12th May 2017–Carnarvon Capers

Distance: 206 Km
Fuel: 33 L

Out and about by 8.30am. Straight to I Mile Jetty to walk it before the day warmed up. I paid my $5 to be able to go on it at the honesty box near the beginning of the wharf.

It was a long walk but worth it; you seem a long way off shore; there is a problem at the end - it seems to be in danger of collapse.

Near the start of the wharf were some relics.

This is the anchor of the cargo ship Korean Star which ran aground in 1988 during Cyclone “Herbie” and broke up. The crew were rescued by flying fox within 45 minutes.

Back to the main part of town to see where the 3km of tramline to the wharf once started.

Next up I took a 75km drive to Blowhole Point and Quobba, didn’t see a blowhole but did see some terrific scenery and beaches.

 

 

Don’t you hate overcrowded  beaches? Somebody got there first.

Drove for Ks over the worst dirt road for the biggest disappointment of the day. The cairn erected to HMAS Sydney II. It is pathetic and serves absolutely no useful purpose.

Returned to Carnarvon to visit the OTC Space Museum. The OTC Earth Station had some duties tracking and transferring data on the Apollo Missions. To be honest it was not clear what. Until Earth Stations were built at Ceduna and Moree Carnarvon also transmitted video and telecomms traffic via satellite to the UK and the USA. The dish is obsolete now but right next door is the NBN satellite earth station.

My car sheltering in the shade of the dish.

It was still only mid afternoon so I drove around Carnarvon enjoying the sights and taking a walk along the Fascine.

Unfortunately the one thing I could not find was a seafood restaurant that served all day. Oh well, maybe tomorrow.

I do like Carnarvon, it quite appeals to me as a town.

Finally one last photo, The town is on the Gascoyne Delta named after the river that flows to the sea here. This is the mighty Gascoyne River in full flood.

Apparently it is like that most of the time, the exception being when a northern cyclone turns into a rain depression and dumps a lot of water into the river’s catchment then it can become several kilometres wide.

11th May 2017–Denham to Carnarvon

Distance: 345 km

After leaving Denham called in at Shell Beach again (I forgot to take any photos last time) and this time walked much further along the beach. It really is a remarkable beach.

It literally is just a mass of small shells – millions of them stretching for kms.

The sea is exceptionally salty, I put my hand in and once it had dried it was covered in a thin layer of crusty salt.

Walking back to the car I saw what I thought was a straight shadow across he road; except that there was nothing to cast a shadow.

On closer inspection it was a happy band of caterpillars crossing the road holding hands.

Carnarvon

I arrived in Carnarvon at just after 1pm, booked in to the caravan park and went looking for a tyre place for a wheel alignment. Quickly found a Tyrepower shop and was lucky enough to book the car in immediately. While it was being worked on I had a wander about what looked like the centre of town.

Found a tourist information bureau and obtained a map and a brochure on local attractions. I also had the most unusual meal at a local cafe – egg and bacon on a waffle with maple syrup! I had to try it… actually it wasn’t that bad but I think I will stick to egg, bacon, toast and BBQ sauce in future.

Back at camp noticed the old OTC dish was lit up right behind my  ‘campsite’. It is due a visit tomorrow - they claim to have been an important part of the Apollo moon landing, I can’t wait to find out why.

(You do know that if you click on these photos you get the full size version – click on your browsers ‘back’ button to return.)

Looks like another night without the news. The problem with digital TV is that it either works or it doesn’t, there is no snowy but watchable picture when the signal is weak just a mass of blocky pixels with an incomprehensible sound track. Oh well, I can always watch a movie.

 

Some Statistics:

It is three weeks since I set off so here are some facts:

Distance driven so far: 6800km
Fuel: 647 litres of diesel at a cost of: $870
Most expensive fuel: $1.76/l, Average: $1.34/l
Accommodation (Caravan Parks powered sites): $590

10th May 2017–Monkey Mia

Distance: 60 km
Fuel: 26 L

Got up just after 6am, showered, had breakfast and set off for Monkey Mia at about 7.10am to be at Monkey Mia before 7.45am for the dolphins.

Emus wandering through the car park.

We waited for the ranger at the ranger station meanwhile, in the water, so did the dolphins who have, over many years, successfully trained humans to stand in a line at the water’s edge and feed them fish.

Finally we were allowed down to the waters edge to get closer to the dolphins.

The ranger told us about the dolphins and the history of Monkey Mia which was quite interesting but I must admit after a while my interest waned somewhat and I wandered off to take other photos

Even a spider.

Finally the feeding of the dolphins by selected members of the public.

It would have been a lot more interesting if it was the feeding of the Tiger Sharks who prey on the dolphins but to be fair I did enjoy it, it just went on too long.
Had a coffee at the restaurant and by the time I finished they were at it again. They feed them up until noon with a minimum 10 minute break between sessions.
I decided to look at other local attractions; I called in to Little Lagoon on the way back. There was a French family parked who were flying a drone watching them passed the time (actually there seem to be a lot of French tourists). The lagoon is circular with a very narrow snake like inlet to the sea.

Back in Denham during the afternoon it was quite windy and this looked a lot of fun.

BTW my theory about fuel being more expensive here than on the highway was sort of correct – $1.33 here, $1.32 on the highway. Ummm…

9th May 2017–Denham

Distance: 4.4 Km

Had a rest day. I went to Paul’s Tyre Service to see if I could get a wheel alignment. Nope… Nearest is Carnarvon or Geraldton so went back to the park and swapped the front wheel for the spare.

Had a stroll round Denham, bought a few stamps, a pass to Monkey Mia for tomorrow, some food and washed my dirty clothes.

People I have spoken to really like Denham and I suppose if you like fishing, boating, canoeing etc Denham is the place for you, personally I think that I have just about exhausted its charms.

The Shark Bay Hotel says that it is the most westerly pub in Australia, but wait… there’s more - the caravan park I am staying at bills itself as the most westerly caravan park in Australia. So there you go…

The weather changed this evening so I pulled down the gazebo as a shower was forecast. Still very warm though but slightly windy.