NORMANTON TO MT ISA

On Sunday 27 April we got up and had a leisurely breakfast and an early lunch as we had planned to spend the day visiting some tourist spots and then driving the 75 klms to Karumba.  Firstly we visited the historic station at Normanton where the Gulflander train is housed.  The station has a small museum showing some early rail items and also old cameras and suchlike. 

 Pat & Arnold posing outside the station

I decided to pose with the train. It wasn't easy standing on the sloping steps and hanging on. I thought Arnold was never going to take the shot lol.
 



  There are certain days when you can buy a ticket and go for a joyride for a few hours.  If we were staying longer it would have been fun to ride in such a well maintained old girl.

After we had explored the station we drove to Karumba. There are a couple of different areas to visit.  The water in the background is the Norman River which runs into the Gulf.  The monument in the background is dedicated to the fallen servicemen and I would say is where they held the Anzac ceremony.  The sign in the foreground talks about a cloud called the Morning Glory which rolls in.  Its one of only a few places where is happens.  I would have loved to see it .. oh well (sigh)



This is the other side of the sign.  It is a mud map of the area.



From there we drove around to Sunset Point where the Sunset Tavern is situated.  We sat there for a while and had a few drinks. 

 This green tree frog was spotted hiding alongside the leg of one of the chairs. 

We were going to stay for the sunset but there were a few dark clouds rolling in so we decided not to.

So we just took some photos

.

But we had to have our Barramundi and Chips so we drove around to Karumba's famous Fish & Chip shop.  We would take them home and have them. I don't normally eat fish but I love Barramundi.

We were quite tired so after our meal it wasn't long before we went to bed.  The following morning we hitched up the vans and then went to take some pics of Krys the Croc.

 

 The last time we were here I climbed right up on top.  I was younger then lol

 

Excuse my rear end

I couldn't climb that high this time so only made it onto the tail section.



We left and drove down the street passed the Purple Pub and out of town.  It was time to continue our journey.

After driving for quite some time we came to a freecamp called Terry White Lookout (but there is no lookout lol)  We positioned our vans next to each other.  There wasn't much shade and I know I keep saying this .... but it was sooo hot and with no aircon we had all windows hatches and door open to try and get some cool air.  It didn't happen until about midnight.  Ah bliss!

 Evening

 

 

Sunrise

It was time to move on. But before we did Pat and Maureen were at our van and we were discussing the ant problem we were both having. So I thought I would get the Mortein and spray under the fridge.  Of course the fridge was running on gas and ignited the propellant.  A flame shot out and frightened Maureen and I half to death.  I thought it was going to burn the van down and poor Pat ran to his van to get a fire extinguisher leaving his thongs behind.  When he came back his feet were covered in three corner jacks.  I felt so bad for him.  I had grabbed our extinguisher also and was standing there as if I knew how to use it.  (I do now!!)  Luckily the flame was shortlived as Arnold said it would be.  He checked the fridge cavity just in case though to ease my mind.

   We left about 9.30am and drove as far as a rest stop about 60klms from Mt Isa.  Here we met 2 brothers from England (they looked like they were in their twenties) riding their pushbikes around the world.  They had already ridden through China and Vietnam and were now in Australia, after that they go to New Zealand and then the USA.  It is a ride for cancer.  I wished I had remembered to ask them for a photo together. Their blog address is :   www.abrothersjourneyaroundtheworld.co.uk/ 

You may want to have a look see.  

 Intersection to the Barkly Highway - Cloncurry one way and Mt Isa the other

Road into Mt Isa

Well that's it so far.  We will stay in the Isa for 3 nights so will update again in a day or so.  Don't forget to leave a comment.  Goodnight.



THEODORE TO NORMANTON (CARPENTARIA COUNTRY)

 

We left Junction Park at Theodore on Thursday 17 April.  The scenery is always changing especially when we travel about 350 klms a day.  This picturesque outcrop went for quite some k's. 

 

 

As we would be spending Good Friday to Easter Sunday at Theresa Creek Dam we needed to top up on fuel and groceries so stopped at Emerald for the night.  The free camp under the bridge is always well used and there were about 7 vans there that night.  It is always noisy as the highway is on one side and the trainline on the other.  Thank goodness the traffic dies down and the train service eventually stops for the night.

