A long lunch in the Barossa, followed by 5 day Abrolhos Islands cruise

[Steady]

PS can anyone tell what it was? I forgot.


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I think it’s a baby black Jew / mulloway

 

[RooFlyer]

I think it’s a baby black Jew / mulloway

Mulloway - yes that’s was it, ta.

 

[Major]

I notice most of the men in shorts. What sort of temperature range did you experience ?

 

[Happy Dude]

Mulloway - yes that’s was it, ta.

Not sure about that. Looks like a morwong to me. Also known as a mother in law fish or a blue b*stard in some circles.

There's a few emperor (red throat probably, the ones with the pointy 'nose') amongst your snapper too. Some call the little snapper without a head bump a "Squire".

 

[RooFlyer]

Not sure about that. Looks like a morwong to me. Also known as a mother in law fish or a blue b*stard in some circles.

There's a few emperor (red throat probably, the ones with the pointy 'nose') amongst your snapper too. Some call the little snapper without a head bump a "Squire".

Ah hem. Yes 'mother-in-law' rings a bell. It was a big silvery fish. And yes, there were others amongst the snapper, but as you can see, I'm not great with names . Usually I just eat 'em.

I notice most of the men in shorts. What sort of temperature range did you experience ?

High 20s.

 

[Happy Dude]

Ah hem. Yes 'mother-in-law' rings a bell. It was a big silvery fish. And yes, there were others amongst the snapper, but as you can see, I'm not great with names . Usually I just eat 'em.

Presume the M-i-L fish went back (or became bait) and a fine feed was had from the rest. I've had some delish sashimi of the emperors. Sadly, despite loving the taste of 'em. I'm allergic to shellfish

I didn't know such tours like this existed. I chartered (well.... I bought all four seats cause that was the minimum needed to fly) a little plane from Kalbarri to East Wallaby Is for the day in April 2014. Terrific day out. Water was chilly but snorkelling was excellent.

 

[RooFlyer]

Presume the M-i-L fish went back (or became bait) and a fine feed was had from the rest. I've had some delish sashimi of the emperors.

Yes, the fish went back because the tender crew determined that "it wasn't good eating". Although the captain later said that there's nothing wrong with it, and he would have kept it. I guess in comparison with the snapper, emperors, 'chinamen' and ?sweet lips, and the numbers we were getting, may as well toss it back - after the photo!!

 

[RooFlyer]

Day 4 schedule



A visit to the site of the Batavia shipwreck was going to be a highlight of the trip (besides the crays and fishing). Naturally the early morning pot-pull. The take was getting better every day.















What he's doing here is removing one of the tail 'fins', which marks it as a recreational catch. If you get a cray in a restaurant with its tail fins part missing, then someone's sold a rec. crayfish commercially.

 

[RooFlyer]

Per the schedule we arrived at Long Island, where the Batavia was wrecked on an adjacent reef in 1629. The WA museum has a good account- don't read if you are squeamish - it is a horrific story.

Batavia's History | Western Australian Museum

museum.wa.gov.au

The wind was up, and we tendered in in close formation to dampen the splashing



There's a brand new jetty. There is a group trying to promote tourism in the area (eg Eco Abrolhos crowd, and others), and those dead against it (traditional fisher/cray fisher folk).



Paths with some geotextile held down with coral rocks, but a start.



Signs of no entry to the island are still up, but the relevant govt department gradually giving way.





As usual, there are birds. Lots of birds.

 

[RooFlyer]

Looking out to the reef where the Batavia was wrecked






Remains of a coral-stone 'cell' where the ringleader of the killings was held for a while



More birds. Pretty easy to catch them in flight





While we waited for some snorkellers to finish, we had a go at some oysters off the rocks



This WA mob have a way to go with oyster shucking



A few bits 'n pieces, but I prefer mine with a nice crisp Semillon

 

[RooFlyer]

Back on board the Eco Abrolhos, our hard-working crew were hard at work fileting - 3 of them for about an hour.









Snapper 'wings' for a snack later





Tonight was the second of our 'seafood and wine' specials (pre dinner nibbles and wine tasting/pouring). Tonight its Wignall's wine from Albany.

