Day 106. Carnarvon

One Long Mile

What a lovely park, it's so nice to be able to sit outside without a million flies trying to carry you away, or be blown off your feet. The Wintersun Caravan Park here in Carnarvon is immaculate; you wouldn't know they were still recovering from a major flood last December. The grounds are beautiful with good amenities, and it's very peaceful and quite.

Caravan Park

We went to see the 'One Mile Jetty' this morning, and rode the coffee pot train all the way out to it's end. The jetty was built in 1897 to export wool and livestock bound for Fremantle. Carnarvon was the first port in the world to load livestock on to ships for transport to markets. Unfortunately the jetty outlived it usefulness when road-trains came into the region, and is now being slowly restored for tourism. It's the longest jetty in northern W.A., and the fishing off her is apparently great.

One Mile Jetty

Coffee Pot Train

HSK Kormoran Life Boat

I decided to try and work off this mornings pancakes by walking the mile back. Scarlett decided it was a race with her, Shane and mum riding the coffee pot train; and I would like to boast, I WON!

Also here is the 'Precinct Museum' which holds the fully restored Kimberley steam train that operated from the jetty into town in the 1950's. It's also the resting place of one of the HSK Kormoran life boats which had German survivors in her after it's battle with the HMAS Sydney II off the waters of Carnarvon. This battle was the greatest single Australian maritime loss of lives during the Second World War.



View of birds from 'Coffee Pot' train


After coming back for lunch Shane and I went off on our own to follow some of the Gascoyne Food Trail. We visited some of the local growers and purchased some banana's ($8 a kilo here!), beetroot relish, and dried mango. The farmers are still struggling to overcome the devastation of the floods; a feeling we know only too well. We were more than happy to purchase some yummy fresh produce to hopefully help in some small way.

Purchasing some local produce

On the way back to the van we took a detour and checked out the OTC dish (Overseas Tele-Communications satellite dish) that dominates Carnarvon's skyline. The dish was opened in 1966, and although no longer used, it stands as a reminder of days gone by when Carnarvon participated in the space race and helped put man on the moon in 1969. Australia received it's first satellite television broadcast from the dish, and it finally closed after assisting in the tracking of Halley's Comet in 1987.

OTC Dish

Nana and Scarlett have again spent the afternoon painting seashells, and playing in the park. They are both down at the parks pool as I write this, swimming and playing with other kids. It has been so good to have Nana here; we will miss her greatly when she goes back.

Scarlett and Nana painting shells