2 May 2013 - Carnarvon Caravan Park, Carnarvon, Western Australia

I do like being on power; the modern convenience of fans and gadget charging, internet access and hours to play on my computer, although little of it seems to be play these days. I seem to spend far too much time dealing with business matters when we do have good internet. Ah, such is the life of an away-from-home roving traveller!

Carnarvon certainly does seem to have a good climate, or at least we have enjoyed it today. The few dodgy looking clouds moved on early in the day and left us with sunshine and a delightful breeze to dry my large load of laundry.

As we approached the town yesterday, we could not miss seeing the huge satellite dish dominating the skyline. This is the OTC (Overseas Telecommunications Commission) Satellite Earth Station dish, established back in 1966 as part of NASA’s moon exploration projects. It was an important feature in the man on the moon landing in 1969 and it was from here that Australia received its first satellite television broadcast. The station closed after assisting with the tracking of Haley’s Comet in 1987, but has been rejuvenated as a tourist attraction in more recent years. Today it is the location for the Carnarvon Space and Technology Museum, recently opened by the man on the moon himself, Buzz Aldrin.

Apart from this function and the surrounding horticultural industry, which surprisingly manages to supply 70% of Western Australia’s winter vegetable requirements and produces over 30,000 tonnes of fruit and vegetables every year from its 176 plantations, Carnarvon also supplies manpower for the Dampier Salt Mine situated on Lake McLeod 65 kilometres back up the road.

We travelled down the eastern shore of this large coastal lake yesterday although the contour of the land allowed no view. The lake stretches 110 kilometres north and south and is 40 kilometres wide, only separated from the ocean by coastal dunes and a few outcrops of rock. Solar processed salt and gypsum are mined from this expanse, obviously contributing greatly to the economy of the Gascoigne region, of which Carnarvon is the centre.

The other major attraction for the town is the One Mile Jetty and the historical precinct, all perched out at the end of the odd land form on the southern bank of the Gascoigne River mouth, and it was here that we headed after lunch and after Chris had attended to some rather tricky cabinetry repair.

But our first stop was the town foreshore, a very pretty spot, with a well patronised park and picnic area. We parked up and popped into our bank where I needed confirmation on something that looked a little dodgy. Now my husband has no faith in banks nor in too much at all, to be quite frank, while I, in true Pollyanna style, believe the best of everyone and trust them to do things correctly. Just like the balancing of the tyres not having been done, and now the stuff up at the bank! All sorted now but very frustrating. Fortunately he is not one to say, “I told you so”.

Back in tourist mode, we set off across to Babbage Island on foot, across the footbridge that joins it to the mainland.

On the Town Bridge we stopped and spoke with a couple of aboriginal fishermen, one well shrouded with a mosquito veil, who shyly showed us his catch. Further along the way, we chatted with a couple of gorgeous little black aboriginal girls, who confidently told us their names and about the fish they had caught and the even bigger one their aunty had landed. When we spoke to the three aunties further up on the bank, they laughed at the exaggeration. Chris was horrified to see the smallest child stabbing her catch with a particularly sharp knife. It reminded me of the very young  ni-Vanuatu children I used to see armed with large bush knives or machetes.

The bridge  is part of the old tramway, on which trains transported boat passengers and provisions from Perth, from the jetty to the town, and wool and other produce was hauled out to the jetty for export. 

The town was founded in 1883 as a port for mainly for the export of wool which was transported to Carnarvon by camel drawn wagons and then placed on the wagons for the port. I was amazed to learn that these wagons were sometimes wind propelled, mounted with sails, when not more traditionally pulled by horse.

The jetty, our initial target, was built in 1897 and is the longest in the north west of Western Australia. I read somewhere that Carnarvon was the first port in the world which loaded livestock on board ships for transport to markets.

Today the jetty is just a tourist attraction, and for the princely sum of $4 you can walk along its entire 1493 metres. We chose not to but stood on the island shore after driving across the causeway and gazed out to sea, trying to catch sight of a dugong, or a turtle, a shark or anything else of interest. Alas there was nothing.

Carnarvon and the mouth of the Gascoigne River sit just beyond the southern reaches of the Ningaloo Reef and the northern reach of the Shark Bay World Heritage Area, too cold for the well famed corals to the north and too warm and exposed for the wonders of Shark Bay where we will next head, so more about that later.

We drove on out to the very end of the sandy island, and then returned to the river bank, in search of Chinaman’s Pool. I have mentioned that the Gascoigne is, to all intents and purposes, just a dry riverbed, however this long pool in a section of the riverbed is a refuge for water birds and in the 1890s was an important source of water for the town. Flocks of birds rose from the pool as we approached despite our poor attempt at stealth. The pool is surrounded by stately river gums and is well worth the visit if you appreciate birdlife and river gums, which I surely do.

Back at camp we caught up with friends and family on social media, as one does. We are becoming quite tech savvy, if I may say myself.