 

[RooFlyer]

Oysters:



Prawns (sorry)



Tuna



Scallops. Again, the WA heathens have cut the roe off



The wines were OK.



As the sun set slowly in the west, we prepared for dinner

 

[RooFlyer]

Dinner was the snapper etc etc. Oh, and some more wine ...

And then there was some dressing up (wigs brought by a group of passengers - a great, lightweight idea)

Captain and Mrs Captain



The Crew (sans deck-hands who somehow escaped)



Some undesirable who found himself aboard



Afterwards, there was squid fishing off the back deck, with some success



A strike



Some bait for toorrow

 

[Pushka]

Dinner was the snapper etc etc. Oh, and some more wine ...

And then there was some dressing up (wigs brought by a group of passengers - a great, lightweight idea)

Captain and Mrs Captain

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The Crew (sans deck-hands who somehow escaped)

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Some undesirable who found himself aboard

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Afterwards, there was squid fishing off the back deck, with some success

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A strike

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Some bait for toorrow

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Need to wait for the ink to be ejected before hauling em in.

 

[Happy Dude]

You know the food's good when your using fresh squid as bait!

As for filleting, that's a horrid task. I hate it and am poorly skilled and lazy so almost always just cook fish whole.

 

[RooFlyer]

Our final day; schedule:


There were few takers for the pot-pull that morning , but it was lucky a couple of us turned up, as with no paying pax, ALL the catch would have to be thrown back. As it happens, it was the best catch of the trip. I think we ended up with 35 keepers; lunch sorted.



All my own work





We saw an egg-laden female for the first time (may have been others, but thrown straight back).



The cray take took a bit longer than expected, so we met the cruise ship off East Wallabi Island.



There is an airstrip there, for day-trippers, and a loo with a view

 

[RooFlyer]

The Wallabi islands named for the presence of the Tammar Wallaby on the East and West Islands; its also found in limited areas on the mainland. Water also occurs on East Wallabi and was a God-send for the soldiers marooned there by the Batavia mutineers and ultimately allowed the soldiers to survive and thwart the mutiny.

How come wallabies here? Down to the geology, I think. East and West Wallabi islands are composed of limestone rock, formed when sea levels were higher than present. When sea levels fell, they got connected to the mainland (with import of wallabies) and have since been cut off again. That is, the islands are made of 'proper' rock, not washed-up coral of the other islands.

We went on a walk with the hint that we may see wallabies but of course we didn't. Not very interesting, to be honest (except for the limestone)





Oh, there was an osprey nest. Birds. Just glorified dinosaurs, really.





Some went snorkelling while others, like me, went for the glass-bottom boat tour of the reef. GBB not good for pics.

Every snorkel (usually group of no more than 10) has 2 guides who have sausage 'floaties' with them and a tender standing by. A risk assessment on paper is done for each activity, the night before.





Finally, time to tie up the King Diver and head off for Geraldton, about 5-6 hours, including some whale-spotting (maybe)

 

[RooFlyer]

Fantastic trip back - unlike the trip over!! This time we sailed 'with' the swells, and while the seas were up a bit, the trip wasn't rough.

Lunch of crays of course and a number of whale and dolphin pods spotted. The vessel headed over towards them if within range - while keeping distance of course.









We were choofing along slowly, when one of the whales, well off to starboard, submerged and proceeded to swim towards us. Full stop! It glided right under the boat.

 

[craven morehead]

So here is the tucker

Bluefin tuna with farro and grapefruit with the 2004 and 2022 Julius
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Tea-smoked duck, brassicas and ginger caramel with the 2001 and 2015 Cyril
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Dry-aged scotch fillet, carrot and cavalo nero with 2006 Hill of Grace (note the black stem, only for the HoG )
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Yes, we got top-ups
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Cheese with 2016 Noble Semillon. The soft cheese was an unpasteurised French brie
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Some extra truffles with a Muscat
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The Henschke museum passed as we tottered out for the cars to be delivered back to the accommodation!

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A great lunch and I'll try to do it next year too. There are 4 per year, although this year there were 8, due to cancellations the last 2 years.

The tucker looked pretty good

 

[RooFlyer]

On the bridge






Lotsa whales - 3 at a time