Wednesday morning saw us packing up and heading West towards Croydon for a return visit. In 2012 we passed through Croydon with only a quick stop over. We arrived at Croydon Caravan Park without incident by lunch time. The Development road was fairly good with long sections of two way highway. The Caravan Park is relatively small and primarily an overnight stop for people heading to Karumba from down South. We got some drive through sites as we were only staying overnight as well. A bit of shade and luckily a nice swimming pool as was 37 degrees again. Amenities were basic but clean with a 3 Star rating.
We spent the afternoon doing a bit of shopping and touring the Croydon Heritage Precinct. Well worth a visit for travelers as they have restored the Police Station, Courthouse, Town Hall, etc for the Public to tour. There is no charge for this and the Visitor Centre is well worth a visit too! The later afternoon saw us enjoying the Pool and charging up for a our upcoming days of free camping.
Thursday morning we again ventured West on the Development road towards Normanton. We had decided to spend a few days in this area to do some shopping and relaxing at Leichhardt Lagoon. This is a low cost campground on private land about 23 Km South East of Normanton. Cost was $8 per person/night with very basic services. Toilets and Showers with untreated tap water from the Lagoon. Apparently this campground is frequented by many of the same people who spend the winter months here. We were the first people there besides the Caretakers but during the day 2 more caravans came in. The location was beautiful with lots of water lillies and bird life. The amenities were very basic but clean. Frogs and Cane toads were an issue however. I'll give a 2.5 Star rating.
We had a bit of shade but our time here was very hot (37+ degrees with nights only dropping to the low 30s) Was quite unbearable without air conditioning and little breeze. We took a drive into Normanton in the afternoon where we did some banking and shopping. We enjoyed a happy hour with the Caretakers, Graham and Phil (Phyllis), who have been coming here for 17 years. Lovely couple. We enjoyed a nice sunset overlooking the Lagoon where they even have a primitive seating/viewing area set up. Enjoyed the various birdlife as well of which Magpie Geese were the most prolific.
We sweltered through a very hot night with not a lot of sleep for anyone. Enjoyed some quiet time in the morning watching the birdlife on the Lagoon. No mobile or TV coverage in the park so there really wasn't that much more to do. We took a drive down to the Weir and Normanton River in the early afternoon before another drive into Normanton. Stopped at the Visitor Centre to check on road conditions out to Adel's Grove which is out next destination. Road information is sketchy with the road from Gregory Downs to Adel's Grove apparently closed but usable?? We did some phone calls from Normanton before returning to the Lagoon for another hot afternoon. Another beautiful sunset with a few Brolgas landing in the distance. The Ransleys are having some problems with their caravan fridge on gas so we have been shuffling our fridge/freezer contents as best we can to accommodate.
Leichhardt Lagoon is a beautiful location but we all agreed that we couldn't envision spending 4 months there especially when as hot as our stay. Definitely would need a generator operating for extended periods.
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