Exmouth to Carnarvon 29/9 to 1/10

We would have liked to stay at least another week at Cape Range N.P. but we had word that Sue’s sister, Wendy would be holidaying in Perth around mid October and Sue was very keen to catch up with her and Rick. So we made the discission to speed up the next sections of our journey. Travelling south from Exmouth we called in for a look at Coral Bay and for the first time in months we struck rain. The rain and cold blustery wind combined to give us a less than ideal impression of Coral Bay, couple this with the fact that it was school holidays and the place was overrun with tourist meant we only stayed for lunch and a quick look around. However we could easily see the underlying beauty of the area and we would like to return sometime when conditions are a little better. As we were travelling directly into a ferocious headwind with occasional light showers it was an easy decision to pull over and camp for the night at a free rest area at Lyndon River.

Hitting the road early the next morning and with travelling conditions a little more favourable, had us arriving in Carnarvon before lunch. We checked into the Marloo C.P. for 2 nights. After catching up with some washing and then the necessary shopping it was time to have look around town. We found Carnarvon to our liking and whilst in the town area we paid a visit to the ‘Mile Long’ jetty and even took a trip on the ‘Coffee Pot’ little train that runs out on the jetty. This is where the first shipments of livestock to be exported from Australia were made. The jetty and the nearby railway heritage precinct are well worth a visit.

Next day we did the 75Km trip northwest out to Point Quobba to witness the spectacular blowholes and to check out the camping area, again finding it to our liking which meant putting on our list of places to come back to one day, hopefully. On the way to Point Quobba you pass by yet another large salt production facility and then, something a little unusual, a Beta Carotene production plant. From the roadside you can get a very good view of the large ponds that are a vivid pink, quite an unusual sight. Sitting as it does near the mouth of the Gascoyne River, W.A.’s longest, Carnarvon has over 100 plantations growing everything from bananas and mangoes to tomatoes and herbs. On our way back into town we took great advantage of this to stock up on some really fresh fruit and veg, and one place even has home made fruit ice-cream – yum! Even though we were not there to see it Carnarvon has a growers market every Saturday in season, in the heart of town. We were assured it also is well worth your time to visit. From Carnarvon we head south to Kalbarri and Geraldton.