Sept 6 ...Innisfail (Part 1)

What an exciting two days we have just enjoyed and the contrasts between the two could not be more extreme.

Gulf Savannah with brolgas near Normanton

Atherton Tablelands with cows

This difference was evident in everything: the geography of the landscape; the climate; the colours; and the population.
We went from 37 degrees at Croydon to around 22 at Milla Milla. Often the roads were similar but not the countryside they went through.
From Karumba through to Ravenshoe we were on a Developmental Road. Essentially this is a narrow strip of bitumen with wide gravel shoulders. It has two rules: put 2 wheels off for an approaching car; put all 4 wheels off and stop the vehicle for an approaching road train.

Gulf Developmental Road

Milla Milla Scenic Route

Fortunately we left Karumba pretty early because we found lots to look at in the first 70kms. The waterholes we had planned to stop at were devoid of life in sharp contrast to our drive in. However, there were others that were just as beautiful.
One of these was just off the road and it was teeming with birds. There was an adult jabiru with two babies, brolgas, heaps of magpie geese and plenty of ducks and herons. It was only about 20ms off the road through some light bush, but as soon as we got out of the car there was a mad flurry of wings and within seconds the waterhole was practically deserted.

Jabiru undisturbed

Quick ... people coming.

The now deserted waterhole

Just a few more kilometres up the road and we came across a huge wedge-tail eagle tucking into some road kill which he was very reluctant to leave ... allowing me to get some excellent photos.

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Still not even at Normanton, we again had to stop for a display of spoonbills wading and feeding. It is easy to tell the waterways where there are no crocodiles! There were very few birds in the rivers or main channels.

Spoonbills at Normanton

 From Normanton to Croydon, about 150kms, we followed the rail line of the Gulflander. It would have been great if the train had been running because the landscape was fairly boring. This is Gulf Savannah like around Karumba, but this was pretty flat and scrubby even though there were plenty of brolgas and other birds scattered through it.

After what seemed ages we got to Croydon completely unaware of what a gem of a little town this was. Essentially I think it forgot to modernize and then people realized they were onto a good thing as many of the old buildings are very historic and have been restored to excellent condition. The General Store, the oldest in Australia, continuously trading since 1894, still functions as such and the lady running it was very friendly and talkative. It had stacks of interesting things on display but all we could find to buy was some milk!

After a late morning tea we set off to explore the Heritage Precinct. Fortunately this is grouped quite closely together because it was hot ... around 38 degrees, and we were walking.
Croydon really gained an identity with the 1885 gold discoveries here. Europeans and Chinese came flocking to the town and at one stage it had 36 hotels to cater for many thousands of people.
This multicultural heritage which is a real mixture of Anglo Saxon, Aborigine and Chinese, is acknowledged in all the displays and buildings. Interestingly, the family of Jenny Kee, the designer, comes from Croydon; and it has a strong link to Breaker Morant who used to break horses on the local properties before going off to fight in the Boer War.

Original Gaol

Chinese House

The Male Ward from the hospital

Town Hall 1890

Courthouse 1887

Police station 1896

We spent some hours looking around these buildings and the park which contained five sculpture which represented the history of Croydon. At the Tourist office we watched a film about the township and then had a look at more sculptures, old machines and buildings in their extensive garden area. This garden was maintained by a woman called Marian who would have to be one of the iconic characters of Australia. At 17 she left home in Cairns, without permission, and travelled by bus to Cloncurry (1961) to work as a house girl on a Station. She lasted one year then took a job as an assistant windmill builder. She travelled all over the region, always in complete isolation with only her boss for company, working very hard in the dry and the wet, eating basically corn beef, damper and billy tea for 46 years... and she loved it. She rolls her own and has smoked for all of that time. Now, at 66, she has a "cushy" job and will live out her days in Cloncurry. She had some incredible stories to tell and she was happy to have a yarn. I previously had thought that this type of lifestyle had finished long ago so it was very interesting for me to have a chat with her.

Marian, the windmill builder.

From Croydon we drove out the few kilometres to Lake Belmore  where we had a late lunch, and then we hit the road again towards Georgetown where we planned to spend the night. This drive was a little more interesting as it crossed some very wide rivers and went through a range which offered some lovely views westwards back over the savannah country.

The plains around Croydon

The wide bed of the Gilbert River

Sept 4 ... PS

 On our last evening we walked over to the beach to watch our final sunset over the ocean, and it was so beautiful that I had to add these photos to our Karumba memories.

         I anticipate these will be our last photos of this kind but what a wonderful way to end the day!

Sept 4...Fathers Day

It is our last day in Karumba and I have found this to be a really special place, so I thought I would record some of the things that made it such a wonderful week.
Each morning I wake up and all I can see is vivid blue sky through palm fronds; and each night we finish with a movie in bed and a view of the stars through the same fronds. It is so tropical here and the mornings always start so beautifully cool. Around 8am an easterly breeze starts and this changes to a cooler westerly coming off the water around midday. So despite regular temperatures of 35 degrees, most days here have been relatively pleasant, and there is always the pool to cool off in.

My view from bed each morning

Sunset Point Park

Garry and I are enjoying a great Fathers Day, doing all the things he loves! So, first thing we were off to the markets!!! Fortunately for him they were very small but I still managed to find a few things.

