Day 18 Karumba - the "Outback by the Sea"

Today we woke to the patter of rain on the roof and it lasted until after lunch.  Undaunted we headed off to Karumba, 73 km away. Excellent road all the way.  Karumba, population of 600, is a fisherman's paradise with barramundi the target.  Also big prawning industry but "all the big ones go overseas" so we were a bit disappointed with their size.  Mud crabs abound as well. We dined on barramundi for lunch - par excellence.  Prawn salad for dinner tonight. At Karumba, Century Zinc has a collection and roasting facility for zinc and lead, produced at its Century Mine 300km away.  The final product is ferried by a largish ship, MV Karumba, to larger ships anchored in deeper water in the Gulf.  The road to Karumba was along flat countryside which in some cases was covered with water.  Numerous creeks and billabongs criss-cross the area and water lilies were prolific.  Did not see a crocodile, other than Krys the Savannah King, whose statue, all 8.3m of it, graces the main street of Normanton. It is a full scale replica and to say the least, it is huge.  It is the largest salt water crocodile ever seen in the world.  

240414 Century Zinc's Facilities at Karumba Port

240414 Shopping centre at Karumba

240414 MV Korumba taking zinc concentrate to load in the Gulf

240414 Wildflowers and lilies in a lagoon near Normanton

240414 White water lily and reflection - Normanton

240414 Krys the Savannah King 8.3m long - and the Gnome - at Normanton

240414 At Normanton - Think its called "The Purple Pub"