Eve and Jason Travel Oz: Salmon frenzy

We stay at Newland Head for a few days, near Waitpinga Beach, which is a haven for fishermen and surfers, and a danger to young or inexperienced swimmers. We find a spot to camp but it is very hilly here and the van slopes both sideways AND backwards, making it feel like you're in Willy Wonka's chocolate factory where reality is not what it seems!

In the above photo, you can see the dunes up and behind our van - the beach lies on the other side, past several more dunes. There is a rather steep walking track that punters can use to get to the water; we just used the car and drove the long way.

Eve tries her luck in the rough surf

The sand contains many potholes and sandbars so the waves are very unpredictable. Strong waves that head into shore hit a sandbar or pothole, and turn around and return out to sea. As they encounter another incoming wave, the two collide in a thundering clap and both waves turn vertically. It's a bit scary to watch but very exciting (especially if you're swimming in it!!)

We hear that the Aussie salmon swim in schools along the gutters of Waitpinga Beach. The sand is coarse and sinks quickly so the water is remarkably clear – a wave a metre high will surge along shallow water (maybe 30cm deep), and with the sun behind, you can see right through the wave. Later that evening we even spotted a whole school of salmon within a wave, just as the sun was setting.

There are a few fishermen out this evening; I guess they heard the same story as us – that 2 nights ago the salmon were in a feeding frenzy and were an easy catch on silver lures.

We find a gutter leading diagonally from the shore and start to cast, retrieve, cast, retrieve. Within a few short minutes I caught my first fish. Woo-hooing and skipping through the sand, I plonked that baby into our bucket and quickly re-cast for the next catch. That fish was the first in our little area, and there were many more to come. HC, our camping neighbour, bagged 18 salmon in the next 2 hours, and Jase even tried his popper with tremendous success – he caught a 43cm monster in no time and the lure proved so life-like, he had to shoo away albatrosses who kept swooping onto it!

Our other neighbours, Jason and Kieran, came down for a look and when Jason said he couldn’t fish because he lost his lure, I quickly grabbed one of our spares and ordered him to go grab his rod. He hurried back and before long caught the biggest of the lot – a 48cm salmon with a massive girth. He must have thanked us 10 times for lending him that lure!!