Secrets of Kurrimine

When I lay snuggled up in my bed at 4 o’clock in the morning, how can I tell it’s going to be a perfect Tropical North Queensland day and that the sea conditions are calm?    I know when the first of the noisy Kurrimine Beach Tractors chugs right past my bedroom window towing a fishing boat rattling around on it’s trailer! 

If you have never heard of Kurrimine Beach before – well what I can tell you is, fishing rules!  The standard greeting in this town is not “G’Day” but “W’at d’ya catch”!    The first thing that you will notice about our town is the number of red tractors, every house has one and some even have two.   There are more boats in our town than cars.  

It is rather hard to fathom on first approach why we all need tractors.   The roads around here are pretty good  and I’m pretty sure they are an overkill to mow our blocks!   We all have tractors to launch our fishing boats from the beach!   Yes we do have a perfectly good boat ramp in town but why spend 10 minutes getting to the mouth of the creek and waste 10 minutes of perfectly good fishing time?

So what’s so great about the fishing here – well for all the blokes out there:

• We offer beach, estuary and reef fishing all within 800m of the holiday park. 
• Our closest reef is only 800m off-shore – you only need to bring a tinnie to fish the reef.
• July to September (‘ish) is Mackerel season – some boats are only out for little more than an hour and then come home with their bag limits for the day. 
• The hardest choice of the day is whether you prefer coral trout, mangrove jack or a nice mud crab for dinner!
• You should consider joining our fishing club, one of the largest in North Queensland.  For your $10 membership fee you will get inside information on our fishing spots, new mates, free entry into members draws and fishing stories by the bag full.  Not to mention that the fishing clubs meets at the local pub!

Now ladies unless you fish you might not think there are any benefits for us but there are:

• We get peace and quiet to enjoy a cup of coffee with friends, read a book or whatever else we want to do…
• In Kurrimine Beach it seems it is a man’s job to clean and cook the fish he has caught.   So apart from having to toss a quick salad, it means we are off the hook for dinner too!
• All the fresh sea air will mean that hubby will be really tired at the end of the day, so he goes off to bed for an early night so you can settle down and watch Downton Abbey, MKR or whatever is your favorite without the background commentary and moaning on how boring/stupid the programme is!  Really ladies, I ask you, aren’t all episodes of Border Security or The Force basically the same?

 Now, you can’t fish all day every day…  so we have a host of beautiful places to visit for a day’s exploring:

• Paronella Park is approximately 20kms from our park.  The ruins of a Spanish castle with an inspirational story.
• Innisfail, our closest major town has all the major supermarkets and shops and some of the most beautiful examples of art-deco in the country.
• Explore our stunning local waterfalls or take one of the beautiful bushwalks through the Misty Mountains.
• Drive the historical Canecutter Way and discover the myriad of small arts and crafts and local produce shops.
• Take a cruise around beautiful Dunk and Bedarra Island with one of our local larrikins.

 So if you are heading north this winter why not pop in to see us and say “W’at d’ya catch”!

How many towns in Australia say they are the closest town to the Great Barrier Reef?   Off the top of my head I can list 1770, Mission Beach, Port Douglas, Cape Tribulation and Cooktown to name just a few.   How many of these towns though, boast the fact that you can walk to the reef?

Well here at Kurrimine Beach last month we did just that.   A group of six guests accompanied me out to King Reef.   This was a whole new experience for me.  To visit the reef usually involves a boat trip with seventy plus other guests and a cost in excess of $150!   Well here at Kurrimine Beach you can walk out and explore the reef for free – that’s absolutely no charge.   The only rule that we have here at the Kurrimine Beach Holiday Park is that anyone who picks up a crayfish must share it at happy hour!

To walk out to the reef the tides must be lower than 0.4m.  We walked out about an hour prior to low tide, most of the way we were mid calf to mid thigh deep in water.  There were a couple of spots where members of our group found some deeper spots which added to our amusement.   The walk out to the reef is quite a hard walk as you are pushing though the water but it is well worth it.  It took our group just over 30 minutes to reach the reef.  

We had just over an hour to explore the reef.   At first the reef just looks like exposed seaweed but it is actually a mass of rock pools to be explored.  All of the exposed reef is hard coral so is fine to walk on.  In the rock pools we found crabs, cowrie shells, clams, giant horned starfish, common starfish, brittle starfish, octopus, numerous fish and different sorts of corals.    We also saw turtles and a sea snake on the walk out.   Whilst not the prettiest of reefs it is fascinating to explore.    Fay, one of the guests that came with us, has been collecting seashells for over 50 years.  She found things that she had never seen before!  Of course,  there is also the chance to pick yourself up a King Reef Painted Cray but don’t forget the park rules!

The other dates for walking to the reef this year are:

June 2012 – 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th and 6^th

July 2012 – 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th, 30^th and 31^st

August 2012 – 1^st, 2^nd, 29^th and 30^th

We accompany our guests to the reef and have a safety boat on hand if you find the walk to strenuous.   For more information call Tracey or Kay on 07 4065 6166.

Did you know that Kurrimine Beach is one of the best fishing spots in North Queensland?    

With reef fishing directly from the beach, a great estuary and outer reef fishing not to mention tropical creeks and waterways the options are endless.

Kurrimine Beach boasts the largest fishing club in North Queensland - not bad for a town with a population of 800.  Mind you just taking a drive through town you will be amazed, each house has at least one serious boat and most have an old tractor, off of one of the local cane farms, that is used to launch their boats on any tide!  The boat sheds in town are bigger than many of the houses!  If you are here for a while why not join the fishing club, membership is only $10 for a year, it is a sure way to get all the insider local information, not to mention making a few good friends! 

To say that Kurrimine is a community of keen fisherman is an understatement.  Everything here revolves around fishing -  the standard greeting around here is "been fishin' mate?" swiftly followed by "catch anything"!    

 So what are your options here for fishing?  Being one of the greenest areas in Australia, there are lots of fresh water mountain streams filled with Jungle Perch, rivers filled with Red Bream and Barramundi.   The South Johnston and the Tully rivers are amongst the best fishing rivers in Australia.  Beach fishing spots combine a range of fishing opportunities from Whiting through to Mackerel.  From Kurrimine it only takes about 45 minutes to reach the outer reef where you can be hooked on to a Coral Trout or two in no time at all.    There are, of course, some secret spots on the way out to the reef - just ask my husband Corey for a tip or two.   Don't forget to pack your crab pots as we have some very nice "muddies" in the creek.  If you don't like fishing the traditional way we even have the option of walking out to the reef at very low tides (under 0.4m) and fossicking for one of the famous Painted Crays! 

 If you can tear yourself away from the fishing for a few hours, there are some amazing places to visit along the coast.  You can stroll along beautiful beaches, relax under the shade of a palm tree and look out over the Coral Sea and Dunk Island.  There is a great pub in town serving local seafood and steaks that just melt in your mouth.  Don't miss out on the fortnightly Kurrimine special - a $25 a head, all you can eat seafood buffet at the local motel.   The beer is always cold and the person serving your drink or meal will always be happy to see you and share a yarn.

Why not put us on your next itinerary and call in to say "been fishin' mate"!