Karumba, it’s all Outback by the Sea. It’s also at the Norman River mouth, which makes it the centre for prawning and barramundi, and for hordes of Victorian grey nomads obsessed with fishing, and bad karaoke sessions.
Karumba is also the only beach in the Gulf Savannah serviced by a sealed road so its gets several visitors in addition to the grey nomad set. Visitors like us. Keen for the ocean breeze.
Just a swim across the shallow sea that is the Gulf of Carpenteria and you hit Papau New Guinea. Because the Gulf is less than 70 metres deep in the middle, it’s pretty popular with all fishing folk.
We’re not here for the fishing (though the barra and salad at the pub later was yum), we’re here to tip our hats to the Gulf of Carpenteria, and to watch the colourful sunset that keeps on lingering from the grassy beer garden of the Sunset Tavern.
It’s a brief stop, thank goodness, as the budget caravan park we selected featured the endless phlegmy coughs of permanent residents in their vans, who all gathered under the Whinge Tree (I kid you not, it had it’s own signpost) for a nightly tipple of moselle and a karaoke set or three.
The sunset delivered, we stocked up on more supplies, I banged some blogs out … and we tried to get some sleep (Karaoke curfew commenced only after Under the Boardwalk, Fandango and a few John Williamson numbers were warbled out). Aye, aye, aye Karumba!