16^th August: Carnarvon

Here we are in Carnarvon, centre of a large fruit & veg industry for WA apparently. Certainly, we saw many banana and mango trees as we came in! But, after a very boring drive here(red sandhills, spinifex and very low vegetation much of which was dead and not even a live kangaroo but 2 cattle and a few goats), we went straight into town because the farmers' markets were on. There wasn't much left, just green bananas, pumpkin and oodles of silver beet. Even the coffee machine was not producing - not working! Most traders were packing up and it was only 11.00 am!

So Gail made a hair appointment and we went to the park I had booked into. (There are five caravan parks here! But even so, sites are at a premium!) What is nice is that the water is drinkable! We have been showering and washing in very salty bore water for the last week as fresh water has to be made by desalination and so, is very precious.This park has a full-on bowls green. I thought that was odd until I realised that most people in these parks are seniors.

After lunch, we went for a drive of discovery. (Our daily timetable is determined by coffee for Glen and food for Gail. I'm not fussed by either!) We went to the Historical Precinct out at the mouth of the Gascoyne River where we walked along the 120 year old jetty, having paid $5 to do so! The fee is supposed to help fund restoration but we are not sure how much of that is happening. Neither are we sure that everyone is paying it as it is an honesty system! The jetty is a worry as many of the jarrah boards are disintegrating and some pylons don't appear to even touch the water out at the end. Gaps between the uneven boards spooked me and Gail and I had to watch our feet. We are both prone to tripping! It is a longway to walk out and so, for $10, people can ride a little train out and back on the most unstraight tram lines I have ever seen! The place is littered with fishermen. Apparently the jetty has been there so long it has created an artifical reef and the fish are plentiful! We saw a n umber being caught and a very large one almost being caught! (The line snapped!) We wondered how many of them had paid the $5! As we walked back, I collected all the plastic bags left by lazy fishermen poked between b oards. Such a danger to sea life!!

Back on land, there was lots of old equipment but the museum was closed. There is a watertank high on 9 tall wooden stumps – very mature jarrah trees that show no signs of rotting! The water was gravity fed from town for the ships that docked – 2 a week for 40 or so years from 1897, to bring goods and tourists (Fancy getting on that “train” in a crinoline!), and transported out cattle, salt (yes, more salt!) etc.

We drove around to the boat harbours and bought some fresh prawns which were eaten for tea. (I had frozen Tasmanian salmon! Yum!)