66fish
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Atherton, just a skip from Cairns - 2006/12/10 07:20
Don't say you weren't told...
There's not a fisherman on the seas who doesn't long at one point or other, to hear something other than the wind-whipped swell crashing under the keel of their vessel. It's something akin to the desire for a good, solid Beef Steak at tea-time, universally shared by every pro-Fisherman who's spent a hard day hauling in their fish.
It's a Catch 22 scenario.
The question every Australian Sports Fisherman's faced with whenever they get that urge to breakaway from the necessary constraints of their Competition's programme, is: Where on earth can you get away to, but not miss the time and tide? If you're like a lot of Fisher-folk at the moment and you're moving to fish out of Cairns in Far North Queensland, then the answer's simple-as.
The Atherton Tablelands
If you've never traveled an hour west of Cairns up into the Highlands of Northern Australia's Great Dividing Range, then maybe you should look for an excuse to do so. If you've previously reckoned the best way to get away from the humidity of the coastal flats, is to go out to sea whilst the heat's on, then the Atherton Tablelands will give you an alternative that'll leave you feeling refreshed for the Comp', without draining the fuel from your vessel's bunker. It's surprising who you'll meet 900-1000 metres above sea level.
Most folk associate Far North Queensland with tropical heat, Coconut Palms and warm water. If you told them to pack a jumper and a pair of decent socks...they'd reckon your frequency was definitely tuned to somewhere other than a Sports fishing Comp' in the Cairns District. Well, just out of town is the highest road in Queensland, which runs to the highest town in Queensland. En route you'll pass a road sign that says "Elevation: 1143 metres above sea level." Whilst the blokes in the Cairns Marina can be hosing down the deck in their thongs and packing the ice for the day out; 40 minutes away, the people on the Atherton Tablelands - who often sleep under blankets for 10 months of the year - can be checking the thermo' at the same time to see if it's a minus 1, or minus 4 degree frost.
Euc' lined lakes in volcanic calderas, or stoney-bottomed rivers amidst fern groves. Rainforest on the eastern slopes, or savannah on the west. Clear skies and cool breezes. Old pubs, or new restaurants. Country town, or just country. Take your pick. If you're devout, you can still stay with the marine theme and fish, water ski, or muck around in boats - albeit in a salt-free environment. Or, you can spend a day or three discovering why generations of Tablelanders who hammer the saltwater, base themselves closer to the sky and wouldn't dream of living 'down there' on the coast. For sure, there aren't too many places in Australia - if not the world - where you can get the kind of exotic contrasts as those, which are so readily evident between Cairns and the Atherton Tablelands.
If you come from wherever you do and miss catching it, don't say you weren't told.
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