Gulflander

SATURDAY, 18 JUNE 2016

Gulflander

Normanton Station

A quick top-up of rum and coconut before departure

Flood markers on a telegraph pole

Flood plains

Emergency transport?

Waterhole in the distance

Bit closer

Norman River

Gulflander

Under the shade of the coolibah trees

Waterlilies

Sharing a cuppa

Decisions to be made

Not sharing these

Stable ground at last

Large and squishy fruit

Pretty flowers popular with ants

Storyboard at Camp 119

Blaze on the Burke & Wills Tree

Blaze 13

The weather is becoming monotonous, still very hot but starting to cloud over a bit this afternoon.  Not a good start to the day with the discovery of thousands of tiny brown ants enjoying our new loaf of toast bread – and then discovering they had hundreds of thousands of friends checking out my pantry basket.  Fortunately, everything (apart from the bread) was well sealed but the cupboard space very quickly became a makeshift gas chamber.

This morning we boarded the Gulflander for the Billy Tea & Damper tour.  After finding seats in the old carriages we headed out of town in the direction of Croydon and it wasn’t long before we were rolling down a small slope at the remarkably fast speed of 18 km/h!  We were only travelling for 18 miles (rail travel is still in miles, evidently) and then returning, with a morning tea stop at the ghost town of Clarina.  We mostly travelled over flood plains and crossed the Norman River at one point; the country was very dry.  It didn’t take long to learn that the rails were laid on the ground and although this did prevent the railbed being washed away in floods, it did make for a very rough and bumpy ride!  The train manoeuvred a three point turn at Critters Creek and we returned to Clarina for a stop.  By this stage, my face was a very similar colour to my shirt!!!  Scones and damper were enjoyed beside a lovely permanent waterhole and it wasn’t until we were back on the train that we discovered the largest crocodile in the waterhole was over 5 metres long.

After lunch (with the air conditioner running), we ventured out to Camp 119, the most northern camp of Burke and Wills, which is only about 35 kms west of Normanton.  We were able to drive to the campsite, read the information boards and wander around the campsite on the banks of a dried up waterhole.  A couple of blazed trees are still standing, fortunately.  It was from this camp that Burke headed north to the mangrove swamps of the Gulf.

A soak in the spa was an enjoyable way to finish the afternoon.