Denham to Carnarvon 3/7 to 7/7

Beautiful Shark Bay - Denham

After enjoying our days in Denham we left to travel to one of the four freestays in this area.  We chose Whalebone Bay – a scenic spot right on the water.  Because the day started so wonderfully – blue skies and very calm water – we called in to Eagle Bluff once again.  Still no dugongs to be seen, however there was a pod of dolphins playing out to sea and wonderful views of the surrounding bays and over to Useless Loop.

Donna on boardwalk Eagle Bluff

Eagle Bluff

 Whalebone Bay was a great spot!  There were four caravans there for the night we stayed.  All had great views of the water.  Very quiet and once again not quite four star, at least four million star camping.

'Kat' the caravan at Whalebone Bay

Mark adding to cairn, Whalebone Bay

Whalebone Bay

From there we had planned to stop at Gladstone Beach however the road into this beach was closed due to the amount of rain the Gascoyne region had received the previous week.  It was with much trepidation that we set off along the dirt road into our next freestay – Bush Bay. There was water lying up to two feet deep along the side of this muddy track and with no space to turn around we were just hopeful that when we got to the intersection we would be able to head back to the highway if the road ahead was closed.  Luckily we were able to reach Bush Bay, even though the road to the other beach – New Beach was totally covered with water.  The number of caravans and fifth wheelers plonked at Bush Bay was amazing.  Most of these were ready to stay for months – already growing their own vegetables, firewood piled high, smokers ready to smoke their fish.  We were pretty amazed because compared to a lot of the places we had been it was quite ordinary.  After getting tips from the fishermen Donna was ready to go.....using worms she’d found among the wet seaweed in the mangroves......not a bite!  What we did notice about Bush Bay was the amount of wind.  It blew a gale for the two days we were there.

Carnarvon

 Our next stop was Carnarvon.  This town is right on the edge of the Coral Coast.  It is the only town in Australia where the central desert reaches out to the sea and once again the wind was blowing.  The last few days have been the coldest we have experienced – even though we’re further north than Kalbarri it has been much cooler.  It was quite evident when we drove into town that this wind is quite constant.  We took the HMAS Sydney Memorial Drive, which has an avenue of 645 palm trees and stone plaques – one for each sailor lost on the Sydney.  They were in a sorry state, many missing crowns the tops of which had been sheared off by the wind,  others were stunted or dead – a real shame!  But we came to realise that this should have forewarned us about Carnarvon itself.  For a town with six caravan parks, there was not much to see or do, apart from fishing.

Bananas in Carnarvon

 Carnarvon supplies 70% of WA’s winter vegetables and has 176 plantations which grow everything from bananas and mangoes to stone fruit.  How can it do this in such a dry area ?  The plantations are along the Gascoyne River.  Driving into Carnarvon from the south where there are few trees it is very reminiscent of the Nullarbor. 

Gascoyne River

 As you can see from the pictures of the Gascoyne, it can be a raging torrent in flood, but at present is quite shallow.  The sea near Carnarvon is shaded brown by the waters of the Gascoyne.  

OTC Dish

We drove to Carnarvon’s other highlights including the OTC (Overseas Telecommunications Dish).  This satellite dish was opened in 1966 and built with the help of NASA. Carnarvon was an active participant in the space race and telecommunications from here helped put man on the moon in 1969.  It was also from here that Australia received its first satellite television broadcast.  Now it is ‘closed for repairs’ as it has been since 1987.  

  

One Mil

On what is argueably the windiest day of our trip so far we ventured out to the One Mile Jetty.  This wooden jetty was built to help Carnarvon receive goods from ships.  It is located at the mouth of the Gascoyne River.  The last time that we can remember being this cold was sitting on the main ski-lift in Hotham during a blizzard, yet the temperature here today was 21degrees.....it felt that the wind chill must have dropped the temperature to almost zero!

Gascoyne River Mouth

One aspect that has really disappointed me about Carnarvon is that although it is not yet school holidays in Western Australia, everywhere we went there were school age children who were obviously absent from school.  Most were with adults!  There is a huge television promotion in this state using aboriginal football identities who are attempting to encourage parents to send their children to school.  By what we have seen in this town the campaign is definitely not working.  What the answer is, I don’t know, but it appears as though some parents have placed a low priority upon ensuring that their children and grandchildren attend their local schools on a regular basis.