Karumba



Located on the banks of the Norman River 69 km from Normanton and 443 km north of Cloncurry, Karumba is a fishing town close to the shores of . It is nothing more than a port, a few shops, a pub, a lot of inexpensive accommodation for fishermen and a river front which abounds with wharves, refrigerated storage areas, slipways and engineering services.

In the 1870s a telegraph station was built on the site of the present town. It was known simply as Norman Mouth. It served a purpose but was hardly reason for a settlement to develop. Karumba first came to importance in the 1930s when it became a stopover point for flying boats on the run from London to Australia. By the 1950s it had become a popular spot for people eager to go fishing in the Gulf of Carpentaria.

The town went through something of a boom period in the 1960s and 1970s when it became the centre for the Gulf fishing industry. Today the prawn fishing industry and the barramundi industry earn over $130 million each year.

Karumba itself is an unimpressive town. It looks like any hastily thrown together coastal settlement. Lots of fibro and haphazard urgency. Most of the houses look like holiday homes and the town has a temporary feeling about it.

Karumba's existence is connected to the simple fact that it is on the banks of the river and it is set on sand ridges which allow direct access to the river and the sea. As Burke and Wills found out in 1861 large are

as of the Gulf's coastline are inpenetrable because of the dense mangrove swamps. In fact the bank of the river opposite the town is still inpenetrable mangroves. The journey to the town from Normanton passes over an area of very flat Gulf Country. The land is alive with birdlife and it is common to see flocks of cranes and brolgas feeding beside the road.

A sign outside the town seems to sum it up 'Welcome to Karumba - population small'. As the road enters the town the all-pervading fishing industry becomes obvious with signs like - Karumba Marine Service, Karumba Charter, Net Mending and Seafood Supplies. Even the police station has a boat outside it.

In spite of its industry there is something quite beautiful and exotic about the place.



Karumba Point
Karumba Point, near the entrance to the town, has a magnificent view out over the Gulf with mangroves in the foreground and the Gulf waters disappearing to the horizon. No wonder that fishermen from all over Australia come to the town for their holidays. It is the ideal starting point for anyone who wants to catch barramundi or fish the unspoiled waters of the Gulf.



Sweers Island
38 nautical miles north of the coast is Sweers Island, the most south-easterly of the Wellesley Group. 7 km long and 1.5 km wide, it is surrounded by thousands of acres of reef (mostly rock but partially coral) and is thus a popular fishing location.

The Sweers Island Resort (07 4748 5544) has made this isolated island a popular retreat for anglers eager to catch the Gulf's sweetlip, cod, coral trout, parrotfish and stripeys, with pelagics such as Spanish mackerel and tuna aplenty in winter.

The resort supplies powered 4.6-metre catamarans with rod-holders, handlines, hooks and sinkers, although visitors can, of course, bring their own tackle and fly-lines. A larger 8.4-metre vessel, piloted by a crew of two and carrying ten passengers, is also available for hire. Access to the island is usually by private or charter aircraft (the resort can make recommendations in this regard). The island's airstrip can cope with single and twin-engined aircraft seating up to 10 people. Accommodation takes the form of cabins.


Morning Glory
An interesting cloud phenomenon occurs over the Gulf of Carpentaria that has intrigued scientists, particularly meterologists. This phenomenon is called Morning Glory (right). Unique on Earth and not very well understood, the Morning Glory wave cloud arrives regularly each spring. Dynamic waves of this type occur unheralded everywhere and at all altitudes, and are the cause of much of the clear air turbulence which so disrupts commercial air travel. Those waves, however, are usually invisible, infrequent and currently all but unpredictable. Morning Glory waves sometimes exceed 1000 km in length and 10,000 feet in height. These enormous waves are believed to contain the energy equivalent of several nuclear devices.


Gulf of Carpentaria
The Gulf of Carpentaria is a large, shallow sea enclosed on three sides by northern Australia and bounded on the north by the Arafura Sea (the body of water that lies between Australia and New Guinea). The Gulf is separated from the Coral Sea on the northeast by the 12 metres deep Torres Strait and from the Arafura Sea on the northwest by the Arafura Sill, which lies about 53 metres below the sea surface. The maximum water depth is about 70 metres. It is about 480 kms wide and 640 kms long. The waters are shallow in most areas. Mudflats and mangrove swamps lie along its shores. It has a tidal range variation of 600-1600 metres. Numerous creeks and rivers drain into the Gulf. In geological terms, the Gulf is young - it is believed to have been dry land as recently as the last ice age.

The first known European explorer to visit the region was the Dutch Willem Janszoon (whose name is also written as Jansz) in 1606. His fellow countryman Jan Carstenszoon (or Carstensz.) visited in 1623 and named the gulf in honor of Pieter de Carpentier, at that time Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies. Another Dutchman, Abel Janszoon Tasman, sailed along the shores of the gulf 16 years later on an exploratory expedition from Batava (Jakarta, Indonesia). On 2nd June 1639, Tasman was dispatched by Antonio van Diemen, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies, on a voyage to the north-western Pacific, in search of certain 'Islands of gold and silver', east of Japan. On this voyage Tasman charted sections of the Gulf coast and visited numerous islands on it before visiting the Philippines. His report of the Gulflands was not glowing as he found little to interest the trade-hungry Dutch.

The Gulf region was later explored and charted by Matthew Flinders in 1802 and 1803. The first overland explorer in the area was the Prussian Ludwig Leichhardt who traversed the area in 1844 and 1845. He was followed by Augustus Gregory of the North Australian Expedition in 1856, and then Burke and Wills in 1861. John McKinlay, Frederick Walker and William Landsborough lead separate search parties into the Gulf looking for Burke and Wills in 1861 and 1862.







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