Today we left Karumba and headed east towards the coast. Travelling back down to Normanton and then along the Normanton-Croydon Development Road onto Croydon for a bit of lunch before continuing on, stopping about 20 k’s short of Georgetown for an overnight free camp.

Croydon was an interesting old town and it was a treat to stop at the historic pub. The old butcher shop was also interesting, hard to believe it operated right up to 1983. Susan’s father was a jackaroo in the Croydon area after WW2 as a young man and I’m sure he would have spent sometime in the pub during his time up here.

Our free camp was at Cumberland Dam and Chimney camping area. It’s a very old gold mining area dating back to the late 1880’s. The chimney is basically all the still stands from the mining days although the dam that was set up for the mine is also still going and a haven for local wildlife, particularly the birds. We had a few other locals visit us to (see the photo below). We endured one of the coldest nights we’ve had on this trip so far. When you are inland the days get quite warm and conversely the nights get very cold as well. Missed having a heater for sure.