Stop #15 - Karumba (via Innot Hot Springs and Undarra)

We excitedly head west after enjoying exploring the northern QLD region, not having previously explored much of the area west of QLD.

The Land Cruiser works hard towing the car up the Atherton tablelands for the last time, and we transition from the Rainforest to Outback scenery. We head to Karumba, a reknowned fishing destination for avid QLD fishermen.

On the way, we take a series of overnight stops to break up the long drive.  We notice that mobile reception for Optus and Vodafone is sparse, and we lose reception for the next couple of weeks.  We first stop at Innot Hot Springs, where we check into a "resort" that harnesses the natural hot springs.

The resort is based on the red dust that will now plague us for the rest of the journey, covering the car and caravan, as well as making it's way into the caravan via foot traffic.

The resort has a number of outdoor pools, with the temperature varying for each pool.  A pool containing room temperature water is the first, which feels like cold water after one has been in the warmer ones.  The adjacent pool is warmer, with the last outdoor pool being hot.  There are a number of indoor pools, again with varying temperatures, ranging up to extremely hot.  With the extreme temperatures, and potentially so the senior guests can have an escape, children are not allowed into the indoor pools; so we spend our time in the outdoor pools.

After the overnighter at Innot, we move onto Undarra, where we again stay at the Undarra Experience resort.  Getting there mid afternoon, I note the petrol bowser reads $1.98 per litre for Diesel; a sign to come for petrol prices in the outback.

After setting up, I teach the boy the art of the catapult.

The resort is well decked out, with Eco tents and cabins made from used train coaches.  The main restaurant and dining areas are made of wood, creating the quintessential Aussie outback feeling.  Fire pits are set up under the heavy duty awning, as well as outdoor fire pits to allow patrons to further experience the outback feeling.

We head to the Lava tubes that Undarra is reknowned for, and have guided tour with the resort guide.  He provides good insight to the history of the area and the previous owner of Undarra, explaining how the resort came to be.  The guide also explains the volcanic activity around the region, and how the lava tubes came to be.  The lava tubes have essentially become caves and crevices, not particularly exciting for me.  The highlight of the tour are the bats that now inhabit the caves, and the bones of animals that met their demise at the bottom of the caves.

Leaving Undarra, we then set ourselves for some long drives to Karumba.  We pass by Croydon, and then hope to do our first free camp at Normanton. 

Arriving late into Normanton, we see a campervan bogged in the free camp area and one other camper already set up.  We decide this is not a good location for our first free camp, so we check into the caravan park in downtown Normanton.

I also note that the car is riding somewhat lower than I remembered.  Pumping up the rear airbags, I find that one of them has a leak, so I lower the pressure on the other one, to keep the level even.  This will need to be fixed at the next major town, as the ride is much lower than I would prefer, and the vehicle now bounces around more than I am comfortable with.

We head off to Karumba the next day, after doing some sightseeing in Normanton the next morning.  We visit the Information centres, which is like a makeshift museum of the town's history.  We also see a life sized replica of "Kris" the largest crocodile ever captured in the wild.  It's hard to believe a creature of this size ever existed in our waterways, according to the locals a crocodile only a few feet smaller currently lives in the Normanton river..

On our drive up to Karumba we encounter some of the locals wondering the road, we're careful not to agitate them for fear of starting a stampede.

Arriving at Karumba We check into our Karumba Sunset caravan park, which is at Karumba Point.  As per the other caravan parks out this way, it is devoid of grass and prominently red dust.  In this instance, the red dust had turned into red mud, due to the recent heavy rains.

Moving to our spot, I eye out the long termers in the caravan park, who've set up for months, stocking up their fridges with fish.  It seems 80 percent of the occupants have a boat and enclosed awnings, presumably to keep the flies and midges at bay.

Driving into the park we see locusts flying in every direction, as they are disturbed by vehicles of pedestrians. The town has been gripped by a plague of locusts for the past months, with crops and trees devastated by the insatiable pests.  Our kids have fun collecting and playing with them, helping reduce the population.

After setting up, we go for a bike ride down to the local boat ramp.  It has a large carpark, indication of the masses that come this way during the peak season.  Unfortunately we've come a little late for the Barramundi season, however they still should be around and the blue salmon should be running soon.

The boat ramp overlooks the Gulf of Carpentaria, a wide span of water that extends as far as the eye can see.  There are no waves to speak of, and the water is murky brown.  When looking into the tide times, I note that the gulf only has two tides per day, as opposed to the four that we normally have along the eastern seaboard.

Alongside the boat ramp are rocks, a beach and other rocks.  The beach drops off quickly into deep water, causing eddies directly in front of the beach.  The foreshore is filled with landbased fishermen, who are busy catching just legal sized Bream.  I see a Grunter being caught, but no other fish of significance.

