17 October 2011 - Sunset Caravan Park, Karumba, Queensland

What a day yesterday turned out to be! When my parents contacted us on Skype, I expressed surprise that Dad had called before the end of the Rugby League test between the Kangaroos and the Kiwis. He said he was too disgusted to watch the game further and we agreed with him; the final score was 42:6 to the Australians. So we were delighted that the tables were turned when we watched the All Blacks beat the Wallabies an hour or so later. An excellent day for all; the Australians obviously superior league players and the mighty All Blacks moving on through to the finals, which we shall look forward to in another week. We sat out under the awning for both games, chairs side by side, peering through the caravan door at the television. Toward the end of the second game, the mosquitos attacked, avoiding or detouring on their way to the bug zapper. Today we have felt the aftermath of the welts.

This morning we woke to yet another warm day. I felt a lot better and so the decision was made to move on to Karumba, the port on the Norman River mouth, accessed by a good sealed road seventy kilometres long which skirts the wetlands which cover extensive areas throughout the Gulflands. The ebb and flow of the tides create spectacular estuaries, mudflats and saltpans that support a diverse ecosystem. This whole system has two very diverse faces, dependant on the monsoons. We drove the route, through open woodlands and then through wide yellow grasslands, great expanses of burnt land, and dry or almost dry lagoons full of brolgas and sarus cranes. This was all very different from country previously travelled.

Karumba is divided in to two distinctive areas, the town proper and Karumba Point Beach, the population of these combined areas a mere 600. There are three camping grounds and a multitude of motels and hotels. We chose to stay at the Sunset Caravan Park, that closest to the shore and thus best located to view the famed sunsets over the Gulf of Carpentaria. We were set up soon after 11 am then relaxed through until after lunch when we set off into the town part of Karumba. We called firstly at the Information Centre and spent some time chatting with a couple of locals there, the official who has spent her entire life in the Gulf and her friend who is employed by MMG, the mining company who has a processing plant here.

MMG mines zinc and lead south west in the Lawn Hill National Park and piped as a slurry along a 360 kilometre pipe line. Here in Karumba the slurry is refined and pumped out onto ships and carted off for export. Many of the staff here are of the FIFO variety, the notorious fly in, fly out, hence adding little to the local economy. Locals are given priority opportunity for employment by MMG, which means that many young people here do not necessarily have to leave this rather isolated backwater. Karumba advertises itself as the Outback on the Sea.

Live cattle exports are another of the industries operated here, however this, like the transport of the lead, is all kept fairly low key.

Many grey nomads spend the winter up here enjoying the excellent fishing, but they have all returned south now so the tourist businesses here are mainly on Out of Season mode. For instance, the Barramundi Discovery Centre where these famous fish are bred is closed for the season. Instead we had to make do with Barramundi and chips for dinner, a default option that we particularly enjoyed.

We spoke to these two women about the isolation, about education for their children and about the Wet.

Our camp at Karumba

Both Karumba and Normanton are nearly always cut off for some weeks during the wet each year. Supplies are sometimes battled through on the normal road routes being ferried across the flooded sections, an unsatisfactory solution according to the end consumers, because the extra handling tends to cause more deterioration than the delays in themselves. The preferred option is the barging of provisions from Cairns around to Weipa and then by local barge down to the Norman River. Normanton is eighty three kilometres by barge from the mouth, a long seven and a half to eight hours journey, the return trip a faster flow driven five hours, dodging flood debris.

Most send their secondary age children out to boarding school at Cairns, Townsville, Charters Towers or beyond. There is a secondary school at Normanton, however we were led to believe that it is the least desired option for those with high aspirations for their offspring.

Finally we tore ourselves away from these friendly and informative women and drove around Karumba to see for ourselves what there was on offer. By this time it was two thirty, half an hour after off season closing. The bakery and post office were closed, however the superette and the pub were open, but we had no call for either of their services. We noted that most residences sported a boat of one kind or another, many boats of more than fifty feet or more, in a state of disrepair.

There was little to inspire us in the town and we were glad we had elected to stay at the beach rather than upriver in the town. The one caravan park in this spot was nearly empty, and we had done nothing to improve the situation. Obviously most other travellers thought like us, and while this park at the beach is apparently empty compared to the busy winter season, we find it pleasantly busy enough.

The rules and regulations for the park told us that there was a Happy Hour on Monday nights, where guests should turn up with their drinks, nibbles and entertainment provided by the hosts. We took our coffee along to the large communal area, to discover the one other couple who had decided to participate. It turned out that the camp hosts had decided that it was now the Off Season, so their obligations were zilch. We spent more than an hour chatting with Ray and Bev, enjoying their company enormously and then we all went over to the sandy beach to watch the sunset.

Karumba sunset

After taking a few hundred photographs, Chris and I wandered down to the local store and ordered Barra and chips, which as mentioned earlier, were absolutely delicious. Our only gripe was that we were not advised of the surcharge for using our credit card. We believe it is an obligation on the shopkeeper to advertise the fact they will do this and offer the opportunity to pay by debit card instead. The folk at Undara did this, and while it is annoying when you are trying to operate just with a credit card, one does appreciate the openness.

So today has been a wonderfully successful day as was yesterday; we came to Karumba to experience the sunset and the Barra, and both have more than met our expectations.