Normanton is a small town with a mostly-indigenous population, 3 pubs, and a main street. Every year they celebrate a 3-day rodeo, packed with events from 6am right through till dinner time. All visitors are welcome to camp on-site for the duration of the rodeo, but are forewarned that by doing so, they are amongst horses, floats, trucks & trailers, and of course, cowboys, with no way out until the morning of day 4! Bring it on!
After a couple of quiet nights by the river at Walkers Creek, we arrived in Normanton early on Thursday (the day before the rodeo), to discover that we were amongst the first people to establish our camp. We chose a spot close to the road (so we could drive the car out if need be) and set up the van. A couple of hours later, the floats and trucks and fifth-wheelers started moving in.
Here is how the rodeo grounds looked when we arrived:
And here is how it looked a few hours later!
Once we set up camp and said hello to our new neighbours, we ventured into town to enjoy the Normanton town parade. The view from the Purple Pub was great! We also met some of the locals: the owners of the tourist park, and William, a local indigenous man who was helping set up the back of the pub for a big party – in celebration of his uncle 70th birthday.
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| Variety of beer is fairly slim. XXX Gold or Carlton Draught are the main choices. |
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| I have a beer with the caravan park owner and the Telstra guy |
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| How unhappy does this kid look??!! |
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| I love this - hawks everywhere |
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| And what about these kids????!!! |
Omg! It must be terrible to be a kid in Normanton! But it looks like fun for everyone else!
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