productive to pass the time. It’s nice to be able to write a report again – I’ve been absolutely flat out at uni and haven’t had much to contribute to the forum lately. This is a two-part report from a couple of recent trips I did to Cairns and Townsville, so hopefully this makes up for my recent lack of activity.

So a couple of weeks ago I flew up to Cairns to present some of my PhD research at an animal behaviour conference. Although I was up there for work, I of course wanted to have a fish, so I planned for my old man to fly up at the end of the conference with the rods and meet me for a weekend of fishing. My talk was on the last day of the conference and by this stage the majority of people were well and truly over science (note the empty room):

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So after celebrating a successful talk I woke up a little seedily on the Saturday morning and met my Dad at the hotel we’d booked for the weekend. Although the primary aim of the weekend was to fish, I also wanted to check out my field site near Townsville. I study fish and do all my collecting from a floodplain just out of Townsville, and it’s really important to get the timing right – if you go too early in the dry season, there is still too much water and the fish are impossible to catch, but if you go too late, everything is dry and there is nowhere to sample. The last time I was up there (some of you might remember the report) everything was a lot drier than I expected and it was hard work collecting fish. I was planning another sampling trip later on this year and was hoping that the recent wet season had re-filled a lot of my sampling areas, but considering Townsville is in a midst of a drought I was keen to pop down just to see how everything was looking. I wanted to get this out of the way so we immediately jumped in the car and began the 4hr drive from Cairns to Townsville. It’s amazing how quickly the scenery changes up here, from lush rainforest and sugar cane fields:

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To barren grasslands and dry sclerophyll:

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Interestingly, we saw a heap of dead northern brown bandicoots on the road:

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I’ve done this drive a couple of times and never seen more than one, but we saw close to 20 on this trip. No idea why – perhaps just the time of year? Anyway, the drive passed uneventfully and we headed straight to the field site. And when we got there, I immediately knew I was in trouble. It was all dried up:

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This river bed is usually dotted with deep pools full of fish, but it was almost completely dry. The only pool that I could find that still had water in it was this pretty pathetic puddle:

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But believe it or not, it was still full of fish. You wouldn’t believe the diversity in these tiny puddles – in this pool alone we caught half a dozen species of fish including rainbows:

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Hardy heads:

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Empire gudgeons:

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And most importantly, my study species – guppies:

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There were hundreds of guppies in this pool but it was obvious they wouldn’t last another two weeks let alone a couple of months, so I had a decision to make. I wanted to stay in Townsville and catch them right then and there but I had a couple of problems – I didn’t have any sampling gear (nets, eskies etc), I had to be back at uni to teach on Tuesday, I would of had to fly the fish home and this has caused me some problems in the past (fish getting lost in transit, dying etc), and my old man had to be back at work for an important meeting Tuesday. We made the decision to head back to Cairns and continue with our fishing weekend as planned, then drive back up to Townsville as soon as we got back to Melbourne and sorted everything out. But before we drove back to Cairns, we popped down to one of my favourite fishing spots – the mouth of the Ross River:

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I’ve had a lot of success here in the past, but if any of you remember my previous Townsville report, I had one of the most frustrating sessions of my life the last time I was up there (pulled hooks, bust-offs etc) so I was keen to make amends. We whipped out the bream gear and started flicking small hard bodies around and it didn’t take long before a few bar-tail flathead hit the sand:

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With the light quickly disappearing, I decided to tie on a tn60 hoping for something a little larger and immediately I was on:

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Not the fish I was hoping for, but the fact that it was roughly the same size and shape of my lure gave me hope that a bigger fish might not be far away. And a few casts later my lure was absolutely smashed! This thing peeled a heap of line on the first run and the massive headshakes had me initially thinking barra, but when it stayed deep and stopped pulling line I knew what it was going to be:

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A big dusky. Not a barra, but still a really nice fish – she went 65cm and was fat! By this stage the tide was rushing in and the light was fading, so we decided to hit the road back to Cairns.