 

The following morning we left Emerald and got to Theresa Creek Campground early afternoon.  I had rang earlier to find out if there was room and was told that I would be gobsmacked at the amount of people already there but there would be room up on the hill.  And they weren't joking!  As it was school holidays and Easter there were many families there in every imaginable type of accommodation from swags to tents to flash Motorhomes.  Friday night they had fish and chips and movie night for the kids. It was the movie "Frozen". We didn't stay for the movie but the fish and chips were good which we washed down with a lovely drop of chardy. I took the photo below with the panorama feature on the camera.  That's us in the closest van on the left.

 

Saturday night they had free entertainment - a singer that sang all the oldies and people could dance if they wanted to.  We had made friends with the people next to us, Marilyn and Robert, and had some very happy hours with them. We might meet up with them in Darwin. They went to join in but after having a few wines and then having to make a meal I was too tired lol  Arnold went across but came back saying that there were too many people and it was very congested so he didn't stay.

 

We left Theresa Dam on Monday and drove to Charters Towers.  We stayed at a place called Bivouac Junction Campground.  It was okay for the night.   

 

Tuesday morning we drove into Charters Towers to shop and replace our medications.  From there we drove to Fletchers Creek Freecamp where we met up with Pat and Maureen.  It was a surprise to see cattle wandering around among the caravans that were there.  They weren't a nuisance though.

 

These cows/bulls loved rubbing their head against this dirt mound.  Must have felt good and they were all trying to have a turn.

 

 

We left Fletchers Creek and drove to Mt. Surprise where we filled up with fuel.  We decided to drive to O'Briens Creek Campground which was about 50klms along a dirt road.  We had already committed to the drive when we realised that it would be a very uncomfortable ride.  The corrugations were that bad it shook the bjeebers out of us.  I could just imagine what was happening in the van.  Luckily it only tipped a few things over and scattered the magazines.  Nothing major. 

 

It was a great spot for peace and quiet.  

 

 

 Pat and I went down to the river and took some great shots of the scenery and some black cockatoos.

 

I really don't know what sort of bird this little chicky is.

 

I also spied this Kookaburra and was able to zoom in and take these shots.  How beautiful are the blue feathers.  It's what got my attention in the first place.

 

 

 

And also this Blue-Faced Honeyeater.

 

 

We stayed 2 nights and left Friday 25th - Anzac Day.  The photo below is Pat & Maureen's rig coming through the gates. 
 

 

 

 

Oh the corrugations to look forward to ....

 

 

 

And the cattle on the road ...

 

 

After reaching Mt. Surprise again and going through the car wash to remove all dirt and seeds we were back on the bitumen.  The two pics below are one river.  It was so wide I could just imagine what it would look like in flood.  No wonder they need high bridges.

 

 

We drove as far as Croydon.  This town has a lot of history but as we were only staying overnight we didn't have time to learn more about the place.  We booked into the caravan park and Arnold had a swim to cool off.

 

 

Then we went to the local pub for dinner.  It was very good.

 



 We walked back to the caravan park and I spotted this building across the road.  I liked the look of it with the street light out front so took a photo.  I think its the local butcher.

 

As we were leaving the following morning I took this shot of the pub.  Certainly built a long time ago.

 

The eagles are huge up here.  I nearly had one in my lap lol.  This particular one didn't want to leave the roadkill it was picking on so as we approached it waited until the last minute and then took off but the downdraft of the car made it almost impossible for it to fly up and so we had this huge bird coming towards us.  We truly believed it would come through the windscreen.  It was only at the last minute that it was able to get some air under its wings and fly away.  Oh if only I had had my camera handy what a great photo I would have had!

 

We also saw these brolgas - mum, dad and baby running across the road.  They just made it to the other side.  Click on the pic to bring it up bigger so you can see them.

 

We finally made it to Normanton and booked into the Caravan Park.  We will stay two nights.

 

Will leave it here and update again in a few days.  Hope you have enjoyed the ride so far.

Goodnight.