It’s Rodeo weekend in Mount Isa so we decided to get away from Rodeo flu and all the people and hit the road to Karumba up in Gulf Country. We spent the weekend relaxing and enjoyed a sunset cruise, where we were entertained by feeding birds of prey, jabirus and a few small salt water crocodiles.
Croydon to Bedrock (Mt Surprise) was only a short trip so we thought we should take a dirt detour to have a look at Copperfield Gorge. It's about 50 kilometres off the Savannah Way and sits along the Einasleigh River. Copperfield Gorge is a great example of some of the lava flow that happened through the country over 190,000 years ago. Along side the Gorge is Einasleigh pub and a spectacular bridge that the Savannahlander train from Cairns crosses. 🚂🌋
Originally a rail line was proposed from Normanton to Cloncurry to transport the mined copper up to the Gulf, but upon the discovery of gold, with a higher market value, the proposed rail line was abandoned and built instead from Normanton to Croydon 🚂   
Croydon was one of the many towns that thrived well in the 1880’s gold mining boom. The town once had a population of 7000 people during that era, being the fourth largest town in Queensland. Now the town is down to the hundreds, but is still well worth a visit. It has a lovely old convenience store with antique items used through Croydon’s heyday, Lake Belmore, the Gulflander Rail line (the other end of which is at Normanton, 155 kilometres north west of Croydon) and plenty of mining history in the surrounds with discontinued equipment and mine sites. We encountered a massive bull, with big horns that looked fierce, but later found out that it was friendly. 🐂🐃🐮 We loved this area as it felt like a ghost town post tourist season, the locals were friendly and there's loads of history to experience.
About 70 kilometres drive north of Normanton, this town sits on the mouth of the Norman River, which was named by William Landsborough whilst searching for Burke and Wills in the early 1860s after W.H. Norman, captain of the The Victoria, a ship searching for Burke and Wills along the coast line. The town was originally known as the “Norman Mouth” and “Kimberly” but changed to the name Karumba in the 1880s, it was the aboriginal word to describe the area. It’s industries are fishing and servicing the Century Zinc Mine. The region boasts beautiful sunsets, plenty of fishing and the rare sights of the morning glory clouds. Unfortunately no crocodiles or morning glory clouds seen, but Shovel was recognisable by the owner of a local fish and chip shop, he’s a bit of a celebrity round these parts 😜🎬🎥
Situated about an hours drive from the Gulf coastline, it is the administrative town of the shire of Carpenteria. It is a pleasant town with some intersting buildings like the Purple Pub, the original Gaol and the restored information centre. The Albion pub serves up a great feed of fish, or the locals have a go at trying to catch their own on the Norman River fishing bridge. Other popular sights are the 8.64m long croc statue that was to replicate the record catch by well known croc farmer Krystina Pawlolska in 1957, the evidence of the catch was apparently washed away in the 1974 floods so you just have to take their word for it. The Normanton Railway station was another eye opener, with a beautifully preserved station and train built in the 1890s gold rush days to provide a rail service to Croydon, which still operates once a week 🚂
We saw a croc from the fishing bridge. It was far out into the distance, Shovel first spotted it, then a local indigenous fisherman confirmed the sighting. I could have watched it for hours. But the flies around us were horrendous, and the croc eventually slid into the water and swam away 🐊 |
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November 2023
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