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.

WE'RE IN DENHAM IN THE SHARK BAY WORLD HERITAGE AREA

SUNDAY 28TH JULY   -   We left Kalbarri at 10am and drove to our next destination Nerren Nerren Rest Area, 167kilometres north   where we were staying overnight.  It was a beautiful day and we arrived at Nerren Nerren before midday.  It was a really big area and lots of people had pulled in for a lunch break.  We were the second  overnight van to arrive there.  It didn’t take long for a steady stream of vans and campervans  to arrive.  By mid-afternoon the area was very crowded as it’s a well known and popular stopover spot.  The temperature dropped considerably by 4pm so we scouted around the grounds to find wood for a camp fire.  There were lots of concrete fire pits around the place and big round metal pits with  metal plates across the tops for cooking on.   We soon had a welcoming roaring camp fire going and people came flocking around to share the warmth with a beer and a yarn or two.

MONDAY 29TH JULY   -   We left Nerren Nerren at 9.30 for our next destination Denham in The Shark Bay World Heritage Area – 3 hours and 208 kilometres further north.  There wasn’t a great deal to see on the journey, except a continual landscape of red dust and shrubs on either side.  There is such a vast amount of open land in-between  destinations in Western Australia.  We did see wild goats close to the road a couple of times and had to wait for another few to walk across the road (in their own time of course) further along. We continued driving further along The Shark Bay World Heritage Drive a 150 kilometre link road from the North West Coastal Highway.

We stopped off at Hamelin Pools to see The Stromatolites,  flat rock like fossils, amongst the oldest in the World.  They grow in Shark Bay as the sea water there is twice as saline as other sea waters.  There was a 200 metre board walk to walk above the colonies of micro-organisms.   Dogs weren’t’ allowed there, so we had to leave Sally in the van.

We then drove to Shell Beach, aptly named from the millions of small white compacted coquina shells that have accumulated there over time.  In some parts they are estimated to be 10 metres deep.  The beach stretched for 120 kilometres and had calm turquoise waters.  It was very shallow and people walked out quite far and were only calf deep in the water.  There were uneven ripples of shells all over the beach area.  A sign asked us not to remove any shells from the beach to “take only photographs and leave only footprints”.  Dogs were allowed in the car park on a leash but not on the actual beach.   Once again, we had to put Sally in the caravan whilst we went for a walk along the beach.  Compacted shells were once quarried for building blocks, an example of this can be seen at The Old Pearler Restaurant in Denham.

We eventually arrived at Denham Seaside Tourist Village – the most westerly caravan park in Australia and the only one with beach access. We had barely arrived and were just starting to set up when we were surrounded by some of the men in the caravan park with problems with their satellite dishes  -  no problem, Richard to the rescue with his trusty “guaranteed” satellite locator box.  A good half an hour later, after much discussions between the men, Richard returned to our van loaded up with cold beer cans and a big grin on his face – 2 more happy customers – only another 21 to go for his “free slab”.   Honestly, we should get a commission for the amount of times we’ve been asked where we bought our set up from and given them the company name and address in Perth.  Our next door neighbour was furious as only the day before he’d had to get the local satellite service in from town to his van as he couldn’t get his satellite dish set up properly and it had cost him $50 (which, at the time, he thought was a bargain).  He was seeing red when Richard said he’d have done it for a can of beer and that the locator box was $150 to buy.   They’re all now ordering the locator box on line.  Enough excitement for one day and we did eventually get fully set up and went for a walk around the town.  It was a very pretty place - a small fishing township with a population of 700 and 830 kilometres north from Perth.   It was named by Captain Henry Mangles Denham who charted the area in 1858 in his ship the HMS Herald.

Denham began as a pearling settlement in the 1850’s with a rush akin to the gold rush and peaked in the 1870’s.  It was hard work but a good harvest could reap the equivalent of $400,000 in today’s currency.

The foreshore at Denham was quite tropical with grass and palm trees along the seafront.  There were covered fish cleaning sinks by the jetty.  Lots of fishing charters and tourist boats operated from the jetty.  It was in a big circular bay with very shallow, calm water.  The sand and water were covered with shells and rocks.  There were lots of new resorts and holiday apartments by the water.  There was a very small IGA and a local supermarket in town, a few cafes and 2 restaurants and a pub.  There was a very comfortable, casual feel to the place.

The caravan park was very friendly with good sized parking bays with a large overflow area at the top.  It was busy all the time and pretty much as soon as one van pulled out it wouldn’t be too long until another came in its place.  We were lucky to get booked in for a week as we met people wanting to stay longer but the park was booked out.   It was an easy walk to the beach or the town.

