Carnarvon

Thurs 19^th June 

 

Today’s aim was to get to Carnarvon so that George could get his satellite dish set up properly and we could get our caravan’s electrical system checked because the solar panels haven’t been keeping up when we free camp for 3 days in a row. Jan and Les used to come to Carnarvon to shop when they lived in Exmouth and she said that they never really had a look around. After today she said, “Now I know why we only came here for the shopping.” We had a terrible time finding the Information centre, even though we had the address in the Navman, and then when we did there was nowhere to park a caravan. The streets are narrow and there is only angle parking. Eventually we found a street we could fit in and then hiked back to the centre. When we have to go into a caravan park we usually get all the information about prices and facilities and then make our choice; but here, the caravan park owners don’t want to divulge that information because the opposition will know about them. Can you believe it? Eventually we found a reasonable, but not flash park and booked in. Jan came with us for a drive around the food square. The entire area is full of lush fruit and vegetable crops and there are a few farms that have shops. For a very good price we bought fresh vegies and a lettuce that would barely fit in the fridge. Our batteries were tested and found to be good and tomorrow we have booked in with an auto electrician for the next stage. A bloke was coming in half an hour to check George’s dish. Five hour later he still hasn’t arrived.

Fri 20^th June

This morning Mick and I went for a drive to have a look at the old wharf built in the 1800s. It was built many years ago, is a mile long, and was used for loading sheep and cattle. There was a railway line that ran from town and along the pier. Now the only rails are on the pier and you can have a train ride out to the end of it. I went for the ride in a Thomas The Tank Engine lookalike and enjoyed the variety of country it crossed. About the first third was mangrove swamp which obviously gets inundated when the tide comes in. The next bit was just mud flats and then sand and the final third was over water.  The water at the end of the pier is about 30 metres deep and very clear. When I got to the end there were a few blokes fishing and one had just pulled up and emperor. Immediately the others all moved to the same spot. Just as we were leaving another one was pulling up a fish.

In the afternoon we got our wiring problem sorted and are now under full power again. Unfortunately George wasn’t so lucky with his satellite dish. He thinks he might do better in a town where there is poor TV reception and there may be someone who is able to help him. Just before tea a bloke came along and gave us a corn cob each. We ate ours with our dinner and it was sweet and juicy. Then we followed up with locally grown pawpaw.