5th - 7th May 2012 Carnarvon

We headed out to Carnavon today and we were quite surprised that it was not as big as we thought it may have been...

We did go for a drive around and found it is famous for its banana plantations.The Gascoyne River and surrounding fertile red earth are now crucial to the town's thriving agricultural industry.

On either side of the river you can see many plantations drawing water from the aquifer of the river basin, they grow a host of delicacies. Bananas, mangoes, papaya, carambola melons, grapes and a wide range of vegetables....which you are able to buy direct from the grower. 

We drove around the harbour and checked out all the fishing boats, Carnarvon is also famous for its local fish etc. so you will never starve here :)

This is taking solar paneling to the extreme every part of the roof was covered..

One Mile Jetty as the locals call it...was constructed in 1897. The Jetty is 1493m long and is now part of the Carnarvon Heritage Precinct, which has been restoring it since 1998. It is the longest jetty in the northwest and was once used as a deep-sea port for the shipment of local produce and wool in Perth. There is a museum alongside of the jetty, which had an admission of a gold coin donation.. Tram rides are available if you don't want to walk the distance, it's well used by the divers and fisherman.

The Gascoyne River is the longest river in Western Australia (760km). The river has its source between Meekatharra and Newman in the Robinson Ranges west of the Gibson Desert and flows into the Indian Ocean at Carnarvon.

At Carnarvon... wooden barrages have been built along the mouth of the Gascoyne River to slow the flow of water in the river and to help prevent erosion of the river banks.

Irrigation and drinking water are drawn from aquifers in the river, which is replenished during the wet season when the river flows. Local farmers and plantation owners tap into the aquifers and pump the water to the surface to service their crops. All the plantations and orchards have water rationed and they each receive an annual allocation. Most of the plantations and fruit orchards are situated along the river approximately 5-19km inland from the mouth of the river. 

The  River flows for about 120 days of the year and for the rest of the year the river flows underneath the dry river bed. Carnarvon is located at the only place in Australia where the desert reaches out into the sea.

The river is a 300km tongue of sand which acts as a huge water storage system and the water table (river's aquifers) lie below the desert sands. The river was named by the explorer George Grey in 1839 in honour of his friend, Captain Gascoyne.

The river actually looks dry but it's not.... the water is flowing under the sand...