General News
11 June, 2025
Norm praises Outback Queensland hospitality
The dedicated walker has met some nice people on his journey from Townsville to Darwin.
Norm Thirkell is one tourist very happy that he passed through the North West.
As previously reported, the 75-year-old retired soldier has embarked on a mammoth four-month walk from Townsville to Darwin.
When North West Weekly caught up with Norm last week, he was halfway through a four-day pit stop in Mount Isa.
And he had nothing but kind words for the people of the North West.
He said he had been inundated with support from locals since this newspaper reported on his movements.
Norm was offered free accommodation in Cloncurry and Mount Isa – he’s had people buying him meals-on-hold at the pubs ahead of his journey – and he was stopped several times a day by people just wanting to have a yarn and offer him some food and water.
“Some people have just yelled out ‘Norm’ and then they do a U-turn and pull over and say they have been reading about what I am doing in the paper,” Norm said.
Among his most treasured items is a two-way handheld radio a truck driver gave him by the roadside last month, which allows him to communicate with the other drivers as he meanders along with his handmade cart.
He said this has come in most handy when he has confronted a few narrow crossings along the Flinders and Barkly Highways.
“I think probably between Cloncurry and Mount Isa has been the hardest part of the trip so far – all those hills,” he said.
Norm says he plans to take his next multi-day spell at a mate’s pub near Tennant Creek before hopefully arriving in Darwin before the end of August.
“Some people have asked me if they can make a donation – but I have to tell them I’m not doing this for any cause, I’m just doing this myself,” he said.
“But people have just been so excellent to me.”