The plan the next day was to fish for jungle perch in the pristine rainforest streams just outside of Cairns, so after finding a few likely looking spots on google maps we hit the hay. The next morning we were up before the sun and on the road in record time, heading for a stream about an hour and a half north of Cairns. After passing some beautiful scenery:

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And taking a couple of wrong turns, we eventually found our spot. The only problem was, there was about fifty metres of dense rainforest between us and the stream:

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So after a bit of bush bashing through some of the gnarliest, prickliest rainforest I’ve ever experienced, we eventually found our stream. But rather than the small, shallow stream I had an envisaged, this was wide and deep and looked suspiciously like a river:

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Although it was beautiful, it didn’t fill me with confidence – there were no snags, no surface activity, and it just didn’t feel very fishy. We decided to have a flick anyway, but after half an hour of getting caught in prickles (everything is spikey up here) :

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And bitten by green ants (you can actually see them biting my leader in this pic):

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We decided to call it quits. But luckily we had a plan B – a guy from another forum (Pies1010) had given me a tip about a little stream not far from where we were, so unperturbed we jumped in the car and headed straight to a spot that I’d marked on the map the night before. On the way we decided to pop into a waterfall that I’d heard is well worth a look (it’s not all about fishing right??):

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And it was definitely worth the detour. So after a bit of exploring we got back on the road and eventually found our creek. After climbing/falling down a very steep bank we eventually made it to the water, and it was exactly how I had hoped it would look – shallow, fast flowing and crystal clear:

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We waded down river a bit and I chucked my chubby minnow into a deep pool, and I watched as a jungle perch darted out from behind a log and smashed it! And after a short fight, this guy popped up:

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They really are a beautiful fish. It didn’t take long before my Dad was hooked up too, but instead of a jungle perch, up popped up this cute little sooty grunter:

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We had a few more casts into this pool but the fish had wisened up to our tricks, so we moved on. This stream was stunning – shallow, fast-flowing riffles interspersed with deep, sapphire blue pools:

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To be honest, any fish were just a bonus. We caught a few more little grunter until I decided to tie on a little K9 walker and first cast, as I walked it along a submered log, I watched a little perch swim at high speed from about 10m away and come half way out of the water as it engulfed my lure. Pretty exciting fishing for such a small fish:

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At this point, in all the excitement, I somehow managed to drop my camera in the stream (idiot!) so it’s phone photos only from now on (lucky the new iphone takes a decent snap). We wandered downstream a bit further, pulling one or two fish from each pool we passed:

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Until we got to this beautiful big pool that was teeming with fish:

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I could see jungle perch, sooty grunter, big tandanus catfish, rainbows, barred grunter and several other species of fish all swimming around happily together. We pulled several fish from this pool:

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Until the heavens suddenly opened:

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And within seconds we were drenched (luckily I’d already dropped my camera in the river hah) so we decided to head home. It had been a fantastic little session in a magical little spot – thanks heaps for the advice Pies1010, it was much appreciated ☺.

The next day was our last day and also my Dad’s 60th birthday, so we decided to do something we’ve both always wanted to do – cross the Daintree River, drive up to Cape Tribulation and explore the Daintree. We decided to leave the rods behind and we had a brilliant day exploring some truly beautiful areas. Unfortunately my camera was well and truly dead so I didn’t take many pics, but here are a few snaps from my phone:

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I was desperate to see a Cassowary, but despite wandering around some very likely looking rainforest:

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This was the closest I got:

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It was a brilliant way to end the trip and something I can tick off the bucket list – although we’ve already made some vague plans to head back with rods and some camping gear (every piece of water up there was full of fish!). But before we could do that, we had to start planning the trip back to Townsville to collect my fish.

Luckily for me, my old man is a legend – he’s helped me out countless times during my PhD – so it didn’t take much to convince him to take a week off work and again help me with my fieldwork. Although I was desperate to get back to Townsville ASAP, the earliest we could both get away was the following week. So after a frantic week at uni getting everything in order, we were back on the road Monday night with a 30 hour drive looming ahead of us. We’ve done this drive before and we have a system – Dad drives during the day while I sleep, and I drive at night while he sleeps. This way we can do it without any stops, and on a good run we can get there in about 27 hours. It’s exhausting and boring as hell, but when you’re on a tight schedule it’s the only option. So after driving all Monday night (the drive was blissfully uneventful compared to our previous trips), the sun rose to reveal the dry, barren farmlands of Southern Queensland:

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Which are dotted with the invasive prickly pear:

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Usually we take a slightly more coastal route when we drive up to Townsville; although it is a couple of hundred km’s further, it is a lot more scenic. There are also a lot more places to stop for food and a lot more areas with phone reception. But for this trip, time was of the essence, so we took the quickest route possible. Man was it boring though – it was literally dead grass and sparse eucalypt the whole way up. But the sunsets and sunrises were nice:

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After an incident-free drive (a first for us – we’re usually plagued by suicidal kangaroos) we arrived at our motel at around 1am, and after getting all the gear ready for the next day, we were asleep before our heads hit the pillow. The next morning we rose before the sun and after a hasty breakfast we were on our way to the sampling site, crossing our fingers that there was still some water in the guppy-filled pool. So after parking the car on the dry riverbed:

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We went straight to the pool. And I breathed a huge sigh of relief – although it was a lot lower (amazing how much it had evaporated in a week), it still had water in it:

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And more importantly, it was still full of fish. Phew! But even with all these fish (we collected over 300 from this pool) I still had a problem – I needed around 1500 fish for my next (and final) experiment. Given all my usual sampling sites had dried up, it meant we had to find some new ground (hiking through the bush in northern Queensland looking for fish – it could be worse). But given we only had three days up here before we had to drive home, he had to find it fast. We decided to just keep following the flood plain down river, assuming we’d eventually find some water. It was a tough hike over some pretty rugged ground:

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But eventually we found some:

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This was an incredible looking piece of water – deep and full of snags. It just screamed barra, but we were there for guppies and after a bit of exploring, we found a few smaller pools that were full of them:

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I breathed a big sigh of relief and we spent the rest of the day catching fish. Although it was hard work sampling in these relatively large bodies of water, by the end of the day we had well over 500 guppies:

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And there was lots of cool by-catch to keep us interested like these mouth almighty:

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Glass fish:

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And long-armed shrimp:

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Unfortunately, there are also heaps of these guys – Mozambique mouthbrooders, a noxious species of tilapia that are causing heaps of problems for the native species up here:

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We came back to this area the next two days and managed to catch close to 500 fish each day – I was stoked. Having reached my quota, I decided that on our fourth and final day we would do some fishing (after working from dawn til task all week we had definitely earned it). But the dilemma was – where to fish? I love the mouth of the Ross River and was desperate to throw some big lures down there for Barra, but I was also very keen to head back to a little stream that I knew was full of jungle perch (I’d had an amazing session the last time I was up there). I also wanted to throw some lures in this new patch of water we had discovered near our new sampling site– it just looked so good. In the end the allure of the unknown won out, and we decided to have a crack in this new area first thing in the morning. That way we could sample for a few hours straight after (just to make sure we had enough guppies), then have a fish somewhere in the afternoon if we had time. So the next morning we arrived at our spot just as the sun was creeping over the horizon:

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I don’t think I’ve ever seen a fisher looking place – the photos don’t do it justice (look at those snags!):

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I decided to tie on a dog-x junior and after a couple of casts something had a big swipe at it. Heart pumping I threw a cast in the same spot and again something smashed it as soon as it hit the water (I caught a glimpse of a big silvery flank) but missed the hooks. I continued my retrieve and something grabbed it right at my feet, and after a short fight this little guy popped up:

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A little spangled perch - not the fish that had swiped at my lure previously, but it’s always nice to get a run on the board. Unfortunately the bigger fish had lost interest in my lure, so I moved onto the next pool and found my Dad also pulling in a little perch:

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Over the next 45 minutes we both landed a few little perch on various lures until we decided to move down river a little - and we eventually came to this spot:

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Man did this spot feel fishy, and on the second cast my Dad’s lure got absolutely smashed! And before he even had a chance to yell “I’m on!” a beautiful barrmundi around the 50cm mark was leaping through the air. But when it jumped a second time, the hooks pulled. Disappointing, but still super cool. I thought to myself “oh well, I’m sure we’ll get another” – but we didn’t. Over the next hour my dad pulled the hooks on another nice barra, got smoked in a snag by something BIG (he never stood a chance) and pulled the hooks on a big tarpon right at his feet. It just wasn’t his day. I, on the other hand, couldn’t hook anything larger than a 20cm spangled perch – probably because I spent half my time swimming for snagged lures (and hoping there were no crocs):

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At one stage I managed to lose 2 lures in three casts, so when I threw a brand new daiwa presso 20m up into an overhanging vine, I was determined to get it back:

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It took me about half an hour, but I eventually got the bastard! Unfortunately by this stage it was time to head back and start sampling, so we wandered back towards the car with our tails somewhat between our legs. On the way we spotted this battered butterfly, who looked exactly how we felt:

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Because I can't help myself, I decided to give the presso one last cast in a nice looking pool while my dad continued on to the car. I flicked it straight over a log and was just thinking to myself that even if I did hook something I’d never land it, when it got smashed! This thing swam erratically from one side of the pool to the other before tiring, and while I was wondering how on Earth I’d get this fish over the log, a nice tarpon came flying out of the water. Through pure luck, the fish jumped back over to my side of the log and I was able to land him:

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It was no barra, and about half the size of the tarpon my dad lost, but it was my first tarpon and I was stoked. I decided to have one last cast in this pool and instantly regretted it – snagged. So with a sigh I stripped off again, retrieved my lure, and wandered back to the car to show my Dad a photo of one very unlucky tarpon.