TUESDAY 30TH JULY   -   We got up early to drive out to Monkey Mia for the early morning dolphin feeding session.  It took 20 minutes from Denham to get there.  We were both quite excited and eager to see the dolphins up close and personal.  There was a fee of $8 per person to go into the Reserve.  There was a big crowd already by the water and on the jetty when we got there and the dolphins had just starting to come in close.  We were allowed to take Sally with us, but she had to be on a lead at all times and couldn’t get really close to the water when the dolphins were in.  We stood at the end of the jetty for a long time as there was a big pod of dolphins jumping up and down and chasing fish and being very interactive with each other.  They were fascinating to watch and I was totally mesmerised by these beautiful creatures.  I could have stayed there all day watching them.  We also saw a cheeky lone turtle popping its head up right beside the jetty, vying for some of the attention.  It seemed as though there were dolphins everywhere, right in close to the beach, beside the jetty and at the end of the jetty.  It was hard to know where to look, yet we wanted to look everywhere at once. Some of the females had their calves with them.  These bottlenose dolphins have been visiting Shark Bay for the past 40 years and are all from three families, spanning the past three generations.  They are fed at random about 3 times a day.  Each session lasts about 45 minutes.  When the early morning session finished, we had a wander around the area.  There were a few resorts and apartments by the water and a small caravan park (which is over $50 a night).   There were also scenic flights, boat trips and camel rides further along the  beach. It was a pretty place, but highly commercialised and filled with lots of tourists from all over the World. We went back for the second session at 9.30 and were surprised to find a much smaller crowd on the beach waiting for the arrival of the dolphins.  Soon enough, the dolphins came into view and, once again, we were enchanted by their presence.  They seemed to enjoy showing off and the interaction as much as we did.  I went down to the beachfront and was lucky enough to be chosen to feed a fish to one dolphin.  I was in seventh heaven as I absolutely adore dolphins.  There was a variety of different fishes in the feeding bucket.  I was given a yellow tail.  My dolphin didn’t like his yellow tail and turned his nose up at it, dropping it in the water.  The Reserve helper retrieved it from the water and handed it back to me to try again.  The dolphin still wasn’t interested, but hung around in case there was anything else that he did fancy coming up.  The helper told me they can get yellow tail in abundance further out to sea so that was why my dolphin wasn’t enthusiastically taking my fish.  I didn’t mind as it meant I could stay in the water longer than the others looking at “my dolphin”.  I felt very privileged to be chosen from the crowd and walked around with a very cheesy grin for the rest of the day.   All too soon the dolphins left and my dolphin experience was over.  I was very sad leaving but had thoroughly enjoyed seeing them.

We got back onto the main road and shortly afterwards saw the funniest thing ever.  A 4WD car was on the opposite side of the road towing a box trailer with wire caged sides and 3 HUGE CAMELS were peering out over the top.  We just cracked up.  They were obviously going further up the beach to where the camel rides were operating, but it’s not a sight you expect to see.   Unfortunately, there wasn’t time to get the camera out and take a shot.  I would have loved a photo to show you.

Shark Bay was discovered on 25^th October 1616 by the Dutch Captain Dirk Hartog.  He was the first European to set foot on Western Australian soil.  In 1699, William Dampier arrived and was the first English Captain to explore the Western Australian coast. 

We drove to Eagle Bluff and walked along the new 200 metre boardwalk overlooking a crystal clear ocean of aqua and deep blue, where you can sometimes see dugongs, whales and turtles (none were visible when we were there).  Ospreys live there and we saw lots of them on the tiny island further out to sea.  We drove further along the coast to Fowlers Camp, Whalebone and Goulet Bluff, all beautiful scenic spots by the ocean where you can camp overnight for $10.  You must buy a permit from the Tourist Information Centre.  Heavy fines apply if you’re caught without one. 

To finish off a perfect day we visited Shark Bay Ocean Marine Park – an eco- friendly and interactive aquarium, with over 320 species on display.  We followed the continual hour long tour and saw tanks of rare and endangered species of stone fish, rays, sea snakes, turtles and sharks – the nervous and lemon varieties being 2 of the 3 varieties that can withstand the cold temperatures of the water at Shark Bay.   We also saw lion fish, clown fish, eels and rock eels (very hard to see hidden behind a rock), squid and Bob the 5 year old turtle that only had one fin.  He currently weighs in at 20 kilos from constant feeding sessions that he never refuses.  They are hoping to release him back into the wild soon.  It was a very interesting and informative tour and cost $20 each.  There was a café and balcony overlooking the ocean.  They were dog friendly there, surprisingly, so we could take Sally inside for the tour and also outside at the café.

FEEDING THE SHARKS

A BEAUTIFUL FISH

A BRIGHTLY COLOURED CLOWN FISH

We came back pretty tired from our massive action packed day out, but a very enjoyable one.

NEXT WEEK:   We’re going a further 330 kilometres north to Carnarvon a large beach town with lots to do.

STATISTICS: 

Kilometres travelled so far   2.3.13 – 31.7.13       16,675  

Petrol cost                                                                 $5,000

Free camps/cheap camps under $15 per night         43

Accommodation costs                                              $2,900