Ay Karumba!

We pressed on to Karumba, from Croydon, which took about 2 hours. At one time we had considered stopping in Normanton, which is a much bigger town that we passed through, but as we talked about the overall path, we thought it made more sense to go to the farthest extreme and work back the next day, than the alternative. As it’s almost exclusively Telstra out here, access to the internet and phone coverage is difficult so we’d had no internet for two days. Sometimes, we’d be driving along and hear our phones going off, or sitting outside and hear our phones, on the inside, suddenly get a wave of wifi. I know, third world problems.

Karumba Point is lovely. It was about 32C when we arrived at 4 and were desperate to get to the pool. It was fabulous and the warm breeze in the evening, like a piece of soft silk brushing my skin, was so refreshing. A poolside conversation led to us quickly leaving the pool, grabbing our crackers and hummus and heading for the point.

Here, just outside the hotel, we planted ourselves on a bench, as people sat on the beach, held up their glasses and watched a beautiful sunset. We took great photos and had a drink, along with our dip. It was very special and felt like the Broome sunset routine.

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Alan said that, apparently, this place can have some extraordinary rolls of cloud in the morning, so we planned that. We were contemplating staying an extra night, as it was really nice to have warmth and a great caravan park with clean, substantial amenities. Even the Cane toads liked it.

But with tips about Gregory Downs, Lawn Hill and Cloncurry after that, we decided to decline the advice about visiting the Barramundi Discovery Centre, Museum or Normanton’s town walk, and after a beautiful sunrise, we headed for the point and walked along the beach, scabbing shells and feeling the sun start to heat up.

No cloud rolls. Constantly spying for crocs or turning at rustling, I thought we’d best go, and the slithers in the sand didn’t help, either. We went to the coffee shop that heralded itself as the best in the area and managed to get a tomato ($1.80) and half a lettuce ($2.90), which was an improvement on yesterday, where, in Croydon, lettuces were $8.30 each.

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Then off we went. We passed groups of birds at the water’s edge of ponds and swamps, and they were grey, with red bands on their heads that covered their eyes. They were tall and leggy and ran from us when we stopped the car to take a picture. A lunch stop was by the side of the road and we met a couple on their way to Cloncurry, who had traveled this area 30 years ago, when it was dirt! Off we went to Burke and Wills roadhouse and then on to Gregory Downs and after experiencing single road use for some kilometers, we were there by 4.

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Stay tuned for Lawn Hill!