Normanton and Karumba


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Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Normanton
October 9th 2012
Published: October 14th 2012
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The other day we had a flat battery because I had unintentionally knocked the light switch on. Thankfully, due to our awesome solar panel, the battery was charged up enough to start the van after a couple of hours in the sun. Nice! And the perfect excuse to take a break and watch movies while it was charging :-)

I can’t help feeling that we are now entering into the ‘real Australia’. The east coast is nice and interesting but it is also well developed and a magnet for tourists. The landscape that we now find ourselves in is quite different. Making our way along the Savannah Way, which stretches from Cairns in Queensland across the top of the Northern Territory to Broome in Western Australia, there is dry bushland, lots of earth and mile upon mile of wide open spaces. We’re headed into the outback! Along the dusty red road from Croydon to Normanton, some goats, small wild pigs and funny birds called Brolgas ran across the road in front of us. Massive amounts of Kite birds also circle the area and feast on road kill – it almost looks as though they’re waiting for you to die out here so they can have a meal. Let’s just hope we don’t hit a kangaroo in these parts as they are getting bigger and bigger the further northwest we go. The towns in the area are so dry that grass only grows where people use their sprinklers.

North of the Savannah Way is the Gulf of Carpentaria and it’s only when I look at the map that I truly register how far we are now from home!

Having arrived in the remote town of Normanton, we decided to do the self-guided Normanton Town Walk which takes you around all the points of interest. It sure is interesting (amongst other things, you get to see a replica of “Krys the Savannah King” who, at 8.63m long, is the world’s largest recorded captured saltwater crocodile!) but we kept ducking into shops to revive ourselves in the air conditioning. Clearly spending time outdoors during the day just isn’t the done thing as we were the fools out in the blazing sunshine. Someone needs to tell the council to grow trees or put up shelters so that you can at least park your car in the shade. Thankfully Normanton was pretty windy while we were there, but then even the wind was hot! We spent some nice cool hours at the Purple Pub (aptly described) and whiled away the afternoon with ice water and cold beer. The tree across from the pub, and indeed many trees in Normanton, were dripping with almost ripe mangoes. While most of them were still green, one had fallen from up high and was absolutely delicious. Mango season can’t be far off and I can’t wait!

Dean chose our camping spot in Normanton based on the fact that a chap who stayed there a month ago went down to the Norman River with his dog to wash his dishes. He came back with the dishes but without the dog! Dean seems to be quite excited by the prospect of seeing a croc up close… and when I expressed some apprehension as we pulled up next to the river, he reckoned that’s what fun is all about. Perhaps we need to work on reconciling our definitions of fun, haha! Fortunately/unfortunately we didn’t see any crocs that time. We did, however, use our hilarious little camp shower for the first time. Basically a plastic bag full of water with a nozzle attached, it did the job perfectly!

70 miles northwest of Normanton lies the even more remote town of Karumba. It’s so remote that the price of diesel is up to $1.70 per litre and a truck delivers fresh fruit and veg to the town’s residents on a weekly basis. It’s also hot hot hot! We arrived before 10am and the temperature was already 29.8oC! My body and mind feeling decidedly sluggish, the best strategy seemed to be to sit in the shade or in the pool. Strangely, Dean appears to have a much more efficient temperature control mechanism.

Situated directly on an inlet of the Gulf of Carpentaria, Karumba is famous for its prawn and barramundi industry. The barramundi season has just ended but you can still buy the fish everywhere as they snap-freeze them on the trawlers.

The town is divided into two parts: half is on the Norman River and half is Karumba Point, near the beach, where we stayed. When we went for a cycle to the river we almost passed out from the heat. There was also a diabolical smell, which we can only assume was dead fish, all along the river.

During the night (at a caravan park), we figured the only way to keep cool was to leave the van door open a little. It worked a treat and I’m still amazed that I wasn’t mauled by mosquitoes. The following morning was possibly the windiest we’ve experienced during our trip. There was dust absolutely everywhere and our poor neighbours even had dust wedged in their campervan’s door runner track.

With towns much more spaced out, we are doing a lot of driving these days. That’s to say, Dean does the driving while I study. It’s lots of work but I’m breezing through the lessons and assessments. Once I’ve finished studying Anatomy & Physiology, I have a choice of which subject to move on to next: biology, chemistry, biochemistry or basic nutrition. I’m thinking of doing chemistry, which has never been my great strength, just so that I can get it over and done with.

On another note, I’m relishing the fact that I can eat food at any time, without having to take out braces and brush my teeth. Dental freedom at last! :-)

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