OUT ON THE WATER....

It was a perfect day to be out on the water...

After a week of inclement weather, we were happy to take the boat out and head down along the Maroochy River.  Steve had the motor in for a service before he headed to Brissie so he just wanted to give it a good run before we headed back home...

The river was really busy today with people out enjoying the beautiful weather...  There were sailing boats out, jet skies and even a water plane out on the water....  It was a little chaotic and weekends are definitely not the time to go down the river fishing.... 

There are still several boat sheds along the river....

The water plane was in high demand this afternoon and we saw it take off and land a couple of times.  The first time it took off, it was quite close to us and we had a bird's eye view of it as it ascended into the sky... It was only up about 20 minutes before it landed again...

We stopped and watched the plane take off before we headed over to a sand bank for Steve to pump some yabbies so that we could do a spot of fishing... 

Whilst he was busily pumping yabbies, I was quite content to sit in the boat and read my book.  I had bought it with me in case the fishing was lousy...

Pumping Yabbies

Meanwhile I enjoyed reading my book.

Once he had a basket of yabbies it was time to motor onto a spot to cast a line ....

Hopefully we won't be disappointed and we will at least get a feed of fish to bring home...

Plane is back in ready for it's next visitors...

Chamber's Island...

And so the plane lands yet again...  It was so much fun to see this plane coming and going and to have a birds eye view of it...

Steve headed to the same spot that we normally catch fish...  Steve was very skeptical that we would catch in this river, but so far, every time we have fished there, we have bought home at least a feed of fish..  Hopefully today will be no different....

We were there for a good half hour or so before the fish came in and then Steve started reeling in the fish...  He was pretty excited to catch an elbow slapper whiting measuring over 37cm.  Very very excited...

Catch a good size whiting also...

His proud and joy a whiting over 37cm long...

I think we reeled in 8 decent size fish before we decided to take off and do a little bit of exploring...  Unfortunately no one fish that I caught was a keeper....

Once the fish stopped biting we decided to go for a bit of a burn up river.  Last time we were on the river we went down stream to almost the mouth, this time we decided to head in the other directions...

We explored a lot of the little side creeks and cruised past the Rivershore Caravan Park.  This is a pretty new park built on the river at Maroochydore...  It is quite a beautiful caravan park with a lovely restaurant that is open to the public.  We have already dined there with John and Barb in November last year..  It is not a cheap park to stay in but they not only have caravan sites, cabins etc, but also so pretty awesome glamping camp tents.  

As we were heading back to the main river we came across the Party Boat which was making it's way down past the caravan park...

As we headed further up stream we cruised past Bli Bli and the castle that is built there.  The Sunshine Castle is an award winning museum and attraction and is also home to a toy shop.  It is a stand out landmark in the area and it's Norman style Castle, with medieval additions, complete with moat, turrets, towers and drawbridge is really quite unique in Australia. 

Steve saw a couple of gutter's close to the bridge here so we decided to cast our lines to see if there were any fish about.  I had hardly cast my line when I got a nibble,  not a little nibble but a rather large bit and I managed to haul in my first fish that was a keeper today..

We continued up river past a few more little islands in the river.  We came across a couple of groups of kids who were up there fishing, although we didn't actually see them hook any fish or reel them in.

By now it was getting a little late in the afternoon and it was a perfect time of day to take those beautiful photos of the sun seting....

Sunset on the river....

By now the sun was almost setting so we really didn't have the time to explore up river any longer and it was time to head back to the boat ramp as we were fast running out of daylight hours..

Stunning sun set..

It was a lovely run back and we got to witness a stunning sunset.  It really is the most perfect way to end a great day and a great time away.  One day left before we need to pack and head home...  I really can't wait to move down here permanently. 

I love these days out on the water with my wonderful husband... There is really something very relaxing listening to the water lap around you, listening to the birds and watching as they fly and swim around you.  Such a good feeling and I always go home feeling tired but so rejuvenated.

Just heading beyond the horizon....

Finally back at the boat ramp... I waited with the boat whilst Steve went up to pick up the car and bring it back to the boat ramp to collect the boat...  We had to wait our turn as there was a rather large boat in front of us....

Birds at the boat ramp...

Picture perfect view of the river at sunset...

Time to head home and organise some dinner... I think we will all be in bed early tonight.  It's been a huge day, we have been gone from home since we first woke up.  Breakfast out with friends,  The Cotton Tree Markets and a quick trip home to hitch up the boat and then the afternoon spent on the river.  Couldn't ask for a day much better than this one...