MOVING ON TO GLADSTONE AND CARNARVON

MONDAY 5TH AUGUST   -   We left Denham at 9.30am for our next destination Gladstone about 230 kilometres north.  I thought it would be a good idea to get a cooked chicken from the cafe in town advertising on a big blackboard in their window “The Best Chickens in Denham”.  When I went inside to buy one, the lady behind the counter said “Oh no love.  We only do them on Fridays, and you have to order as they go fast”.  After being disappointed, I thought I’d go to the bakery and get some nice croissants to eat for morning tea.  Disappointment was just around the corner once more, as they hadn’t got any that day.  I came back to the car laughing in amazement.  I think I’ll open up a chicken shop in Denham  -  I could be onto a gold mine there with all the backpackers and tourists in town!!!!   Putting disappointment behind me, we decided to try and find the fresh fish factory that we’d been told about.  It was at the back of town and not that easy to locate.  We bought freshly caught dory fillets and some vacuum packed frozen dory and red cod and headed out of town with dinner organised for the next 2 nights.

It took us an hour to get back onto the main road at Overlander where we filled up with petrol and had a quick pit stop.  There’s not much variety in the landscape in-between towns the further north you travel – just endless red dust and low brush for miles and miles and some wild goats foraging around here and there.   Within an hour, we’d come to the turn off for Gladstone – a free camping spot Richard was anxious to check out.  If it looked ok, we planned to stay there for a night or two, as we weren’t booked into Carnarvon until the 7th.  There was a long, rough track leading up to the camp site.  It seemed to be never-ending as we were going pretty slow with all the corrugations and dips along the way.  I was getting shaken to bits and pretty fed up wondering if we’d ever reach the end of this godforsaken track.  I wasn’t exactly hopeful of finding somewhere too great once we did.   We did pass a few cars coming the opposite way, minus their vans, so it was obvious there were other campers around. Once we did pull into the camping area, we were ever so slightly blown away as it was just beautiful – right on the water front and loads of caravans and camper trailers set up along the water.   We did an OMG double take as it wasn’t what we’d expected at all and we were very pleasantly surprised.  We quickly found a perfect spot 7 paces from the water’s edge and set up.  We couldn’t believe how pretty the place was.  There were lots of private roomy parking bays all over the camp.   The tide was out and there were pelicans and seagulls perched on the sand and on rocks right in front of us.  The water was very calm and shallow and a beautiful clear aqua colour.  There was a fee of $5.50 per person per night and a ranger came around from the local station every day.  He had recently taken over managing the place and had installed stainless steel flushing toilets on the site, complete with a “library” box of books beside the dunny and a good selection of papers and magazines.  The ranger brought truckloads of wood in every day for camp fires.  There were also big vats of bore water that you could help yourself to for washing/washing up.  They were refilled every couple of days also. 

Most people had boats and went fishing there.  The old caretakers lived permanently on site. Some of the people we talked to had been there for a while.  Later that night we were invited over to our neighbour’s fire pit for a beer and a yarn.  His wife was making scones in a cast iron pot in the fire.  When they were cooked we were invited to help ourselves, which we did, with lashings of butter and blueberry jam.  They were delicious.  It turned out they were from Bankstown – a suburb close to where we lived in Sydney.  They were both well into their 80’s travelling around in a Coaster van.  They were on their way back to Bankstown for doctors’ appointments and were leaving the following day, giving themselves 6 weeks to get back home. 

We ate our very fresh dory fillets for dinner and they were delicious with veggies and potatoes.   A quick and tasty meal.  There was enough fish for the following night also.

Gladstone was a very peaceful place and we met some lovely people who joined us around the camp fire the second night we were there.

SALLY WAITING FOR A WALK AT GLADSTONE

OUR CAMP SPOT 7 PACES FROM THE BEACH

A BEAUTIFUL SUNSET AT GLADSTONE

WEDNESDAY 7TH AUGUST   -   Sadly we left Gladstone for our next destination Carnarvon, 904 kilometres north from Perth.  We would have loved to stay there longer.  We were looking forward to eating the abundant supplies of fresh fruit and vegetables we’ve been told about so often.   After travelling for about 1 ½ hours, and passing a sign that told us we were entering the 26^th Parallel, we came into The Coral Coast Tourist Park to book in.  They were very friendly at reception but a bit dismayed when we said we’d booked a site from 7^th August for a week.  “Oh dear” said the woman on reception.  “We’ve got you down from tomorrow and haven’t got any free spots available today as you’re in the pet section”.  Richard gave me an icy stare as it was one of the few times I’d made the booking!!  Funnily enough, I did think of ringing to check, as I had a feeling about the date, but thought it was ok.  He was furious with me as we now had to find somewhere else to stay and also, we could have stayed another night at Gladstone - ooops.  I rang a few other parks in Carnarvon and found a spot at The Wintersun Caravan and Tourist Park that had a vacancy.   We had to go in the overflow section besides the bowling green.  I didn’t care, at least we could get in.  It was a big park with grassy spots and some bigger sites for buses and 5^th wheelers at one side.    They had a stall outside reception that was filled each day with fresh fruit and vegetables and an honesty box.   We were told all the caravan parks had their own stall.  I quickly loaded up with a bag of roma tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, herbs, sweetcorn, sugar peas and zucchinis as we were pretty low on supplies. We quickly set up and went for a drive around   the town and local beaches. 

