Karumba - QLD

Karumba is a town in north-western Queensland, Australia, 71 km by road from Normanton and 2159 km from the state capital, Brisbane. Karumba forms part of Carpentaria Shire Council, the administrative headquarters of which is in Normanton. The town is sited at the mouth of the Norman River, and enjoys the distinction of being the only town along the southern Gulf of Carpentaria that is within sight of the Gulf itself (the Gulf's extensive tidal flats prohibits settlement elsewhere along its shore). As such, the town's economy revolves largely around fishing. The Karumba port services the Century Zinc mine as well as fishing. The spectacular Morning Glory Cloud rolls through Karumba in the early hours of some mornings in September and October. Whilst mostly passing before dawn it can be an awesome sight on a full moon.

Karumba is a town that lives and breathes fishing and prawning. Just 70km from Normanton, its lies on the Gulf of Carpentaria and the Norman River. Originally a telegraph station in the 1870s, Karumba became a stopover for the flying boats of the Empire Mail Service in the early 1900s.

The discovery of prawns in the Gulf in the 1960s brought Karumba alive and today that industry keeps the town together. The outlaying areas have recently experienced new mineral discoveries and the giant exploration companies have funded massive road works and a giant piping system to run the minerals via a slurry through poly pipes from far inland to the ships waiting in the harbour to export the resource offshore.