20 March 2018 - Day 17 - Perth to Carnarvon

The time for departure this morning for Carnarvon was set last night over dinner at 5.30 am. The early start was based on my assessment that it would take about 12 hours to motor the over 900 km for the day. Accordingly, Ludi said that she would get sandwiches ready for me in the morning. I asked her for a cup of coffee to get me started. Everything was ready when I got downstairs just a tad before 5.30 am. Final rearrangements were done in the car; Ludi had packed the food items neatly. Suresh and Ludi had been wonderful hosts over the past two days; they sacrificed their routine to make sure that I enjoyed the city as much as I could in the short stay. I know I will have to wait to get to India before I can eat the next portion of Puttu and Kadala – thank you Ludi.

It was still not daybreak when I set off from Goldfinch Avenue. There wasn’t any hassle getting to NR1 despite the early morning traffic. I decided to break the long journey into at least two segments. The first would cover about 430 km to Geraldton; second stage would be from that beautiful port town to my destination for the day, Carnarvon – another 480 km. The first stage of the drive went very smooth. I was able to cover it in about four and half hours. I also polished off two sandwiches of Ham Spam and cheese that Ludi had so graciously prepared for me. At Geraldton I stopped over at the Shell fuel station and tanked up. I also picked up an 8 x 1.5 litre water pack as I saw warnings about severe water shortage towards Carnarvon. I believed that would be so because the water in the restrooms were so saline that it hurt my eyes. As the drive beyond Geraldton wore on I started getting a bit weary in the eyes. That’s when I almost made a fatal mistake. I somehow missed a 60 kph repair site speed warning, which had also warned the road user to stop if necessary. I suddenly came to a set of traffic cones with a warden holding the stop sign. I passed the sign when I realized that I had to stop. The warden was alarmed and he stepped aside and almost fell. I applied breaks all of a sudden out of instinct and reversed. The warden had recovered from his ‘trauma’ and gave me a lecture on road accidents and the role mobiles played in them. I politely explained that I had not been on the phone, but had genuinely overlooked the Stop sign. I had acted in time; a couple of road trains came trundling from the opposite direction as only one side of the road was operational due to road repair works. That was a close miss and my heart skipped a few beats.

The landscape was drab and I thought that the only difference between the Nullarbor Plains and this was the soil; while in the Plains it was limestone bedrock this was red sand and closer to Carnarvon it was desert sand. A few kms near to the Carnarvon Caravan Park where I had booked my accommodation I stopped at the Caltex fuel station to top up; Suresh told me to top up wherever I could on the way and not wait for the fuel tank to get to reserve. The Caravan Park was not very busy and Ross, at the reception, told me that he would have to book me into a nearby Motel as he was refurbishing the water pipelines at his facility. In a short while I was on my way to the Gateway Motel, a km down the road. I was asked to meet Philip, who took his time to find me a suitable room. He got me a suite room, with two bedrooms and a living and kitchen. Philip also explained where I could go for a couple of hours near the city, if I had the time.

After rearranging luggage and food for the next day I tried to get linked to the internet, in vain. Instead of wasting time any more time I set forth to the one mile jetty, which is listed as a top attraction of the city. It was truly disappointing, to say the least. The jetty has been closed for some time now due to its unsafe condition. The jetty had been a major source of commerce and logistics for this part of Australia linking business from Perth during the early part of the 20^th century. The 1.5 km jetty had been constructed in 1897 and is now part of the Carnarvon Heritage Precinct. The museum and the heritage lighthouse in the vicinity were also closed. Then I headed to the Pelican Point. I really do not know why it is called thus. Not even a crow was seen there, but is listed as a popular place for swimming and fishing. There was no evidence of this either. Disappointed at the so-called attractions I tried my luck at the Oversees Telecommunications Commission Satellite Earth Station. The OTC Dish is used by NASA and the European Space Agency to track satellites and comets. The station was closed by the time I got there. In fact, the entire town wore a ‘ghost’ look by 5 pm, except the liquor shop that seemed to be doing decent business. I returned to the Motel and informed Philip about the condition of the attractions so that future tourists get proper information at the reception.

It was back to the room and time for a couple of sundowners. I chose to have a couple of cans of Highland Scotch Whisky in Cola – a premix carbonated drink. From Woolworths in Mandurah, on the way to Perth, I had picked up a few boxes of Heat & Eat items. I decided to try one of them this night; it would be butter chicken in rice. It was not bad at all and was quite wholesome.