Carnarvon has a population of 9,000.  It is famous for its 176 banana, mango, tropical fruit and vegetable plantations which produce over 30,000 tonnes every year and are watered from the Gascoyne River.  Their produce is sold on roadside stalls or farm shops.  Carnarvon supplies 70% of WA’s winter vegetables.  It is also known for wood production, prawn and scallop processing.  The town celebrated its centenary in 1983 and was named after Lord Carnarvon, the British Secretary of State at the time of settlement.  Sir Charles Kingsford Smith started The Gascoyne Transport Company in Carnarvon.

Carnarvon is the only town in Australia where the central desert reaches out to the sea.  It was the first port in the world to load livestock onto transport ships for market.

A feature of Carnarvon is the OTC Satellite Dish which opened in 1966 and played a part in helping to put a man on the moon in 1969. The station closed in 1987 after helping track Halley’s Comet. There is now a Space Museum open to the public throughout the week.

THE OTC SATELLITE DISH

A SIGN OUTSIDE  THE LOCAL HAIRDRESSING SALON

THURSDAY 8TH AUGUST  -   We packed up and drove 5 minutes further into town to The Coral Coast Tourist Park, which is the closest park within walking distance to town.  The front of the park had eye-catching deep pink and white bougainvillea bushes as you came in.   We were booked into the dog section and were given a key for the back gate adjoining a big open space used by the park residents for dog exercising.  We also booked in for the $5 per person sausage sizzle being held in the camp kitchen later that night.   All the sites were fairly small, so we had difficulty manoeuvring the van into our allocated site.  There were brand new ablutions blocks and a very inviting swimming pool. 

After we’d set up we went to Carnarvon Central to stock up on supplies. I must admit I was quite surprised at how small it was for the main shopping area.  There was a Woolworths store, Rockmans, newsagent, chemist, café and bakery and that was it.  Outside there was a very small Target Country Store, BWS liquor and a beautician.  There were a few other shops on the way down to the waterfront, but it definitely wasn’t as big a town as I originally thought and wouldn’t take me long to wander through.  I was eager to “catch a movie” at the cinema as I haven’t been to the movies since Busselton.  When I asked what was showing in the Tourist Information Centre, I was very disappointed to discover movies were only shown at weekends and they were all kids’ movies.  There was some theatre later in the month, but we’d be gone by then.

We went to the sausage sizzle which was very good.  3 home-made salads, bread and home-made lemon slice.   Really good value.  It was the last of the weekly “pot luck $5 suppers”.  There was a really good atmosphere and the camp kitchen was crowded.  We found a seat on the end of a table and met a lovely couple from Hawks Nest in NSW and had a great chat with them.

FRIDAY 9TH AUGUST   -  We went to Carnarvon Bowling Club for the $15 roast.  It was crowded out and we had a plate piled with roast beef, chicken and veggies and vanilla slice for dessert.  We met up with lots of people from the caravan park.  I tried to buy a bottle of wine, only to be old they only sell wine by the glass (from a bottle of course). Anyway, the lady serving my wine was very generous, so I wasn’t complaining.

SAURDAY 10TH AUGUST   -   We went to the weekly produce markets held outside The Civic Centre from May to October.  The fruit and vegetable stalls were beautiful and so fresh and cheap.  We bought oranges mandarines, bananas, red grapefruits, home-made slices and biscuits and a massive bag of grape tomatoes for $2 and came back to the van with 2 bags loaded up with fresh goodies.  

We drove out to One Mile Jetty, built in 1897 and one of the longest jetties in Western Australia.  We went on the Coffee Pot train to the end of the pier and came back to The Fascine in town, a walkway and popular picnic area by the water. 

ONE MILE JETTY 

WEDNESDAY 14 TH AUGUST  -   Sally had to have 3 rotten teeth out in the veterinary hospital.  We discovered this yesterday when we took her for her annual vaccination.  She was there most of the day and was pretty groggy when we took her home.  We had intended heading off to Quobba Blowholes on Thursday, but had to stay 2 extra nights to make sure she was ok before we headed off again. 

NEXT WEEK:    We’re going to Quobba Blowholes, 75 kilometres from Carnarvon.  We’ll be staying there for 5 nights if we can get a spot as it’s a very popular area.  From there we’ll be heading up to Exmouth for two weeks.  Daniel and Bob, Richards’s brother, will be coming up with the boat for a long awaited fishing trip.  We’re really looking forward to seeing Daniel and Bob again.