Normanton & Leichardt Lagoon

Friday morning the 4th June we left Gregory Downs and headed for Normanton. We got an early start which would prove handy later in the day. More on that later. We headed for Bourke & Wills Roadhouse at Four Ways where we stopped for coffee. It is such a rugged landscape here that calls for rugged machinery and lifestyles.

We then pushed on for Normanton. About 10km short of Normanton the remote pressure guage sensor for one of my Landcruiser tyres was giving the low pressure signal. I pulled over straight away and sure enough. It was well on the way flat. I pulled out my air compressor pump and put some more air in it without the remote sensor screwed on to make sure that it was not a problem of the thing not seating. It was losing air again so I then set about changing the tyre. I had told Jan & Ross on the CB to go on into Normanton and have a look around and find a tyre repair guy for me in the tyre. So with the tyre changed I went on into Normanton and got fuel and left the tyre with Wayne at the BP to fix it, but I could not see any hole. He said to have a look around the town and come back. So I grabbed some lunch and sat in the park. This sign was there about Normanton being the ‘Town Like Alice’.

The Shire of Carpentaria building is lovely.

Next along the road was Krys The Savannah King. If this really was the true life size then it was certainly a monster. I think there was some exaggeration going on there.

I then went down to the Information Centre which is the old Burns Phil Building. They were General Merchants, Shipping Forwarding and Commission Agents. They were very important to the whole region and the building is an impressive one. They have a display of indigenous cowboys and their importance to the cattle stations in the region. They also have a display of the history of Australian explorers which I loved.

I then went on to the old Railway Station. The old station is a beauty. The old Gulflander train is stored there and it still operates as a tourist attraction travelling to and from Croydon on Thursdays. It is well patronized I believe.

This little beast also does a tourist run.

This little railcar is also amazing.

It was time to return to the tyre repairer. I then got the bad news that the rim had fractured and was the cause of the flat. Wayne then gave me further bad news that I would have to go to Mount Isa or Cairns to get a replacement or if I waited at Normanton it could take two weeks. The thing was that I had to get hold of genuine Toyota rims as the type I had were no longer made. Everyone wanted the wider offset rims which are around but is no good for my vehicle. I also had replaced a previous rim that also had failed with a genuine Toyota rim. So I got some further advice from my go to man for all manner of mechanical problems, John, in Sydney. The best option was to source three new Toyota rims and replace the others so I had all Toyota rims on the road. Otherwise I could not proceed on my trip in confidence. Then I started ringing around Toyota dealers. They all could get me the rims if by late July!!!!! So I rang Cairns, Caloundra, Port Headland, Perth, South Australia and Sydney to find if they had the rims in store. To cut a long story short I sourced one in Cairns and two in Sydney. Then I had to get the Toyota parts guy in Cairns to order the two from Sydney. It was not until Tuesday that this was all confirmed and paid for so I am glad I started the process on the Friday when I had arrived at Normanton.

This was not my idea of a good holiday. Maybe at the end I can smile about it. Anyway it turned out to be for the best that I was to be heading east on the Savannah Way all the way to the Lava Tubes as I could then find a spot further on and do a day trip into Cairns to pick up the rims and have all the tyres changed over. Much less waste in terms of time and fuel. The other concern was that I was to be going all that way with no spare tyre. Fortunately though I was doing all that travel with Jan & Ross who also have their 200 series Landcruiser. You can bet there was some praying done to keep those rims and tyres intact. With that done thus far I could then head off to our camp for the night. There was actually nowhere to stay in Normanton with the free camp full and the two caravan parks out of action due to renovations. So we had decided to go the 20km out on the road to Croydon to stay at Leichardt Lagoon. I drove out there and met up with Jan & Ross.

Leichardt Lagoon is a bush camp with showers and toilets, no drinking water or power for $10 a night per person. There is a waterhole in the middle and the caretaker says there are saltwater crocs in there. They say you are not to go down to the lagoon and you have to sign a waiver declaring you won’t do anything stupid. It is a peaceful spot.

The sunset over the lagoon was beautiful.

There is a little viewing spot there called Ludwig’s place. This would be after the explorer, Ludwig Leichardt.

The place has a bit of character.

Saturday morning we left the lagoon and went into Normanton. Jan & Ross had a look at the Railway Station and checked out some of the buildings and got a photo with Krys. This is another town where buildings are colour coded. The butcher’s is a green shop. The bakery is pink. Then there is the purple pub. The Central Hotel and the Albion Hotel are not buying into the colour thing it seems.

So we had seen Normanton and now it was off to Karumba.