A bout of food poisoning had us feeling a bit 'green around the gills' as we departed Coral Bay and headed for Carnarvon, 240km to the south. As we neared the town, we crossed the wide but completely dry Gascoyne River. It's not an unfamiliar sight in the northern regions of WA & we often wonder how it would appear after a decent soaking of rain. We checked into the Wintersun Tourist Park, a short distance out of town. There are an unusually high proportion of caravan parks here and we benefit from their competition with another 'buy 3, stay 4 deal'. Carnarvon doesn't appear to be a tourist hot spot though and we wonder why all the parks. Many of the farms have 'No Work' signs posted out the front and we assume the parks are filled with itinerant workers while they do seasonal labour. It's quite the agricultural centre in fact, producing 70% of WA's winter vegetable requirements as well as a host of tropical fruits such as bananas, mangoes and melons.
Our time in Carnarvon was an uninspiring one. The food poisoning had left me with a lingering malaise & I pottered around the van content to do domestic duties. Tomoko's robust constitution meant she recovered swiftly from 'cafegate' but had her hands full with work commitments. I did manage a visit the town's One Mile Jetty, one of the longest in WA at 1493 metres. Built in 1897, it was the first point in Australia from which live stock was regularly transported. Access to the jetty comes with a $5 price tag, supposedly for upkeep. I didn't see much evidence of restoration though and to me it was nothing more than a rickety death trap. Lean on the hand rail and it's likely to topple over, don't watch your step and you could fall into a random hole. The end of the jetty is also barred by a large iron gate. I could see some fisho's on the other side but for the life of me couldn't work out how they got there without serious risk to life and limb. Reportedly, it's a gun fishing spot but at five bucks a go youd want to be reasonably assured of catching a feed.
We had recovered significantly enough by the weekend for a day trip to the ruggedly spectacular coastline north of Carnarvon, where the desert meets the sea. It's 70km of sealed road before we hit our first point of call, Point Quobba. It wasn't a large sea but it had sufficient energy for the blowholes to put on a show and they could be described in concert terms as having one head liner & a couple of support acts. The entertainment begins with an approaching swell and as it enters the secret passages below, a vertical column of salty air hisses through the narrow aperture before moments later climaxing in a high pressure release, jets of spray erupting into the sky. Phew...I think I need a cold shower after that.
The next 80km was driven in 4wd as we negotiated the sandy and often corrugated track to Three Mile Camp at Gnaraloo (pronounced 'Narloo') and inspected the primitive campground nestled in the scrub. We briefly contemplated a snorkel but the wind was up (how unusual) and after Coral Bay it was sure to be a disappointment so we continued our sightseeing. Just around the corner from the camp is the world class left hand break of Tombstones. A lack of size meant It wasn't working today but you can see the pros getting amongst it here.
We began our journey back but not before taking a detour to Red Bluff, itself a nice left hander. It looks an imposing headland on first sight and somehow reminds me of Lennox Point. In fact, knock half the top off, plant some green grass and pandanas, murky up the water a bit and reverse the negative and it would be the spitting image of Lennox. Tomoko and I get a good feeling here and reckon it would be easy place to spend a couple of weeks relaxing, surfing and fishing. We go for a swim and I explore the point. I come across a rock that looks like the top half of a skull, a warning to the visiting surfer perhaps. Again, theres not much swell here but it shows its potential.
Well that was Carnarvon and surrounds. The stay finished off in fine fashion and next we visit the world heritage listed, Shark Bay. Until then...adios amigos.