Tuesday 17 September 2013

11 September – 12 September 2013 – Carnarvon, Point Quobba, Blow Holes, Red Bluff, Gnaraloo



It was dark and dreary this morning with clouds looming overhead, something that we haven’t seen too often on our journey.  We began to pack up the van as we were going south today.  We were nearly done when Michael and Nikki and the girls came to say goodbye – they were also leaving this morning.  Just as they did, we felt droplets falling from the sky.  OMG, it was rain!  Haven’t seen that for a while!  It didn’t last long and the shower disappeared as quickly as it arrived even though the clouds were here to stay a while.  To farewell Coral Bay we pulled up across the road at the Bakery.  We all chowed down on sweet treats like a wagon wheel, rocky road, jam donut and custard tart… they were delicious and pretty large servings.  The clouds hovered above as we drove out of town and we did actually get the occasional shower on our drive further south.  We spotted many goats on our drive as well as the occasional dead cow and a few kangaroos but these were few compared to the numbers at Cape Range.  I was surprised at how many large areas of dried out animal bones you could see along this drive and also a little disappointed that there was quite a bit of rubbish lying around.  We eventually drove in towards Carnarvon, spotting a big satellite dish in the distance on our way in.  We first stopped for fuel and a snack before hitting the town.  We drove around a little to see if there was anything here that would interest us and Josh wasn’t sounding too positive about it.  We did end up eventually pulling into the Jetty Train Museum for a squiz around, finding some old trains, the old lighthouse, the anchor from the Korean Star which became shipwrecked just north of Carnarvon and a few other old vehicles.  Further down the road was One Mile Jetty which was built in 1897 and used for the export of wool and livestock such as sheep and cattle.  It was also used to bring in supplies to the town as well as passengers from Perth.  In the 1900’s a tramway was constructed to transport goods between the town and the jetty, and there is still a tram (“the Coffee Pot Train”) that runs to the end of the jetty.  Josh decided to keep them in business and pay for a ride on the train rather than walk the jetty so all aboard we got.  It was only the four of us on the train so of course the kids opted for their own carriage – too cool to hang out with their folks!  We rattled along the “not very straight” rail line all the way to the end and hopped out for a look.  It was a shame that fishermen had actually burned the end of the jetty in their attempt to keep warm so we couldn’t get to the very tip of it but it was nice all the same.  Before reboarding, our train driver Sas allowed the kids to climb into her cabin and pull the train whistle, which of course they did more than the once, noisy buggers!!  After our train ride, we hopped back in the car – Josh had decided to head back to the north.  We crossed back over the very dry river bed of the Gascoyne River and out towards Point Quobba, stopping just before the campground at the Blow Holes.  The first thing that we noticed was the big sign advising that “King Waves Kill” and then after parking the car, the plaque advising that people had died at this point.  Mental note made:  be careful and keep a close eye on the kids, especially as it was very windy which actually made it good viewing of the blowholes!  Point Quobba campground was pretty full as it was late in the day, but we found a spot in front of a humpie to at least stay the night.  Josh went to find our camp host but he was nowhere to be found, and as other campers had pointed out, this was not unusual.  So we set up camp and then went for a walk along the beach.  I was impressed with the toilets here, quite new and very clean – great accommodation at $5.50 per van per night.  We settled in for the night in our warm caravan while the wind whistled outside.  The kids and I had quite a few games of cards before all calling it an early night.

As it was looking like another windy day, we packed some food and prepared for a big driving day to see the coast of this area.  We started by heading back to the Quobba Blowholes and again the wind was blowing which made for good viewing of the blowholes.  We drove on north to where there was a cairn in memory of the HMAS Sydney which was torpedoed in November 1941 by the German ship Kormoran.  All 645 of the Australian navy crew on board the HMAS Sydney died and approx. 80 perished from the German ship, the rest being rescued from the coast near to this cairn.  We crossed over the road that the Rio Tinto Dampier Salt mine uses, and continued north before Josh pulled the car up again, residing atop the gorgeous red cliffs of the coast with the ocean belting up against the land below us… it is a very pretty coastline.  Our next stop was where the Korean Star sank – there isn’t much left of it to see but when the waves rush out a little, you can see a few stacks poking up but that is all that remains from when it was torn in half back in 1988.  Back in the car, we continued on.  Our next stop was at Red Bluff and the first thing we noticed was another piece of information about the HMAS Sydney and the Kormoran.  In 2008, money that was fundraised and donated supported the find of both ships, 66 years after their disappearance, located over 200kms west of Steep Point, the westernmost point of Australia’s mainland… fascinating!  We drove into the Red Bluff which is a popular surfing spot and a very basic camp – however, they do have a great little café so we went inside and ordered some drinks.  The smoothies here are fantastic!!  We got chatting to another couple of tourists and Sami and I had a quick game of chess before we boarded back in the car… it was a long driving day today.  Our last stop for the day was about another 20kms of hard red sand and finished in the station of Gnaraloo, some of you might remember Farmer Paul from Farmer Wants a Wife?  After driving through the stone gate ends of the station grounds it took us to Three Mile Camp, obviously the camping grounds for tents, vans, etc.  The little store appeared to be closed so we just drove in and had a look about including at The Hilton – but not that one – this one was slightly less fancy!  There is no Marble Bar here (but if you travel over 1000kms north you will come across the town of Marble Bar).  We continued on through the station grounds and past the homestead to Gnaraloo Bay.  The kids were poking around on the beach and Sami found a yellow fiddler crab that escaped its hole and ran (as did timid little Sami), headed for the sea trying to protect itself.  By now it was the middle of the afternoon and we started our journey back to the van.  Josh did try and take one last detour on our way back, but the track was covered in rough rocks and was just too time consuming so we turned back out trying to avoid the many goats.  We have come to the conclusion that goats and sheep are quite smart as they move out of the road of moving vehicles, unlike kangaroos and cows.  The sun was lowering on our way home which made for a few good photos so we also headed up the lighthouse road for a quick look.  There was nothing there except for the lighthouse so a quick squiz was all that was in order before heading home for dinner and a quiet movie.
 



































































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