Gulf Country

I couldn't leave the NT cold, so spent six days at Elsey National Park as I really like it.  It was (and, I'm sure. always will be) wonderful.  The time went too quickly and soon I was on the road, to a nite at a rest area, then to Camooweal Billabong rest area just inside the QLD border for a couple of nights.  What a hidden treasure that place is!  It is a mini-wetland, brolgas, ducks, egrets and a flock of at least 1,000 noisy corellas.  Of an evening horses & cows come down for a drink to add to the overall ambience - a great spot!

Then off to Normanton for two nights, staying at a caravan park with showers, washing machines and such civilised luxuries, AND ALSO a very nice swimming pool & spa for that extra little bit of pampering!  A visit to the Railway Museum unfortunately didn't result in sighting The Gulflander, which was on a journey somewhere, nor did I sight it on my return a few days later - rather a disappointment.  But the town is very pleasant and friendly.  At one time it was quite a hub of industry, being a main port on the Gulf (the Norman River is navigable to Normanton) and hosting what was once the largest Burns & Philp emporium in Australia, trading with PNG & other islands to the north!  Gold from Croyden was freighted to Normanton by rail, fishing was a major industry and the Savannah Country is very good grazing land so cattle are a big industry to this day.  There is also a model of an 8+m croc on display, shot in 1957 by a lass!  "Oh, there are bigger crocs than that around" said the chap at the Visitor Information Centre! 

From there I spent a couple of days at Karumba, right on the Gulf, where the tourists outnumber the locals by about ten to one, I reckon!  Karumba is a pleasant little town and has an excellent coffee shop (its actually a bakery that serves coffee but the coffee is great!).  The caravan park was very full, many whom appear to be ensconced for the duration!  I saw freezers in the not-so-temporary annexes, pot plants & herb boxes tended in the 'garden' and plenty of boats parked on their patch.  You don't need an alarm, at 6am you can hear the vehicles start up to head for the boat ramps.  I also saw plenty of fish being cleaned, rather enviously.  Sadly, I also discovered from the poster of 'Fishes of the Area' that my barramundi was actually a bream of some sort:  I wanted it to be a barramundi and for a while it was. 

Between Normanton and Karumba is a coastal plain which looks like great cattle grazing country; the cattle were certainly numerous and healthy!  From Normanton south is savannah with grass and open scrubby trees.  Thus the name of the road through it - The Savannah Way, which runs from Cairns in QLD to Broome in WA. 

Once again the time to leave came too quickly so I am now heading for the Atherton Tablelands.