Arrived at Gulf Country Caravan Park without incident just after 10:30AM. We chose two sites from the 8 or so sites reserved for our group. We were fortunate to get spots under some large trees which will definitely help with the hot temperatures (although cool the day we arrived). The staff here are friendly and the facilities are clean.
We had been told by a fellow traveller in Normanton that the only reason you would go to Karumba is if you are mad fisherman or on your honeymoon. I believe I would rule out the honeymoon part of that statement unless you were also a mad fisherman (preferably your partner as well). The town is small and sort of split in two parts between the main town on the river where we stayed and the point where the other two caravan parks are located. Not much for shopping and most of the businesses in town appear to be for sale. Surprisingly, although it would appear that tourism is the primary industry, we found many local businesses not overly friendly or helpful. We did enjoy the local markets on both Sunday mornings we were in town. Small but had some unique handcrafts.
The caravan park where we are staying would seem to be occupied primarily by long term repeat visitors. We met a number of people that come here every year for 4 months or more. Some have been coming here for over 20 years. We were invited over the first night by a group of them for drinks; and have enjoyed many happy hours and a couple of fish feeds with them during our stay. Many thanks to Bruce & Margaret, Pete & Rhonda, and Ian & Shirley for their fine company and generous natures.
The remainder of the gang arrived on Saturday morning. After a bit of excitement and confusion everyone got setup on a total of 7 (18 people) sites. The boys were able to set up a couple of tents on a single site to conserve space. Unfortunately, we weren't all together on adjacent sites, but still we were all in close proximity.
I won't go into detail of our activities on a daily basis, as really the activity consists mainly of fishing, eating, drinking, and visiting (not necessarily in that order or priority). We did catch some fish but not as many as we had hoped for; and as of today none of us has caught an elusive Barramundi. We have caught some decent size Blue Salmon, Sooty Grunters, and Bream. Our generous friends at the park have also provided us with a few extra fillets. We have enjoyed a number of trips on the boats brought up by the gang and we did a boat hire ourselves one day to explore the Norman River. The river is huge and we travelled up it some distance to tour and fish. We have seen a number of large fish caught and most of the long term residents have already limited out on their allocations.
Gary Grant celebrated his 48th birthday during the stay and the boys enjoyed a few cold refreshments at the Pub up the street. Luckily it was within walking distance.
The swimming pool at the caravan park was well utilised during our stay to keep cool. Temperatures other than the first two days were consistently 31-33 degrees and mostly sunny. Nights cooled down somewhat but were still on the warm side. The sunsets in Karumba, especially off the point, are very nice and we were lucky to enjoy a very large full moon over our location during our stay.
A highlight of our time here was a couple of communal fish feeds. The fisherman (and fisherwomen) generously contribute fillets from their catch, and Bruce (with Pete's assistance) cooks them up. They were good enough to grill up a few first each night for the Gluten free crowd. Everyone else supplies salads, fried rice, potato bake, etc to make a fine feast. Must have been 30-40 people at both we attended. Delicious!
Another highlight was a day trip to Walkers Creek where we fished and enjoyed a picnic lunch. Boys caught a few very small Barramundi which we released. Sharon managed to catch about 4 large Yabbies which we enjoyed as an appetiser that night. It was a beautiful peaceful setting but you need to be wary as Saltwater Crocs are local residents.
We all went for dinner at the Sunset Tavern at the Point tonight to enjoy the Karumba Sunset. Sunset was lovely but the service and food at the Tavern was well below average. The Ransleys and Bewells leave tomorrow heading East toward Cairns. We have enjoyed some relaxing days in Karumba and it would appear to be a great fishing destination (just not so much for us). The sense of community amongst the repeat travellers was great to experience and will form our best memories from Karumba.
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