Abrolhos Islands 2014 Season So Far

Each year after a manic yet fun filled and adventurous Abrolhos Season, we take a breath after all of the hard work it takes to get the trips off of the ground and give our crew the well deserved break they need. And then before we know it we are doing it all over again! Shopping for supplies and fresh food, gathering paperwork, getting Aussie Warrior and the equipment ready and waving the boys off! But you know what? We wouldn't have it any other way.

We are 6 weeks in to the 2014 season and already receiving great feedback. We have had a good variety of mixed and private charters, full of families, friends, repeat passengers and strangers coming together for their passion of the open water adventure.

We were most recently joined by cricketer Luke Pomersbach and his Father who showed off their fishing skills and went home with fish to cook and some great pictures for the wall!

It has been great to receive the feedback from our customers, especially as our crew have been putting in a great deal of work to make each trip an unforgettable experience for everyone involved. Mills Charters owners Mark and Natasha have even made it to Geraldton for trips themselves with Mark taking the wheel at one point! What better way to speak of our trips and provide the best adventure than by experiencing it for ourselves.

We still have some spots left for trips in June and July so don't be shy; call us to book or find out more information on 08 9246 5334. You won't regret it!

I'll leave you with some feedback and pictures from this season.

Mills Charters.

"Had a great time with Mills Charters again and would like to thank all Mills workers for the time and effort they put in. Our seven guys were all impressed and again well looked after by the crew Shaun, Paddy and our new decky Callum. Bagged out every day and well looked after, weather better this year than last. Once again please thank all staff for making our trip memorable for all."

"Just wanted to say from Luke and myself, thank you all for a great charter. To Shaun, Paddy and Callum; you're on to a winner with these guys. Their work ethics and attitude very refreshing to see. Good fishing and great ocean conditions. The boat is a ripper and makes all the difference when foul weather hits. Anyway all the best for the season and I will follow your site with interest.''

Goodbye 2013!

Wow! Where has 2013 gone?? It seems as though one minute we were on the Swan River watching the fireworks for Australia Day only to blink and be standing on the bow of Aussie Warrior watching baby humpback whales breach and now here we are; about 4 kilos heavier and looking forward to 2014 and what it will bring!

 

Every year we say the same thing - where does the time go? It's quite scary really but at least we can take comfort in the fact that we have had another amazing year and can't wait to have an equally fantastic one with you all in 2014!

 

So what's in store for us next year? Well we have a few river cruises up our sleeve such as our yearly Australia Day shindig and ideas already in the mix for a Charity Cruise that we hope to blow last years donations out of the water (pun intended!). Then we have our highly ranked Abrolhos season from April though to July which just keeps getting better and better from the people we have on board to the variety of food our boys cook up. And then it's always a great way to round the year off with our whale watching cruises from September through to December and indulge in some humpback acrobatics! And let's not forget our deep sea fishing tours which will continue to run daily, taking care of everything from the food to the gear just leaving you to bring yourself and have a great day out.

 

Aside from our tours we will be entering the Western Australia Tourism Awards 2014 and hope to place as a finalist again and take home one of the top 3 places. We have begun works to obtain our Eco Accreditation and will continue to fly the flag for Keep Australia Beautiful and the Adopt A Spot Campaign of which we are a part of. We plan to spread a strong message about the importance of our environment and keeping it clean and hope that you will all join us!

 

After maintenance on both Aussie Warrior and Blue Strike this year we are very excited to continue to show them both off and hope that you can see for yourself the improvement in the facilities that we will be able to provide to you.

 

 Overall we intend to improve on the level of service we provide to you as our customer and hope to see much more of you as we grow Mills Charters and our family. We would not continue to be here today nor look back with a smile over 2013 were it not for your ongoing loyalty and support so from the very bottom of our hearts, thank you and have a very wonderful and safe New Years!

 

Here's to 2014 :)

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

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 :)

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.

Does Fishing Relieve Stress?

I think we can all admit to feeling the pressures of every day life at one time or another and with the world moving more and more quickly by the day, the stress that comes with it is on the rise.
 
I'm no doctor or medical expert however the feedback we have from our customers about fishing speaks for itself...
 
"I met a wonderful family from the east coast, and shared stories with a lad from Victoria"
 
'' I caught 1 fish that was respectable enough to take home and the rest were small so I returned them to the ocean. None of this mattered. There were no phones, no hassles and for that day my only concern was watching the tip of my rod and the swell as it passed under the boat"
 
Now take the two statements above into consideration. The first is about strangers meeting, building relationships and social skills all the while having fun. The second, the feeling of relief at leaving behind the hustle and bustle of the world, switching off and taking a moment for yourself to enjoy the little things.

And with proof that being near water can naturally help lower anxiety, leading to a healthier and more relaxed lifestyle, we urge you to take time for yourself and re-charge those batteries.

Bottom line, whether it be by going fishing or doing something completely unrelated to what we offer in our business, here at Mills we understand that the key to a happy life, is a healthy life. So take time for you...

MC.

Hello 2013!

How quickly did last year pass us by?! It seems like only yesterday we were all starting our January 2012 diets, trying to outdo the damage we had done with our festive over eating!

Here at Mills we like to start the year as we mean to go on which meant we sent both of our boats out during the Christmas period for deep sea fishing. So I'll keep this post short and sweet (as let's be honest, I too am suffering from the post holiday blues!) and enclose lots of pics below from the holiday season fishing trips.

Enjoy!

MC.