Reached the Gulf!

Well today we made it to the Gulf and got to smell sea air for the first time this journey!

We woke up early in our roadside stop and continued our drive on the Burke Development Road north, unfortunately with a head wind slowing us down. We reached Normanton late morning, stopped to refuel and bought a quiche for lunch from the local bakery before continuing on to Karumba.We picked a caravan park (no free camp in town and it’s always nice to have air-con when it’s hot) and set up.

In the afternoon we headed straight for the ‘beach’ and were immediately hit with the pungent and refreshing smell of the sea as soon as we got out of the car. The breeze was quite strong,which kept the temperature down to 30 degrees - which was five degrees less than the weather in Normanton earlier today. We walked along the shore and checked out the Sunset Tavern situated right on Sunset Point, a great place to enjoy a cold drink and watch the sun go down. We drove around Karumba, a town seemingly split into two distinct areas and had a look around, buying some freshly caught barramundi from a local fish shop, before returning home for a quick rest.

Given we’d eaten an early lunch, we headed out to the beach late afternoon, stopping to buy some fish and chips to eat while we watched the sun slowly sink lower in the gulf. As we sat on our park bench I held my barra burger in one hand as we chatted. Suddenly I felt a jolt as a kyte swooped down and attempted to steal my burger. I was quite shocked and Gadi thought he would retaliate and act macho by throwing a couple of big rocks at the birds. I had a better idea and moved to a new bench situated under the protective cover of a large tree and it’s broad branches.

After we finished eating we headed to the Sunset Tavern to enjoy a cold drink and watch the spectacle of the sun as it finally sank beyond the sea, a big, round orange and yellow fireball. Once the last little bit could no longer be seen we waited for the sky to change to deep shades of orange, red and yellow.

With the twinkly lights of the stars now shining bright, we made our way back to our little home on wheels to settle in for the evening. Tomorrow we will begin the trek along the Savannah Way, which will take us all the way to Cairns.

Sweet dreams from Karumba!!Read more