We ride further up the street to check out what the point has to offer, noting a few fish and chip shops and the pub by the water, which everyone says we need to go to, to view the sunset over the gulf.  Unfortunately for us, the weather forecast for the time we are at Karumba is for rain and showers.

After reading some positive reviews and personal recommendations, we decide to have fish and chips at Ash's Fish and Chips.  The place is certainly well set up, with nice tables and fans out the front of the ship, and colourful murals depicting what Karumba and the Gulf has to offer.

We scour the menu inside the shop, and I ask the male attendant whether they have Spanish Mackeral.  He blankly responds with a no, and other than King Salmon, they only gave locally caught fish (which could be anything, and I am told later is mostly catfish).  I like more certainty with what I consume, and we order the King Salmon (battered and grilled) and some calamari rings.  The price is a little on the high side, higher than what I would expect for a place that should be sourcing their produce locally.  Having said that the price of groceries and consumables are double, if not triple the price of what you’d expect to pay at home; not surprising given the transportation distance to this place.

I also ask the man about fishing tips and places to fish, given the store also sells fishing tackle, I presume they would be in the know.  He was not forthcoming, and spouted that the best place to catch a feed was in his shop.  Not helpful, and I hoped the quality of his food was better than his customer service.

When the food eventually arrives, we unwrap the brown paper parcel outside and inspect the food.  The kids are also eager to sample and compare fish and chips at different locations, and compare it to the now legendary meal we had at Lucinda. 

The chips are brown, looking like they have been around for a while, and the calamari looks like they were out of an I&J packet.  The fish looked crisp, and was not doused with batter.

Well, the chips tasted as they looked, the battered fish was lacking in taste, however the calamari was acceptable but nothing of note.  The grilled fish was also on par, not exception.  The kids and I gave the fish and chips a double thumbs down, and we'd certainly not go back there, even if the food was good (due to the poor customer service).

That afternoon I had down to the beach and observe the fishermen on the shore.  I see a man with two heavy duty fishing rods out, a castnet beside him and a big tackle box.  I strike up conversation with him, and find out that he has not caught anything yet, but is after some bigger fish that hang around the drop off just off the beach.  I ask whether he caught any bait with his cast net, and he laughs saying that he had just bought it and did not really know how to use it.  I told him I'd recently purchased one as well, and was learning, but could show him what I had learnt to date. He was certainly keen to get some tips, and I showed him how to hold the net and demonstrated a few casts.  We talk further of fishing, and he offers me a ride on his boat over the next couple of days, as he was fishing on his own from Mt Isa.  After checking with the Opposition Leader, she grants permission and two days of fishing are locked in.

Since I was out with an fisherman that was familiar with the area, and on a boat, my confidence level of catching fish was high.  To my disappointment, the fisherman prefers the technique of soaking a prawn around spots that he had previously done well before, without using the fish sounder or GPS.  I was a guest on the boat, so I went along with the plan and prayed the fishing gods were with us.

Spot 1 was out in the gulf, where we pushed into a back breaking swell and got soaked by the waves.  No luck, we head back into Spot #2; where we spend the rest of our time.  We haul in plenty of catfish, but no keeper fish.  After the tide turned, I finally land a Blue Nosed Salmon, which was apparently early in the season for this fish.  We catch plenty of other undersized fish, but no other keepers.  I am dropped off at midday, any my fishing buddy continues fishing until the night.  He catches a few keeper Grunter and bream towards the twilight period.

I pan fry the Blue Nosed Salmon that night, and the whole family devours it.  The texture of the fish is similar to that of a Gemfish, soft, oily and juicy.

I venture out on the next day, fishing in the afternoon with the same guy, hoping the change in High tide will be more suited for our fishing.  We experience engine problems and can only fish a few hundred metres away from the boat ramp.

We catch loads of undersized catfish, and only one Black Jewfish is caught by my fishing buddy.  He generously allows me to take the fish home to try.  The fish was approximately 80cm in length, but has a very big and thick frame.  By the time it is filleted, the meat I am able to retrieve is no more than the Salmon I had caught the previous day.  I cook the fish on the BBQ, but it was not such a big hit with the kids.  The fish had larger flakes, not as juicy, and the skin was thicker and malleable.  Jackie and I thought the fish was fine, so we had the fish to ourselves that night.

We leave Karumba after 3 nights, heading South West.  I know the kids and Jackie were bored, with not much else to do in Karumba other than fish and listen to old fishing tales.  I doubt whether I'd ever go back to Karumba, preferring places like Lucinda and the Hinchinbrook area as a fishing destination.