THE fishing has improved in the inland community of Mutchilba – this resident grabbed a 30kg barra from a drain with his bare hands.

The Cairns Post reports baker Tony Bambino was driving home on Saturday when he spotted a 30kg barramundi swimming in the Sunwater irrigation channel.

“It was about 4pm in the arvo and I saw something shiny in the water,” he said.

“Once I realised what it was, I grabbed it by the mouth with my hands.

“It took about 10-15 minutes to catch it and the hardest part was pulling it out of the channel and into the back of my ute.”

Mr Bambino said the “massive” barra must have swum into the area before the fish trap was built at Walkamin.  [Cairns Post]

When I lived in Australia I really liked eating barramundi, which is a fish that Australians just have a passion fishing for.

RESULTS from a Galaxy poll suggest that 60 per cent of Queenslanders want the Government to take steps to limit the state’s southeast population growth explosion.

A similar proportion say forecasts of six million southeast Queenslanders by 2050 would be too many.

As the State Government prepares to beef up its population policy credentials, some mayors are protesting that growth is too far ahead of the transport system’s ability to cope, The Courier-Mail reports.

Allan Sutherland, the Mayor of the Moreton Bay region, which is expected to absorb an extra 84,000 new homes over the next 20 years, said infrastructure was needed to accommodate growth.

“You can’t just keep jamming terracotta roofs all over the place and not improve your transport system,” he said.

The poll found that 59 per cent of those surveyed were in favour of the Government working to limit the region’s population growth.  [The Courier-Mail]

A far north Queensland man has been charged with drink driving after registering more than six times the legal limit while riding his bicycle.

Police say the man was riding along the Bruce Highway at Tully on Saturday night when he fell into a ditch.

He recorded a blood alcohol content of 0.28 and is due to appear in the Tully Magistrates Court at the end of the month.  [ABC News]

I would much rather have someone riding a bicycle then driving a car because he is only a danger to himself.

Via Australian Geographic.

With mangroves to the north, fringing coral reefs and a secluded campsite that ­accommodates just 12 people a night, Hook Island’s Crayfish Beach is a golden spot for camping.

Via Australian Geographic.

THE Great Barrier Reef has topped the list of
150 Queensland icons nominated by Queenslanders as the State celebrates
its 150th birthday.

The reef joins Queensland’s sporting greats Wally Lewis, Dick Johnson, Susie O’Neill and Cathy Freeman on the list.

To the surprise of some, Labor Premier Anna Bligh also announced that former Nationals premier Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen – the State’s longest serving leader – was also a Queensland icon.

However, former Labor premier Peter Beattie did not make the cut.

Long considered a cultural backwater, Queenslanders named as icons
include novelist David Malouf, recent Tony Award winner Geoffrey Rush,
Aboriginal poet Oodgeroo Noonuccal (Kath Walker) and rocker Billy Thorpe.   [AAP]

GIANT spiders have invaded the North Queensland city of Bowen.

For about six weeks, residents have reported seeing huge bird-eating spiders crawling around their backyards and gardens.

Amalgamated Pest Control Bowen pest technician Audy Geiszler took a photo showing the size of one of the spiders he caught wandering across the garden of a restaurant near the town’s centre.

Mr Geiszler estimated its body alone was 5cm long, a specimen declared “especially large” by the Queensland Museum.

Most grow to be the size of a man’s hand.

“It was found in a public area, just wandering around the garden areas. It’s a bit scary for the people,” Mr Geiszler said.

While at this stage there had only been about five sightings of the giant spiders, Mr Geiszler said it was unusual to see that many in such a short period.

“Normally they live in and around gardens and that type of thing,” he said.

“They are very shy. They normally never venture out too far but obviously these ones have been flushed out for some reason.

“It’s more than enough to scare a few people. It’s not plague proportions or anything.

“That in itself is unusual because you don’t normally see these species out in the open.” To read more go to The Townsville Bulletin.  [News.com]

This is actually not the first time a story about giant Queensland spiders has been published.  This story actually has a picture of the spider eating a bird.

World Heritage Listed, Daintree National Forest is home to over 18,000 known plant species, and some trees in the park date to over 2,500 years old. It’s quite possible that within your first 100 meters of setting foot in the park you’ll have already passed by more species of tree than exist in all of the mainland of the United States and Canada combined.

You can read more about Daintree here. 

The Butterfly Effect

ANOTHER child has been attacked by a dingo on Fraser Island, the second such attack within a week, with government officials opting to destroy the animals.