It's a 24 hour tuna...

The Road into Carnarvon

I have missed the Walkers. The Walkers are the folks that kept me sane and safe when life went pear shaped around the time I got ready to depart from Carnarvon all those years ago. Bruce, Sue, Judy and I would sit and talk for hours in his living room – it was probably the closest thing to Christian community I have ever encountered. In those days Bruce was the Shire Clerk, Sue (his wife) was a primary teacher, Judy was alive and I work as a Clerk in the local hospital. Upon returning to Perth I experienced bewildering loneliness after having experienced such close life together.

Some thirteen years later we’re sitting around on Bruce and Sue’s porch at their new place – a place reminiscent of a cross between iconic outback Australia and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. This time though, I have a wife and two kids, but apart from that and massive life change the essentials are still the same. Close friendship. A pint of Guinness, two glasses of wine and into my third and I’m suitably giddy with joy. Felt like joy. Could have been inebriated a little bit, but it was still joy. There is certainly no doubt that it was joy when Bruce struck up the fire – a pit with an iron table placed over it and meat was thrown on from every creature known. And chilli – straight from the garden. Friggin’ ridiculously brilliant. And we sat, drank, ate and talked into the night.

In the midst of the process I was introduced to Michael. Michael is a local carpenter. What is interesting about Michael is that he epitomizes the essential Carnarvon quality. Lunacy. Michael had gone out for the third afternoon in a row with mates looking for Tuna. They tracked a school, cut the engine and then Michael climbed into a kayak, where he silently moved into place over the school. Apparently they had a three days of no luck concerning this cunning creature and this was a new approach. He then cast out his handheld rod and instantly struck gold. Cept, he’s fishing for Tuna. These things are fairly large to be pulling out of the water with a hand rod. On a Kayak. Out in the middle of the ocean. With help a significant distance away. Any way in a Hemmingway type of struggle with nature he got the Tuna onto the Kayak.

This is Michael. He caught a Tuna. He is quite, quite out of his mind.

By the way, don't watch this, it's horrible. Laughed myself silly. But it's horrible.