Saying Goodbye To Our Abrolhos Islands Season 2014

Wow. It's finished! Was it not just last week we were pushing trolleys and trolleys of food round and collecting last minute paperwork from our passengers???

20 trips this year which was 4 more than last and a real mixture of people from couples to girls on holiday to corporate functions to families and of course all mixed in with our regular customers who love it so much they come every year. In fact we had a few keen fishermen who came twice this season! Yes it has most definitely been a whirlwind of a season.

Passengers were treated to an array of views and landscapes as well as a whole host of animal encounters. Grey nurse sharks were quite curious at times and a friendly seal actually approached the boat and allowed the skipper to hand feed it! But the real star of the show had to be the humpback whale that swam right under our boat and then performed a massive breach for everyone to see!

Next year is already shaping up to be another fantastic season with 6 private charters booked and others filling fast.

Not been with us before but still not sure?? Well have a look through these pictures and a few of our testimonials from this season and see for yourself the kind of service we provide...

 

Mills Charters.

 

"3 days of what dreams are made of fishing, fishing, fishing.
Shaun putting us on the hot spot every time and Paddy and Callum
making sure we were all catered for in every thing we needed
and very understanding and funny
see you there next year."

 

 

 

 

"Just returned from a four day trip from the Abrolhos. We had an excellent trip, the boys on the boat were awesome Shaun, Paddy and Callum works non stop and nothing was a problem for them and were great for a chat. Shaun put us onto some great fish. Overall I would recommend Mills charters to all and we will be booking again for a five day trip."

 

 

"I have just returned from the three day fishing trip in the Abrolhos Islands. The three crew were extremely knowledgeable and worked tirelesly to keep us baited, rigged and fed. All twelve of the passengers mixed and got along well with many laughs shared. Fishing was excellent."

 

 

"Mills Charters offer an absolutely brilliant weekend for anyone, rookies or professionals, who want to catch some of the best deep sea fish that Perth has to offer.

We set out on a private 3 day trip with Mills in late May with a group of 12 people from the same business. Some had years of fishing experience behind them, whereas others like myself had never fished a day in their life.

The crew aboard the 75ft Aussie Warrior, Shaun, Paddy & Callum were an absolutely brilliant team, good lads, and even better fishermen. These guys made it the easiest and most enjoyable way to catch fish that it is possible to experience. All your gear, bait, food and drinks are set up from the moment you leave in the morning, and any issues throughout the day (lost gear, tangles etc.) are immediately dealt with by either Paddy or Callum, while the skipper Shaun is constantly monitoring the boats location to ensure that you are on the best fishing grounds 100% of the time. It was uncommon to have your line in the water for more than a few minutes without pulling up something! Whether it was a small Red Throat, or a 10kg Dhufish or rare coral trout, there was always some quality fish to be found.

The crew fit in well with all the boys from our office, and always provided a few good laughs, which is just a small added bonus to a very memorable weekend.

Hats of to these fella's and Mills charters."



WA Tourism Awards 2013

For those of you that didn't know, Mills Charters entered the Adventure Category in the 2013 Tourism Awards which was a 30 page presentation on our Deep Sea Fishing package.

 

 

We were delighted to be announced as one of the 8 finalists as the standard was extremely high and spent weeks excited to wear our best dresses and suits.  

 

Seven of our team attended the Gala Dinner at the Crown where we were treated to a spectacular 3 course meal and entertainment throughout the evening. Everyone was dressed to impress and there was a real glamour feel about the evening making us feel very proud to be a part of the tourism industry which is of huge importance to everyone in WA.

 

Unfortunately we did not place in the top 3 and although we were disappointed we were not disheartened and we intend to come back bigger and better next year and continue to provide an outstanding service to our customers and the tourism industry! We were able to share stories with others in our industry, enjoy hearing about some spectacular businesses and eat several desserts - how could we not have had a fantastic night?!

 

 

 

 

Call This Spring Perth??!

Wow. What has been up with the weather these past few weeks? The wettest period we've had in the past 70 years? Well I believe it!

The wind has not been in our favour of late and it seems as though we have been booking and cancelling tours non stop. We are so thankful to our loyal and supportive customer base as we have all suffered with the disappointment at not being able to get out on the water to catch a fish or spend time with our whale friends. Safety is paramount to Mills Charters and we won't allow any charters to go ahead if we feel concerned for our crew and customers in anyway.

But hooray for today as it was back to business as normal and we waved off a fishing trip at 6.30am this morning following shortly by keen whale watchers at 9am. We can't explain how excited we were to finally take our customers out and deliver an experience we know is like no other!

Every day we have been glued to our phones or computer screens or tvs, watching the forecast and hoping for a break in the weather and it looks as though our prayers have finally been answered and all in good time for the bank holiday. The sun is out, the winds have dropped down and the ocean is calm!

Summer is fast approaching people and where better to be than out on the water with a rod in your hand or watching a humpback whale breaching?

On that note I'll leave you with some of our new whale watching pictures from this season :)

Our whale friends are back!

Is it just me or does it seem like only yesterday we were coming to the end of our fantastic whale watching season in 2012? It was an amazing experience for anyone who came out with us and it set the bar for the next season to come.

A lot of our fisherman were lucky enough to see the whales whilst out deep sea fishing with us so it was exciting for us to see them making their way into the shallower waters of Perth.

We are into our second week of whale watching tours this year and they have not disappointed. So far we have been treated to not just up close and personal visits from our friendly humpbacks but schools of dolphins keen to get in on the fun and the occasional southern right whale!

