Finally, our first break since we got to Darwin to explore our new backyard! And what a backyard it is – scenic rivers and abundant wildlife, not only crocodiles, but birds, insects, wallabies, buffalos etc.
We decided to head to Shady Camp at the Mary River, about 200km from where we are living in Darwin.
The drive was great, we just got the suspension on the boat trailer done and didn’t have to worry about the rough roads of the Northern Territory, nor the corrugations on the way into Shady camp.
When we got to Shady Camp there were lots of cars with boat trailers parked up. On the barrage wall, where the freshwater flows down into the tidal saltwater part of the river were a lot of people fishing. Quite a busy spot out in the bush.
We inspected the boat ramp before heading into camp where we couldn’t believe our luck to find one section completely to ourselves. We put it down to the toilets – everyone always seems to park close to the toilets and we don’t mind being away from them, quite the opposite.
We weren’t finished setting up when we felt mosquitoes biting us. Well, this calls for our mozzie-net set-up under the awning. We got quite good and quick at in while travelling Tasmania, but today it couldn’t be quick enough! Oh dear, certainly not the toilet proximity but more the mozzie hell was the reason for the rather empty camp!
After sunset, a mob of pigs cruised through the camp. They had a few piglets with them. Quite unusual and exciting to see them walk right past us. In Western Australia we occasionally heard them but never saw them that close to a camp like this.
After this the mosquito-invasion got absolutely insane. We saw another party arriving at camp just on dark. They started to light a fire but then bolted and vanished in the rooftop. We were so happy to have our mozzie net, else the insects would have been unbearable.
We launched the boat on low tide so we could fish the whole incoming tide. While unhooking the boat on the ramp, another boat came in and we helped him retrieve his boat. Turned out he was the owner of the Barra Botel downstream. He helped us launch our boat, quite lucky really that we bumped into him, because we didn’t know that there are submerged rocks just below the boat ramp where the flow of the water would push you right into.
At low tide we saw plenty of crocodiles around. They seem more wary of the boats than they are in the Adelaide River where they do the crocodile tours. They all vanished under water before we were close enough to get a good photo. If that is good or not, I don’t know. I prefer to see them floating around, at least I know where they are.
We had some blind passengers on board. We do not overly like Green Ants, but she was busy enough holding on and didn’t bother us. The spider I was a bit more wary off, as I don’t know what sort it was.
Near the river mouth we finally spotted the Barra Botel. We did expect to see sort of a lodge with a restaurant on land somewhere and were rather surprised to find a boat. 
The name does suggest that I guess, was just not what we expected. 
The rivermouth 
The first fish of the day was a record of the other kind. No, we didn’t keep him for dinner. 
A Sea Eagle 
Some station people came for a fish in the helicopter.
My partner had the ingenious idea to have a “swim” in our back storage – the kill tank. With all the crocodiles around you don’t really want to have a wash in the river, so this was fantastic. Pull the plug and the tank fills up with clean water. It does not overfill, and it only drains if you speed up the boat. Very refreshing and fun it was indeed.
Our boat winch died retrieving the boat. She has been on its way out for a bit, the new one didn’t arrive in time for this trip unfortunately.
Back at camp we picked a different spot for the night, further away from the river and trees, and got rewarded with an almost mozzie free environment. We set up the mozzie dome right away, anyway, just in case. And that case did happen, just as the sun was setting, they zoomed in. They were that thick I mistook their buzzing as a running motor of a car further down in camp. Only when we shook the net, and the noise stopped, I realized that it was the buzzing of the mozzies. This was a first, I never heard mozzies that thick that you can mistake it as a motor! I dare hope this was the last time I have to experience that!! We must have been too early after the wet season; I’m assuming the mosquitoes get less and less in the next few months.
Shady camp has two boat ramps. One is called ‘saltwater ramp’ and is downstream of the barrage. Launching there allows you to cruise all the way down to the river mouth and out into the ocean. Just remember – there are submerged rocks that pose a problem if launching at low tide. The other one is called ‘freshwater ramp’ and is upstream of the barrage. If you launch your boat there, you can cruise up the Mary River for a loooong way. We finally caught a decent sized Barramundi. My partner always told me the freshwater Barra taste different, but they also look different! The ones in the tidal river in Western Australia are silver, the ones you get in freshwater rivers are golden! We let him go and I failed to take a picture beforehand.
The scenery along the freshwater part is quite different to the tidal part downstream but no less beautiful. We saw more birds and buffalos.
Back at the boat ramp we loaded the boat and then we bolted. There was no way we were gonna stay another night in Mozzie Hell.
A bonus of boating in fresh water is, that you don’t have to wash the boat and motor afterwards.
We booked in at the Bark Hut, a great pub with petrol station, shop and caravan park. They have a crocodile and two buffalos there. Today we even got to see the crocodile which usually hides, and we started wondering if there is actually a croc in there – oh yes, a decent sized one too.
We enjoyed an early dinner – unfortunately only pizza on the menu as it was the chef’s day off – and a swim in the pool.
After another refreshing swim in the pool, we headed to Corroboree Billabong – a fellow traveler told us about the beautiful scenery and great boat ramp. A great boat ramp we needed as we didn’t have a winch anymore.
There are boat cruises on the Mary River from the boat ramp at Corroboree Billabong, they also offer to pick you up from the Corroboree Roadhouse which has a caravan park.
You can hire house boats on this stretch of the river too. Wouldn’t that be great! Stay out all night fishing and observing the wildlife in luxury.
The boat ramp was indeed pretty good, and the scenery was overwhelming! We took the wrong turn by accident and followed a long sidearm instead of the main river, but I am so happy we did. This part was exploding with bird life, I have never seen anything like this.
We did follow the main stream afterwards and were almost disappointed as there was by far not that much birdlife around as we’ve seen in the sidearm. Still, it was a very nice cruise with a lot of bites on the rod but no catch.
We retired at Corroboree Roadhouse and enjoyed the pool and dinner out. The park is nice, and they have buffalos and a croc too. The food was good, the service not so. Would pick Bark Hut over Corroboree any day.
From there we headed into Darwin to pick up our winch and continued on to Crab Claw Island, more about that in another blog.
Explored in May 2025, written May 2025
this is wonderful, reading about your travels.
❤