The late Kerry Byrnes of Arnhem Nursery in action on a ride on mower . Kerry once took me for an unforgettable 1977 fishing trip in a light aircraft from Darwin to the Coburg Peninsula. Through his contacts , a contra deal with the aviation company , he organised everything , as usual , down to the smallest detail.
By Peter Simon
We landed on the sand and coral strip behind beach dunes and set up camp . A wildlife ranger drove up and checked our permit . Then it was discovered the bait and spare fish hooks had been left behind . A member of the fishing party , Stephen Harwood , used Hungarian salami he brought with him as bait ; no fish were caught .
Nevertheless, we roughed it on the abundant rock oysters , watched black tipped sharks shooting the waves , saw turtle tracks and large numbers of crabs . It was paradise -until sunset , when droves of mosquitoes attacked us .
Suffering from sunburn , mossies seemingly attracted by repellant , I slipped into a sleeping bag. Boiling within , I hopped down closer to the waterline , hoping it would be cooler and finally got to sleep . In the morning crocodile tracks were found not far way .
It was a grand flight back to Darwin over scenic country- until the pilot tapped the fuel gauge and announced the reading -low-could not be right . But it was .
Darwin Airport Flight Control was alerted .With a warning alarm going off in the cockpit ,we managed to touch down , fire trucks running along on either side of the strip .
A service celebrating Kerry's life will be held in the George Brown Botanical Gardens Visitors Centre on December 5 , commencing at 12.30.