A most fantastic show was put on by a humpback mother and her calf with our customers and crew being treated to a double breach in perfect synchrony. It was almost as if they knew they had an audience!

A great start to the 2013 season and one that we're sure will continue to get better and better. It's great to have you back whales!

Goodbye and Thankyou Abrolhos Islands 2013

It has been another superb season for our Abrolhos Islands fishing and we cannot thank our crew and customers enough!

It literally feels like yesterday that we were getting our first trip on its way and now Aussie Warrior is back here at Hillarys and we have 3 months worth of fantastic memories and feedback.

Each year we aim to make our trips bigger and better and this just wouldn't be possible without the help from our crew. They pretty much live and breath the Abrolhos Islands for 3 solid months and spend most of their time on dry land in Geraldton away from their friends and family. Even in their down time they clean the boat and get ready for the next trip, showing true dedication to the job. They are on hand to our customers from the moment they step on the boat to the moment they step off and it has been amazing to hear the fantastic feedback they have received. We are very, very proud of the boys - Shaun our Skipper and Paddy and Mikey our Deckhands as well as Jake who helped out on our most recent trip.

The organiser of our most recent, and last, trip of the season had this to say:

"We have been doing an annual fishing charter for our Bunbury Toyota Managers for 15 years. In the past we have done live abroad at the Montenello's, Mackeral Islands as well as numerous day trips right across the state. Collectively we have never been on a charter anywhere that would even come close to what Mills Charters provided to us on our recent Abrolhos Islands Trip. The variety of fish we were able to catch was simply mind blowing. Aussie Warrior is the perfect vessel and was kept in tip top condition for the entire trip. Not to mention the food...that was top notch. What made the trip though was Shaun, Paddy, Mikey and Jake, these boys were an absolute asset to Mills Charters! These guys made the trip the experience that it was, I have no doubt that you will be seeing us again."

It's comments such as this that make all of the hard work everyone puts in so very worth it.

Mark and Tash who own the business have also put an incredible amount of effort into ensuring the guys have everything they need in order to make each trip the success that they are - Mark even attending a few of the trips himself. It's the seemingly little things like ordering the food for each trip that is done behind the scenes that also goes a long way to ensuring our customers are happy ones so a big thank you to Mark and Tash for constantly pouring your heart into the business.

Lastly but by no means least, a MASSIVE thank you to our customers, both new and repeat. Without you Mills Charters simply would not be and we count ourselves very blessed to have such an amazing customer base. There are those of you who we see regularly and have formed wonderful relationships with and those who we met for the first time this season and hope to see again. We promise to always raise our standard of customer care and endeavour to make each trip an even better one.

You make our working life a pleasurable one! Roll on next season :)

 

The Beauty of Abrolhos

With several Abrolhos Islands trips under our belt already, as you can imagine, we with have been inundated with photos of customers and their catches. There have been heaps of weird and wonderful species and fish of awesome sizes.

However in our quest to land our biggest catch yet we often forget the sheer beauty of the Abrolhos Islands and its pure serenity. Seeing as it is comprised of over 120 unspoiled islands it's no wonder that anyone who visits is met with sunsets and views that you'd be hard fetched seeing anywhere else.

So let's take a few moments to gaze over some of favourite photos from this season so far...

Dave Hunt Abrolhos Trip

Mills Abrolhos Season is well on its way and got off to a great start with Dave Hunt and his group who hired Aussie Warrior out privately for a 3 day trip departing on the 29th March.

Here's what some of them had to say about the trip:

"We had a ball - it was absolutely awesome. As a group it was really well catered for and we caught heaps of fish. The trip went above and beyond"

"The food was very good, quantity was great. We caught lots of fish and the quality and service all round was impressive."

"Good all over and we couldn’t find anything wrong. All 100% happy with it."

"The trip was great. It was well organised and we were looked after."

Think Fishing is a Mans Sport? Think Again!

Now I'd be lying if I said I haven't always thought that fishing was more of a "mature gentleman's" sport...

But shut me up because the females and younger generations are excelling in this popular hobby and I've been forced to eat my own words!

Here at Mills we welcome people from all over the world, male and female and of all ages. And whilst we don't always recommend children under the age of 10 due to the nature of the business, that's not to say we haven't had plenty of youngsters aboard who have impressed us with their fishing skills! We often have couples enjoying the day out together or parents with their children and large families. What better way to spend quality time together, away from the busy world and in the sunshine.

When it comes down to participating in something you love, gender and age don't factor into the equation regardless of the labels we may subconsciously apply to certain activites.

Who knows, perhaps I'll even get out on a little fishing trip myself soon! I can sunbathe too right..??

MC.

Australia Day 2013

It's been a little while since our last post as we have been super busy here at Mills and Australia Day was no exception!

We started our day with two whole boat charters which headed over to Rotto for the day. Gemma had Aussie Warrior and Frazer and his crew took Blue Strike - both customers are regulars of ours and it's always great to have them aboard! Both cruises spent the day at the beautiful Porpoise Bay and needless to say I imagine there were a few sore heads come Sunday!

At 2.30pm the boats made their way back to Hillary's but their work here wasn't done...

A quick clean up later and they were back out on the water, this time headed for the Swan River to watch the fireworks.

Blue Strike took Dulio and his party out whilst Aussie Warrior boasted members of the public and friends and colleagues of Mills. We were treated to a variety of finger food, sausage sizzles, BBQ prawns and a selection of sweets, cakes and fruit. What a way to celebrate Australia Day!

We want to thank everyone involved in making this day a HUGE success - our friends, family and above all our customers and crew.

We hope you all had a very safe and happy Australia Day and hope to celebrate with you all again in 2014!

MC.