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.
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