Days 11-12 Carnarvon (16-17 Sept)

Arrived Carnarvon just after lunch on Wednesday. Went for a wander around town in the afternoon and a quick shop for dinner. The caravan park (Capricorn Caravan Park) we were staying at was very noisy, on the NW coastal highway and our site was literally next door to a 24 hour fuel truck stop so all day and night could hear truck brakes and engines idling, not ideal. The next day Thursday, we did the drive along the Gascoyne food trail. This is a half day self drive tour stopping at all the plantations and food stalls picking up fresh veges and fruit. It is so cheap and really is just picked. We had fun doing this. We did a plantation tour at Bumbacks Plantation. They specialise in mangoes, bananas, watermelons and just recently table grapes. It was very interesting and informative and an eye opener to the waste and work involved in these working farms. Mainly due to the strict marketplace and checks they have to adhere to by the Ag Dept, Foodsafe and the horticulture industry standards. The amount of fruit they have to throw out just because it is slightly discoloured or misshapen is shocking, in fact some growers are now not growing bananas due to the ridiculous regulations it is just not viable for them. They water their crops on demand - each plant has its own drip sprinkler and when it is dry an alarm is set off via a computer which then waters it - very clever.  Due to the arid climate growers had to find water saving devices and most growers now use this system.  Nearby the caravan park is the Gascoyne River riverbed. This is fascinating in that it is a dry riverbed with the water being 18 metres below the surface! During the wet season if there is enough rain the river floods, Carnarvon only has 200mm rainfall per annum (if they are lucky) however last year they had two floods. The average temperature is 28 degrees with 10 days over 40 degrees. It’s an almost perfect climate. The riverbed was great for Coco to have a run around and nearby landowners run around on their quad bikes having some fun and to run their dogs. Part of the food trail included a visit to a fresh fish market where we bought freshly caught and steamed crabs – beautiful. And of course prawns and all other fish, we bought some Spanish mackerel to try. Went to the heritage precinct that has the one mile jetty. This one burnt in 2007 (someone set it alight with petrol) and like Busselton they are fundraising to repair it. They received $1.5M from the Govt compared to Busselton’s $24M!