Carnarvon and Quobba Again

We did experience the storm on Thursday night but was short lived and it was quite calm by the morning.

In Carnarvon you see avenues of trees all leaning over one way so it shows that the prevailing winds are very strong and constant. Note the trees in the CP.
Carnarvon is at the head of the Gascoyne River which is appears as dry river bed but the river is underground and only is visible for about six weeks of the year. Many plantations are on both sides of the river and because of the desert climate they can grow all year round so there is an amazing variety of fruit and veggies grown in the area.
We went on a plantation tour and found out all about the water allocation. Each property gets the same allocation each month no matter the size of the property or how many families it sustains. If you go over your allocation there are huge fines so you have to really plan what you grow and how much water you will need. All the water is fed to the plants by drip irrigation and is controlled by computer for maximum efficiency. There is very little rain in the area as it is really a desert climate and the catchment area for the river is a long way. At the end of the tour we sampled some of the delicious products made from their produce – jams, sauces and the famous fruits ice-cream some dipped in chocolate.
The next day we went for a walk on the One Mile Jetty which is the longest in WA and was used to ship wool, sheep and cattle to Fremantle. There was even a cattle race on it years ago. It was very windy on the walk out on the on the jetty but we made it to the end. Normally there is a little train that take you out but it was being repaired. We also saw the lighthouse cottage and a railway museum
The afternoon was spent cleaning the car and the van, very much needed. It was a lovely sunny day and the wind dropped.

We decided to go back to Quobba Point because we loved it there and also Brian wanted to try out his new underwater camera. When we got there the blow holes were blowing spouting with a massive spray and making a huge noise as the large spout of water was forced high into the air.
We were lucky enough to get the same campsite as last time.

It wasn’t long before we donned the snorkelling gear and walked down to the beach to see what we could spy. It was pretty cold in the water but once again we saw lots of fish and Brian took a lot of photos.

Later on that afternoon I went for a walk to the lighthouse over the sand hills. There seem to be more wild flowers out this time.

The next day was a beautiful sunny day and I was anxious to see the coral in the sunlight. My goodness it was so beautiful and colourful with blues, green, purple and yellow. The water was warmer and the tide was a bit higher so you could swim over the top of the coral. It was amazing.

That afternoon it was overcast and by night it was raining so we knew it was time to move on.