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Ross and Gabs Travels
On Monday we set off for our trip to the Gulf of Carpentaria along The Kennedy Highway and the Gulf Developmental Road. We drove from Mena Creek and stopped at Ravenshoe for morning tea. We parked the caravan in a side street and went for a walk to the bakery for a coffee. After a walk and a cup of coffee we returned to resume our trip. Oh No! Ravenshoe is part of the Atherton Tablelands and has a huge yearly rainfall. Consequently the gutters (kerbs) are twice the depth of normal gutters this was something we had not noticed when we parked the car. The caravan was parked very neatly in the gutter next to the kerb. Ross shook his head and said I think we could have a job ahead of us to get out of here. Backwards and forwards with tool box and door step scraping and catching on the gutter with lots of noise and sparks. Locals came to offer their suggestions. The ladies in the hairdressers and Sexual Assault Clinic where we had chosen to park were kept interested and amused for the next hour or so. Ross was not amused. I went for a walk. Finally we called Total Care RACV who transferred me to RACQ I was then advised without fuss that RACQ was coming from Herberton 40kms away and would be with us in two hours at the very most. The wonderful gentleman from Herberton was a very welcome sight. You know the ad "Its okay I'm in the RACV"? Well our predicament reminded me of that ad, because when the van rounded the corner I think I yelled out "Here he is!!!", just like the kids do in the ad. He introduced himself as Bekker, I signed a form and that was that, on with business. I went and had a chat to the ladies in the hairdressers, while the blokes got on with the job of slowly raising the van with blocks of wood and very slowly edging out. About an hour later the van was clear. What a relief and all the years of paying RACV Total Car and Tow Pack have been well worth it.
We stayed the night at a beautiful free camp called Ashley Creek. It was a rather large, well grassed area, with a windmill filling the tank for the toilets. It had a little creek running over rocks where some of the people got buckets of water to wash their cars. There was no phone, internet or TV, but the camp was a delight, especially waking up in the morning to the sound of a host of different bird sounds. It really was lovely and had we had enough fresh water in the tanks we would have stayed another night.
We drove along the Gulf Developmental Road which is an experience in itself. In the beginning most of the road is a very good two lane highway, but the further along the road you go every ten kms or so the road becomes a very narrow one lane for about two or three kms, sometimes more. If you meet oncoming traffic one of you needs to pull over and go very slowly or stop. Ross chose to pull over and stop. Along these one lane roads road trains have right of way and it is mandatory for other road users to pull over and give the whole road to them. The road-trains don't stop they just bowl right along.
Tuesday 7th We stayed the night at the Georgetown caravan park. One night was plenty!
Wednesday 8th and 9th We are staying in Croydon at the one and only park. We have Internet access, but no TV. Going to Normanton on Friday. While we were at Croydon we went to the Visitors Centre and looked around. We also watched a very well produced movie of the early days of Croydon as a gold prospecting town and how like so many towns in the gold rush era it is a story of rags to riches and back again. Today Croydon is a struggling town in far north west Queensland and suffering from drought like most of the towns in this region. Walking around this small town it was obvious that unlike some places which seem to have given up, Croydon is a very proud town. It must have a very strong and civic minded historical group who are restoring several old buildings form the late 1800s. It is all open to the public for no charge and also has a wonderful interactive display in the old courtroom, which must have taken lots of time and skill to put together. Once again it makes us very proud to be Australian, because the people of Croydon show the true Aussie spirit of never giving up with the eternal hope that things can only get better. There were a few funny things we read in the posters - This one especially tickled Ross' fancy, it goes back to the early1900's A man died and left all his money to the local hospital, but he did leave one shilling to his wife "to buy a rope so she could hang herself". The photo of his wife said it all.
10th July We drove to Normanton along a great two-lane highway all the way. Normanton too is in drought and has stage 3 water restrictions. It is so very dry with only a little green grass here and there. The caravan park is good and we are in a large shady spot under a tree at the back of the pool and spa. We have clearTV reception, some mobile access, but poor WiFi, which only works well in the early hours of the morning or very late at night. Day temps are 29c or so, with good sleeping temps at night . We have decided to stay here for a week or so and to drive to Karumba for a look instead of staying there, because from all reports it is packed to the gills with queues of caravans waiting to get into the parks there. It is supposed to be a fisherman's paradise, but as we don't fish we will just go for a look and maybe a feed of fresh fish.
13th July
We went for a trip from Normanton today called, the Gulflander, which is an historic train ride of approx 22kms for a couple of hours to a stop and turnaround at Critters Camp. Critters Camp is so named because it used to be a stockman's camp. Stockmen were stung by scorpions crawling into their sleeping bags, so they called it Critters Camp. The Gulflander has been running non stop for the last 127 years, although with various timetables, according to the needs at the time. It was initially designed for the gold rush era when the population of Croydon - Normanton grew from approx 600 to 6000 and Normanton became the river port for the delivery of mining tools and food etc for the region. The first rail on the Normanton-Croydon railway was laid in 1888. To lower construction costs and to defeat the termites of the Gulf, specially patented steel sleepers were used. The sleepers were packed with earth when they were laid, giving extra weight and stability, and the rails were bolted to the sleepers which meant they could not move nor work loose in the same way as dog-spikes used in timber sleepers. In flood time water simply passed over the top. The last steam train ran in 1929. Since 1930, the service has been exclusively run using rail motors. On Wednesdays the Gulflander does the mail run dropping off and collecting mail from the cattle stations between Normanton and Croydon. It is one of the last remaining mail train service in Australia.
