Going bananas

Carnarvon ( obviously named by a dyslexic Welshman), is a highly agricultural area growing bananas, peaches, nectarines, tomatoes and many other fruits and vegetables.170 plantations provide over 60% of Perth's fruit and vegetables, and they are all based on the Gascoine river, which to all intents and purposes is dry! But below the surface the river runs year round, supplying the town with water as well as all the irrigation necessary for the plantations.

Carnarvon is also famous for other things, among them a space tracking station which was built to track the early manned space satellites and the Apollo missions to the moon. It stands on a hill just outside the town, and although disused now, houses a small space and technology museum that was opened just this year by Buzz Aldrin, one of the lunar astronauts. It was the only one in the southern hemisphere, and actually relayed the first pictures of man on the moon and the famous words "one small step for man" to the world.

The town also boasts the longest jetty in this quarter of Australia, and was built in 1897 to accommodate state ships which brought supplies and passengers to the region from Perth and beyond. Sheep and cattle were driven here from the hinterland and loaded onto ships for export and to the abattoirs of Perth and the other capital cities.
Nowadays it is just a tourist attraction, there is a train which runs it's length, almost a mile, but as is the story of our lives at the moment, the day we visited was it's day off. Originally the train went right into the town, some 5 kms further in across a bridge, but this is now a walking trail. Nearby is a small museum and a heritage centre, which contains a shearing hall of fame, we discovered that a team of 8 sheared almost 20,000 sheep in eleven days in 1920!

In 1942 a battle took place just 50 miles offshore here between the Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney 11 and the German Auxiliary cruiser the Kormoran, who was at first disguised as a Dutch freighter, and having taken the Sydney by surprise went on to sink her with all 645 hands. However before going down the Sydney crippled the Kormoran, which eventually sank, but not before some 319 seamen managed to get off, some landing ashore just north of here in this lifeboat.




Some 60 kms north are the Blowholes, a series of spectacular coastal caves at sea level which take in water and direct it skywards, at times up to 65 ft high (20 mtrs). The cast here is very rugged, probably originally volcanic, although there are some small beaches along the way

Back in civilisation gave us the opportunity of attending the local Rotary club, a twilight club which mainly meets without a meal. I took the opportunity of exchanging banners with the president, GORDON BENNETT!  It was a business meeting, which was interesting, but as we had to eat we gave our apologies and left half way through the agenda.

Our friends, Lee and Karen and the children have just arrived to be with us for a couple of days, so the blog may be put on hold for the duration!!!!