MANGROVES

[Darren]

One weekend we went away and I think it was to Alligator Creek with the 16 foot tinnie and the ute. We had caught a number of mud crabs during the day and I have a picture somewhere of a crab that was as large as the top of a 20 gallon drum. We camped the night next to the creek with my uncle in the front of the ute and my cousin and I in the back. We had a camp fire burning not far away. I was sleeping in one of those green cotton sleeping bags and the mossies were driving us mad. In the middle of the night I decided to get up and sleep near the fire so the smoke would keep the mossies away. That was much better.

In the early hours of the morning just before the sun came up my uncle emerged from the ute walked towards the fire and saw what he thought was a big croc lying next to the fire. Frightened the living daylights out of him. He always said that if he had a gun (remembering this is the early 70s) I probably would have ended up with some holes in me! Thinking back it wasn't the smartest thing to do because there were still a number of crocs around the area and me asleep on the ground would have made an easy target.

The innocents of a southern lad in the tropics! I have so many great memories from those years. Trips inland, getting flooded out of a camp site at Mossman, visiting Normanton and Karumba. The prawns and the fishing. All a lifetime ago now.

[Neville Briggs]

Good grief one of the vital rules of using a firearm, ALWAYS identify your target BEFORE firing.