Carnarvon WA
Carnarvon sits on the Gascoyne River which is unlike most rivers as it can look bone dry but is actually flowing underneath. When you drive into Carnarvon it’s hard to believe you have just left the dry countryside, as suddenly you are surrounded by banana plantations and lots of other fruit and vegetable farms. Amazing really as most of WA’s fruit & veg come from this region. It is also has a thriving fishing, crab and prawning industry as it sits right on the Indian Ocean.
We stayed at the Coral Coast Caravan Park which is situated within walking distance to the town centre and foreshore precinct, so a great place to base yourself. We were disappoint to see the One Mile Jetty was closed due to fire and cyclone damage. Apparently it has been closed for a number of years and they are hoping to get it back open again in the next few years. There was a great walk from the town centre out to the jetty – made even better by the fact that there was a great little cafe here to have lunch before making the journey back to town. When we did the walk we came across these odd looking bees – they looked like a cross between a giant blow fly and a bee – we found out later that they are Burrowing Bees.
The waterfront has a great Anzac walk which commemorates those lost off the coast in 1941 aboard the HMAS Sydney II. As you walk along the waterfront there is a plaque for every single crewman that died aboard the shop (645 crew).
You apparently cant go to Carnarvon without visiting the Space & Technology Museum. Wow we didnt realise until we visited how big of an involvement they had back in the 60’s in the Space race to the moon. Pretty amazing that little old Carnarvon in WA had such a big part. The history is really quite interesting and we even got to jump in a replica space module and witness the original take off. They also had a section with a whole lot of interactive games etc which a bit of fun. The old Space Invaders game certainly bought back a few childhood memories !!!
Another great place to visit was the Gwoonwardu Mia Aboriginal Heritage which was very well set up and great a really great exhibition of the local history both good and bad.
My favourite place of all was the Quobba Blow Holes which are approximately 75km from Carnarvon. Wow they were just incredible, I could have stood there all day and watched the enormous waves rolling in and sending huge jets of water up through the narrow holes – they must have gone up about 20m or higher when some of the huge waves rolled in. The tidal surges also sent waves crashing over the cliffs and made for a spectacular sight right along the Quobba coastline. We even saw a few whales breaching in the distance. Believe it or not there was also a little van pulled up in the car park selling locally caught fish and chips as well as really great coffee. What more could you have wanted !!!
We enjoyed our visit to Carnarvon. Next stop is Shark Bay……….
