Barramundi Lodge and Maningrida

11 and 12 July 2017

Everyone was reluctant to leave Murwangi but with Outback Spirit tours running every 2 days, we had to make way for the next group. There was brief talk about staging a coup...

Our next overnight stop was Burramundi Lodge, about 30 km from the small town of Maningrida. The recently refurbished lodge sits on an escarpment overlooking the extensive flood plain of the Tomkinson River and has similar safari tents to those at Murwangi. On the way we stopped off for an hour or so at the Bula'bula Art Centre in Ramingining and arrived at the lodge in time for lunch. Tommorrow morning was going to be our chance at Barra fishing in the Liverpool River estuary at Maningrida so lodge manager Sean entertained us with fishing stories, including some of the perils of being a fishing guide (such as copping hooks in various parts of of the body as a result of wayward casts from over-eager guests).

At this point it would be nice to brag about our bountiful barra catch - but sadly our total catch for our group of six amounted to zero, none, zilch. Marg actually managed the only bite of the day but the fish managed to escape before she could reel it in. Our indigenous guide, Stewie, kept shaking his head for the rest of the trip muttering "big one got away..." To make matters worse, the afternoon group managed an excellent catch. Our reputation (such as it was) was in tatters but we continued to maintain that if it hadn't been for our failure, they wouldn't have known the places not to fish.

Fishing guides, Sean And Stewie

Cruising up a tributary of the Liverpool River

Fishing

The afternoon was spent at the Maningrida Arts and Cultural Centre, the local museum and the Babbarra Womens' Centre. At the Arts Centre two of the local women demonstrated their technique of stripping down pandanus leaves and bark to form the fine 'string' used in weaving and explained how they were able to use local foliage to produce the dyes used to colour their work. The skill involved is simply amazing.

Weaving - Maningrida Arts Centre

Sunset from Barramundi Lodge