The waterhole near town

The markets in front of the hotel

From there we went for a walk out of town to the waterhole at which we saw so many birds and kangaroos the other day.It was pretty hot and there was not much to see today except the odd kangaroo, a few kingfishers, some waders, lots of ducks and a group of brolgas which flew over...and dozens of whistling kites. These seem to be the main birds up this way and their whistling call can be heard wherever you are. They are quite big birds but for size, it is the brolgas in flight that impress the most.

Kingfisher

Brolgas in flight

Walking back into town we passed another of the "rattle" trees. These are quite common in the north and when the wind blows their seeds pods rattle and they make quite a noise. We went via the hotel for a coffee with fresh donuts before heading home for me to record and submit my French assignment.

Close up of the "rattle" tree

Enjoying a coffee overlooking the Gulf of Carpentaria

It was just fabulous sitting on the foreshore and looking out across the river mouth and the Gulf of Carpentaria. As we sat there we noticed a family of brolgas perusing the beach for a snack; colourful little kingfisher birds darting about; and a nesting whistling kite in the tree above us.

Brolgas on the sea shore at low tide

Whistling Kite with chicks

Rainbow Bee Eater

This has been such a wild and inhospitable area to the white population during the past hundreds of years and now it is so civilized and lovely, with palms and flowers everywhere, and all your needs catered for including fresh bread and flights to Cairns. The only small inconvenience has been that the papers are irregular, days late or don't come at all, but the radio reception is good, and mobile phone coverage and the internet are both perfect. So we may be 2685 kms from Brisbane but we are certainly not doing it tough.

We returned to the hotel for a BBQ seafood lunch and some cold drinks around 1pm, just in time to see the haulage ship negotiate the channel. The food was delicious with fresh squid, mussels, scallops and prawns which were more like mini lobsters. Not bad for $15. But my favourite food here has been the barramundi which has been so tasty to eat.

Great seafood lunch ... and what a view

Linda and the brolga family

I think the standout feature of Karumba though has been the sunsets. We were lucky enough to be here early in the week when we think there must have been a lot of dust in the air and the whole sky blazed gold at sunset, but since we have seen many other beautiful ends to the day. Amazingly, each one is different and I have to rate them as some of the best we have seen anywhere this trip.

Sometimes it is pink ...

...and some times it adds some yellow

So, what has made Karumba so special ... the birds, the seafood, the beautiful weather, the tropical setting, and the sunsets. Plus it helps that everyone is very friendly and there is a very relaxed atmosphere about the place. I hope we come back here again...and I hope it is just the same.

Sunset over the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Sept. 3 ... Karumba

This is our sixth day here and Linda has been very constructive, completing some French study each day. Myself, on the other hand, has done very little except read, check out the river and sunsets, a bit of shopping, watching movies and generally being lazy!!

This caravan park is a great place; opposite the mouth of the Norman River, adjacent to the only boat ramp in town, a great swimming pool, (pretty cool water but an excellent way to cool off when the day heats up), friendly people and the most sublime weather. Most days are around the low 30's but are tempered by a refreshing breeze off the water, so it never gets too hot.

Looking down our road in the park...plenty of shade.

Most of the campers/caravanners here are fishermen; and most also have a small tinny for their fishing. The fishing seems to be pretty successful by the size and number of fish we see at the fish cleaning area each day. The river is also used by a small cargo ship (called a barge up here) that takes loads of minerals(lead, copper and zinc) from a mine south of here, to a much larger ship anchored in the Gulf. The daily arrival and departure of this ship/barge has all the visitors happily taking photos. The Port is also used for the live export of cattle, although that hasn't resumed since the ban in July. Apart from that there are numerous trawlers (both for prawns and fish), crabbing, amateur fisherman and the odd tourist boat on the river each day...so plenty to look at. The tidal flows here are really unusual.....some days they have one, other days four, but mostly only two tides per day. This occurs because the tides flow East/West from and to the Indian Ocean across the top of the Gulf, and we are so far away from there that most of the tidal energy is dissipated by the time it gets here.

The ore-carrying ship/barge.

The mouth of the Norman River.

Saw some more Brolgas the other day...this family of parent and baby(no colours) landed near the boat ramp the other day....metres away from us. Wallabies also live near the park and hop all around us during the day and night.

A Brolga family

We are staying out at Karumba Point ( one pub, one shop and one cafe), and drove into "town" yesterday, about 7 kms away. We went to the PO, the chemist for a script, the butcher, the baker and the small supermarket....quite an excursion. While we were there we had lunch at the local riverside cafe....a dozen fresh oysters, calamari, chips and a kg of prawns to go!

Overlooking the Norman River

Fabulous

This is proving an excellent place for seafood...we have had several feeds of local, freshly caught barramundi...delicious. So we have been really able to recharge the batteries here; eating exceptionally well, being lazy, enjoying the wonderful sunsets...just what we need before we hit the road again and most likely hit some inclement weather. We have become accustomed to fine, warm days since leaving Tom Price over 2 months ago.

Looking north at low tide

Another sensational sunset

These bands were caused by some clouds-the vertical post is a channel marker.