14th July
We drove 70kms to Karumba for the day. Good road all the way which was a relief. Karumba is similar to Normanton except there is more exposure to the ocean as it is where the Norman River meets the Gulf waters. Salt water crocodiles are a problem in these areas so being near the water being aware of what is around you or in the water. So from our point of view walking along the sand near the waters edge is not an option.
We stayed the night at a beautiful free camp called Ashley Creek. It was a rather large, well grassed area, with a windmill filling the tank for the toilets. It had a little creek running over rocks where some of the people got buckets of water to wash their cars. There was no phone, internet or TV, but the camp was a delight, especially waking up in the morning to the sound of a host of different bird sounds. It really was lovely and had we had enough fresh water in the tanks we would have stayed another night.
We drove along the Gulf Developmental Road which is an experience in itself. In the beginning most of the road is a very good two lane highway, but the further along the road you go every ten kms or so the road becomes a very narrow one lane for about two or three kms, sometimes more. If you meet oncoming traffic one of you needs to pull over and go very slowly or stop. Ross chose to pull over and stop. Along these one lane roads road trains have right of way and it is mandatory for other road users to pull over and give the whole road to them. The road-trains don't stop they just bowl right along.
Tuesday 7th We stayed the night at the Georgetown caravan park. One night was plenty!
Wednesday 8th and 9th We are staying in Croydon at the one and only park. We have Internet access, but no TV. Going to Normanton on Friday. While we were at Croydon we went to the Visitors Centre and looked around. We also watched a very well produced movie of the early days of Croydon as a gold prospecting town and how like so many towns in the gold rush era it is a story of rags to riches and back again. Today Croydon is a struggling town in far north west Queensland and suffering from drought like most of the towns in this region. Walking around this small town it was obvious that unlike some places which seem to have given up, Croydon is a very proud town. It must have a very strong and civic minded historical group who are restoring several old buildings form the late 1800s. It is all open to the public for no charge and also has a wonderful interactive display in the old courtroom, which must have taken lots of time and skill to put together. Once again it makes us very proud to be Australian, because the people of Croydon show the true Aussie spirit of never giving up with the eternal hope that things can only get better. There were a few funny things we read in the posters - This one especially tickled Ross' fancy, it goes back to the early1900's A man died and left all his money to the local hospital, but he did leave one shilling to his wife "to buy a rope so she could hang herself". The photo of his wife said it all.
10th July We drove to Normanton along a great two-lane highway all the way. Normanton too is in drought and has stage 3 water restrictions. It is so very dry with only a little green grass here and there. The caravan park is good and we are in a large shady spot under a tree at the back of the pool and spa. We have clearTV reception, some mobile access, but poor WiFi, which only works well in the early hours of the morning or very late at night. Day temps are 29c or so, with good sleeping temps at night . We have decided to stay here for a week or so and to drive to Karumba for a look instead of staying there, because from all reports it is packed to the gills with queues of caravans waiting to get into the parks there. It is supposed to be a fisherman's paradise, but as we don't fish we will just go for a look and maybe a feed of fresh fish.
13th July
We went for a trip from Normanton today called, the Gulflander, which is an historic train ride of approx 22kms for a couple of hours to a stop and turnaround at Critters Camp. Critters Camp is so named because it used to be a stockman's camp. Stockmen were stung by scorpions crawling into their sleeping bags, so they called it Critters Camp. The Gulflander has been running non stop for the last 127 years, although with various timetables, according to the needs at the time. It was initially designed for the gold rush era when the population of Croydon - Normanton grew from approx 600 to 6000 and Normanton became the river port for the delivery of mining tools and food etc for the region. The first rail on the Normanton-Croydon railway was laid in 1888. To lower construction costs and to defeat the termites of the Gulf, specially patented steel sleepers were used. The sleepers were packed with earth when they were laid, giving extra weight and stability, and the rails were bolted to the sleepers which meant they could not move nor work loose in the same way as dog-spikes used in timber sleepers. In flood time water simply passed over the top. The last steam train ran in 1929. Since 1930, the service has been exclusively run using rail motors. On Wednesdays the Gulflander does the mail run dropping off and collecting mail from the cattle stations between Normanton and Croydon. It is one of the last remaining mail train service in Australia.
14th July
We drove 70kms to Karumba for the day. Good road all the way which was a relief. Karumba is similar to Normanton except there is more exposure to the ocean as it is where the Norman River meets the Gulf waters. Salt water crocodiles are a problem in these areas so being near the water being aware of what is around you or in the water. So from our point of view walking along the sand near the waters edge is not an option.
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