Sunset

If you live, like we do, on mainland Australia’s east coast, you will never ever see a sunset over the ocean. So having the opportunity, we make a small detour on our way west and head from Normanton up to Karumba on the Gulf of Carpentaria. This expanse of water is quite different from the Pacific Ocean in Sydney: The Norman River flows into the sea, which is rather shallow, muddy, and framed by mangroves.

The village of Karumba is hardly worth visiting if it wasn’t for above mentioned sunset. Huge camper vans with stickers like "Grey no(t)mad", "Bruce and his Sheila", or "Adventure before dementia" are clear tell-tale signs that it is firmly in the grip of grey nomads.

Half an hour before this daily highlight the beach fills up with people, mostly said grey nomads, most of them with a bottle of beer or a glass of wine from the nearby pub in their hands. We bring our own booze and enjoy the sunset.

Sorry for the kitsch ...

But we agree: If it wasn’t on our way, we’d probably simply ignore this rather dull place. The Lonely Planet travel guide already warned us that if fishing and prawning aren’t your cup of tea, you should rather avoid it. I especially like a quote about Karumba’s beach: “Don’t even think about swimming! If the sharks don’t get you, the crocs will …”

[Karumba, 11.-12. August]