Bugman's Tassie cray odyssey

[bugman]

Some of the guys asked about the current. It's not called hells gates for nothing

All the water from the "Wild Rivers" Franklin, Gordon, Collingwood etc etc run into Macqaurie Harbour and funnel through a very small entrance. One side is shallow and impassable and the other is deep water but the flow rips through there at an amazing speed. So you can imagine what it is like when you got 12m seas meeting that flow - lots of people have died

This image you can see Ocean Beach on the north side of Macquarie Heads and the shallows on that side. The deep water is on the southern between the island and the coast.

[bugman]

This one is taken from the inside of the heads looking out towards the entrance - it's the same island with the lighthouse that you can see in the earlier pic.

[bugman]

This is not a rough day - seriously - it's about average. This was day one.
The earlier photos were very very good days which came later.

[szopen]

Looks like a very good trip.

Solo diving and not checking the air.

Running out of air is quite an experience isn't it?

[bugman]

SZ,

I was very very focused on a cray for the last 5 mins and had my head wedge in a crack trying to extricate the little blighter. I was mightly distressed I had to give up on him after just starting to get him moving.

[Spectre]

G'day Brett

Been wondering what you have been up to.......been a busy boy by the looks !!

Mate great story & pics.....an awesome looking place. An even better place to try 1001 receipes for Lobster as well Can't believe the seas & the weather extremes they get down there.

I think I might need a serious wetsuit upgrade before a visit to that part of the world & a few 40 pounders of Bundy would probably not go astray as well.

Will have to catch up for a fish soon. The weather is lookin good for a mackerel assault this w'end.

Cheers
Phil

[Gorilla_in_Manila]

Bret, great report (as usual); sounds like a great trip.

Read a book a while back about a convict that escaped from the penal colony there and made it across to Hobart by eating his fellow escapees on the way. Forget the name of the book or the convict, but the descriptions of Hell's gates in the book sounded pretty amazing. Great to see your photos of it.
Imagine the balls it would take to sail a square rigged tall ship through that passage in the convict days.

Just wondering, is there anything left of the convict settlement on Sarah island? Are they still cutting Huon pine there?

Cheers
Jeff

[bugman]

Jeff,

Sarah Island is a pretty big tourist attraction out of Strahan. Most of the otur boats go there.

The cutting of Huon Pine is extremely regulated now - most of the stuff up for sale comes from "abandoned" wood left by the wood cottuers 100 years agao. The stumps - often 12 foot high were either left in the ground or pushed on their side. The thhing about Huon Pine is that is still the same internally after 100 years. It's natural oil keeps it. Big logs still float down the river nowadays which were felled decades agao and washed up on banks - Floods flush them out.

I managed to get my hands on some "stumps" a few years agao and made myself a magnificant centre bench. It has to be one of the most attractive woods in the world. It does have sentimental value to me as well.

The convict by the way was known as the pieman - cause he made pies out of his mates.

Brett

[Gorilla_in_Manila]

Cheers Brett, Sounds like an interesting place. Will definitely have to endeavour to get down there for a look sometime in the future.
[smiley=2thumbsup.gif]

[Big_Ren]

Great story and great crays Brett. The pictures tell more than a 1000 words. Having never ventured to the Apple Isle, your pics and description gave a real feel to the place. I don't dive but Tassie is definitely on my to do list. Do you get withdrawal if you don't eat cray for a week I'm very envious. Top report.

Cheers
Paul

[Chrisco_stew]

Pieman Bugg was his real name!!!

[noodlemantra]

nice one there mate,

i tried tasmanian rock crays for the first time on sat. my brothers boss had em flown up for him and they were fantastic on avo and mayo sanga's and lobster thermador!

still think the muddies up here are sweeter. nice haul.

[devocean]

Thats cheating mate you have to get them without the air tanks next time to impress me

Bit small to I reckon

Only kidding went for a dive the other day lookin for a few crays found about 30 all about 20cm long which is good news for 2 months time, might have to find a way up here bugman hey.

Heres a nice pic of a recent greenie Mick got with my cray gun

[bugman]

Devo,

That cray would be worth $300 if caught in Tassie. Certainly crays of that size are rare as hens teeth.

OH for a spear gun. You've never seen frustration like looking into a big crevice and seeing a dozen big crays all safely sitting there knowing they're well out of reach. Sometimes I sat and watched them for a few minutes but most of the time I swam away quickly as the tears were filling up my mask

All the big crays don't get big for nothing - they have the best holes that big predators like me can't get into.

I'd love a trip up north.

Brett

[Big_Ren]

Love the new avatar Brett. Almost "Top Gun"-ish. Iceman, Goose...Bugman.. I can see it now lol.

Cheers
Paul