NORMANTON
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THANK YOU FOR BEING PATIENT WHILE THE PICTURES LOAD |
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Day 18
Saturday 27th August 2005 Click on the pictures for larger versions
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Below are pics of the lagoon at Leichhardt's Lagoon. I noticed how peaceful it looked while taking the dogs for their morning walk. I took them a long way away from the park area. As I looked back I was disappointed I hadn't taken the camera. I took them back to the caravan, grabbed the camera, and wandered around the park. There was a great variety of birdlife on and around the lagoon. After seeing a similar lagoon near Katherine in the Northern Territory I was very wary of sandflies/biting midges but I was pleasantly surprised to find there were none. |
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| The Lagoon |
The campsite |
The Lagoon |
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| 7.14am | 7.22am | 7.29am |
| After breakfast
we went into Normanton, leaving the dogs at the caravan. We found the Laundromat and lugged the black plastic bags of clothes in. As I had to track down where I could get blood pressure tablets, mum said she'd "mind" the washing while we looked for them. We had been told in Cloncurry that a woman ran a Chemist in Normanton where we could get them as that brand wasn't available in Cloncurry. When we talked to the woman at the library she understood who we were looking for and gave us the general direction where to find her. We followed her directions and ended up at a wooden building with stairs up to a closed door. It certainly didn't look like what I thought of as a Chemist. I knocked on the door and was greeted by a pair of women who were very confused as to why I'd be looking there for blood pressure tablets. I told her of the conversation in Cloncurry and they discussed it between themselves and came to the conclusion that it was some sort of confusion in Cloncurry. It was now getting to be late on a Saturday morning and at that stage I thought I'd be missing out on my tablets and I was down to a day or so left. I told her of the situation and she asked why didn't I just go see the local doctor. I told her I would if that was necessary and possible but I had been told to see her. She still seemed very confused and more than a little annoyed but told me what street to go to and to point out to the receptionist that she couldn't help me. I left very confused but found the doctors surgery and explained the situation to the receptionist. She seemed to understand my story immediately and said there was no problem and to take a seat and wait. After the usual doctor's surgery wait I was asked for my prescription. Very promptly she returned with my tablets and wished me a good holiday. Another very friendly local girl. I was getting to like Normanton. We got back to poor mum who had done all of the loads of washing and was waiting patiently for our return. We gathered up the washing and headed for somewhere cool for a cold drink. A hotel name the Albion Hotel looked pleasantly cool, being surrounded by palms and a mango tree. We had also been told somewhere that it was classed as a "family" hotel so we ventured in and it turned out just as we had expected.
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| The Lagoon |
The Lagoon |
Cooling off at the Albion
Hotel |
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| 7.30am | 7.31am | 11.41am |
| After lunch we
went back to the library in the Shire of Carpentaria building.
The Internet connection was "dialup" so was slow, in fact verrrrrrrrry
slow. Eventually though we completed our business and looked around at
the walls of the library at the tourist brochures and pictures showing
local attractions. After everyone was satisfied we headed out of Normanton as the damp clothes needed to be hung out to dry at our campsite. Judy had been told about fresh water, always a necessity on a trip where you mainly camp away from Caravan Parks. She was told it was available at the Normanton Cemetery. It was on our way to our campsite so we eagerly took advantage of the facility and topped up all of our containers. While at the cemetery I had a look at some of the closer headstones. A lot were of Asian origin and very old. There were a lot of very sad stories on the headstones which vividly described the very tough conditions experienced by the pioneers of that era. A lot were of young children. Very sad. |
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| Judy filling one of our
water bottles |
The Normanton Cemetery |
The road into Normanton
from the Cemetery gate |
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| 2.32pm | 2.33pm | 2.33pm |
| After arriving
back at our campsite I had to string a clothes line between trees to
hang the clothes on.
The rest of the day was spent relaxing and checking out the
facilities.
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