KARUMBA-CROYDEN

As we leave Karumba there are cloudy skies above and a sprinkling of rain. We are retracing our steps to Normanton and then turn east onto The Savanna Way heading for Cairns 702 kms away.

We drove from our roadside camp at Bang Bang rest area to Normanton where we re- supplied. There was service there so it was good to speak to family and check that all was well.

CROYDON.

We stopped for a counter-lunch at the old pub and looked around the bar. Interesting as all the country pubs tend to be and staffed with backpackers seeing the world. Good on them!

Croydon General Store, the oldest in Australia in continuous use, was fascinating. Huge, cool, and airy, it reminded me of the one in Wingham where we bought a paper bag full of broken biscuits for a ha'penny when I was a kid! In this one, all the shelves were crates and the collection of bottles, tools and assorted other old things was amazing.

Our overnight stop was in a rest area called Gilbert River East, 75kms east of Croydon.We lit a fire and cooked dinner and were driven indoors, for the first time this trip, by RAIN. It's been so long since we've had any that we 'd almost forgotten how good it is ( apart from the fact that it interferes with our outdoor dining)!

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