We sampled for a few hours before I was satisfied that we well and truly had enough fish, then headed home for a late lunch. I was tempted to head back to this spot for an evening fish, but it was an hour out of Townsville and we were running out of light. So we decided to head to the mouth of the Ross River and fish the flats for the last couple of hours of light. I started throwing around a squirrel and it didn’t take long before I was on:

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A nice flatty in the mid 40’s – not a bad start. As I was trying to release this fish disaster struck – my rod tip broke (well actually it was my Dad’s rod – sorry Dad). I was shattered, but luckily I’d brought a heavier 4-8kg outfit just in case. And first cast I was on to something BIG. This thing screamed off and pulled some serious drag, but my excitement quickly abated when it sucked onto the bottom and refused to move – stingray. I played it for a while and got it to my feet before the hooks pulled and I got my duo realis jerkbait back – phew. By this stage the tide had rushed in (it was a lot higher than we thought it would be) and we were running out of flats to fish, so we decided to head to the rock wall under the bridge:

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My Dad tied on a double clutch and immediately started catching little cod and moses perch:

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Until his lure was absolutely smashed and his reel started screaming! This was a good fish and after a solid fight it leapt in the air right at his feet revealing itself to be a substantial giant herring (I’m almost certain it was a giant herring and not a wolf herring). Over the next hour my Dad hooked 6 of these guys – all around 50-60cm in length - with every single one pulling the hooks on the jump. Frustrating is an understatement. And for a bit of salt in the wound, in between these heart breaks he was landing the smallest cod and moses perch I’d ever seen:

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Meanwhile I hadn’t had a touch on the heavier gear and was cursing my broken rod as I was dying to have a crack at these giant herring too. As the light began to disappear we considered calling it quits when all of a sudden there was an explosion of water right at my feet and my reel started singing! One moment this fish was at my feet, the next it was leaping out of the water 50m away – barra! My heart was in my mouth and every instinct told me to get it in quickly before it wore through my 20lb leader, but without a net I had no choice but to play it out. After several sizzling runs, some impressive acrobatics and some tense moments at my feet, I eventually managed to slide her onto the rocks. You beauty:

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If I hadn’t broken my rod, I would have never persisted with the heavy gear for so long and I wouldn’t have caught my first Townsville barra. Divine intervention perhaps? Had the fishing gods taken a hand? Who knows – but it sure was a nice way to finish off the trip :).

The next morning we were up bright and early and after a blissfully uneventful (yet exremely boring) drive:

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We were home. I'd collected enough fish for my final experiment and also managed to sneak a couple of fishing sessions in there too - overall, a very successful trip. Can't wait for the next!

Cheers!

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Last edited by Broomstick on Mon Aug 31, 2015 5:36 pm, edited 2 times in total.

DougieK
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Re: Cairns/Townsville report

Post by DougieK » Mon Aug 31, 2015 4:50 pm

That's so f*cking cool.
Chasing LBG and sharing a love for the Martial Arts, everywhere, all the time.


LBG Season 2023/4 :

Kingfish : 61

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davek
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Re: Cairns/Townsville report

Post by davek » Mon Aug 31, 2015 5:02 pm

DougieK wrote:That's so f*cking cool.

X2, another mammoth report with great pics of just about everything, well done broomy :thumbsup: cheers davo
It's an exhilarating feeling catching a fish
But it's an even better feeling releasing them

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Re: Cairns/Townsville report

Post by drew 2 » Mon Aug 31, 2015 5:12 pm

DougieK wrote:That's so f*cking cool.
x3 great report & pics,thanks for sharing :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

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Re: Cairns/Townsville report

Post by mazman » Mon Aug 31, 2015 5:24 pm

Been waiting for the full report ever since you said you were heading up again and it didn't disappoint.

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Broomstick
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Re: Cairns/Townsville report

Post by Broomstick » Mon Aug 31, 2015 6:11 pm

Thanks guys :)

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Re: Cairns/Townsville report

Post by Boonanza » Mon Aug 31, 2015 6:36 pm

:good:
A smart person knows what to say. A wise person knows whether to say it.

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Re: Cairns/Townsville report

Post by Scraglor » Mon Aug 31, 2015 6:49 pm

Living the life! Another great report!

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Re: Cairns/Townsville report

Post by JoshW » Mon Aug 31, 2015 6:56 pm

Sweet report man. Glad you found some fish at that spot, its a beauty.

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safia
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Re: Cairns/Townsville report

Post by safia » Mon Aug 31, 2015 6:57 pm

Just wow! awesome work!

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