Our time in Carnarvon is drawing to a close. Suddenly, the 'must do and see' list assumed a degree of urgency. Gascoyne Junction and the Kennedy Range demand to be crossed off.
Given that the Kennedys are well over 200 kms distant, the last 60 or so of which are along dirt of varying standards, we decided that on overnight stay was to only way to go. So poor old Max was off for another stint with the local vet's boarding service and we headed out in the early afternoon when Liz came off shift in the office.
Our road to the tiny township of Gascoyne Junction took us through the low scrub and red earth country east of Carnarvon
and past a series of claypans.
As we made our way further in to the bush, the flat countryside gave way to a series of low sand hills
the red earth of which reminded us a great deal of our trip south down the Stuart Highway over a year ago. A year ago...where does the time go?
It was a real treat to be able to give the cruiser its head. With no caravan behind and no kayak on top, she loped along at the speed limit whilst at barely 2,000 revs. Within no time the distant bulk of the Kennedy Range came into sight.
Gascoyne Junction was nigh. But what exactly is this place and why visit? This tiny hub of the local mining, pastoralism and desert fine merino wool industries, lies near the junction of the Gascoyne and Lyons Rivers and was originally named KiIlili, the local aboriginal word for bullrushes (at the whim of the then Surveyor General who insisted on a 'local' name).
A Police Station (1897), a Roads Board office (1912) and a pub (of course) were the sum total of the town's buildings for many years after the original movement of settlers to the area. In response to the universal use by the inhabitants of the name 'Gascoyne Junction' or simply 'The Junction', the town name was altered in 1939 to reflect this common practice.
The town is now home to the offices of the Shire of Upper Gascoyne, one of the most remote in Western Australia. And, in typical WA style, distance is no object. The shire staff administer an area of 46,602 square kilometres which includes the Kennedy Range and Mount Augustus National Parks. 'The Junction', as it is still universally know in this part of the world, is the gateway to both.
And here we were. Under cloudy skies and in the teeth of a hooting, hot northerly, we made our way along the very new entrance road towards the hotel/caravan park complex, the social hub of the town.
The devastating floods of 2010 wiped out most of Gascoyne Junction as it then was. The town, and particularly the tourist infrastructure, has been largely rebuilt since then and is being heavily promoted as a tourist destination. We were keen to see if it was all as good as the brochures promised. Almost!
The pub building includes a roadhouse which provides fuel and limited grocery and automotive parts and a cafe service and a tavern, which opens daily from mid-day, and like any other, serves meals and drinks.
At the rear, accessed from the caravan park through this gated fence...when it wasn't locked (note the spectacular flowers in the garden bed), is a real oasis in the desert.
A large, well grassed area, surrounds the pool and provides a great outlook from the rear verandah 'beer garden'.
A Police Station (1897), a Roads Board office (1912) and a pub (of course) were the sum total of the town's buildings for many years after the original movement of settlers to the area. In response to the universal use by the inhabitants of the name 'Gascoyne Junction' or simply 'The Junction', the town name was altered in 1939 to reflect this common practice.
The town is now home to the offices of the Shire of Upper Gascoyne, one of the most remote in Western Australia. And, in typical WA style, distance is no object. The shire staff administer an area of 46,602 square kilometres which includes the Kennedy Range and Mount Augustus National Parks. 'The Junction', as it is still universally know in this part of the world, is the gateway to both.
And here we were. Under cloudy skies and in the teeth of a hooting, hot northerly, we made our way along the very new entrance road towards the hotel/caravan park complex, the social hub of the town.
The devastating floods of 2010 wiped out most of Gascoyne Junction as it then was. The town, and particularly the tourist infrastructure, has been largely rebuilt since then and is being heavily promoted as a tourist destination. We were keen to see if it was all as good as the brochures promised. Almost!
The pub building includes a roadhouse which provides fuel and limited grocery and automotive parts and a cafe service and a tavern, which opens daily from mid-day, and like any other, serves meals and drinks.
At the rear, accessed from the caravan park through this gated fence...when it wasn't locked (note the spectacular flowers in the garden bed), is a real oasis in the desert.
A large, well grassed area, surrounds the pool and provides a great outlook from the rear verandah 'beer garden'.
Back on the other side of the fence again, we find the very well designed and appointed caravan park. These classy dongas provide budget accommodation,
whilst for those who want something a little more luxurious (like us!) the park has a set of cabins of varying sizes grouped just beyond the dongas. The irrigation set up and young plantings show just how new this complex is. We would love to revisit next year to see if the gardens have lived up to their obvious promise in this dry and otherwise somewhat barren landscape.
The cabins are all topically named. We had the pleasure of inhabiting 'Thomas' for the night. (no idea who Thomas is or was... and, oddly for me, I forgot to enquire), where we were particularly comfortable in this well appointed and adequately sized temporary home away from home away from home!
From here we could look north-west along a row of cement caravan site pads,
and beyond that, over the bleak but strangely attractive flat, red earth landscape and low scrub which surrounds The Junction.
This is clearly a park in development, but the sites are well laid out and roomy.
Each site has a large cement slab, a real boon for those who are fed up with the universal need to make sure the van is level, which includes all of us who tow!
At the western end of the park are the campsites where any attempts to nurture the lawn originally planted here have failed disappointingly.
The camp kitchen is large and well equipped (even if a little exposed) as is the ablution block (from what we could see...we were enjoying the luxury of our own)
and for those caravaners who would like the convenience of their own en suite, they too are well catered for (seen here looking east back towards the hotel building)
Those who planned and built this facility must be expecting it to be visited by many who have children. With this second playground in the park itself, they will be spoiled for choice.
So, after a wander around our new digs, which will look so much more attractive once the trees and shrubs have grown and the lawned areas are properly cared for, it was off to visit the local information centre which we found housed in the nearby (everything in The Junction is nearby!) Shire administration buildings.
As we passed the adjoining large shire works depot
we came to the first of a number of gardens which are a feature of the administration buildings area. As you will soon see a real effort has been made to liven things up around these buildings with colourful and well planned gardens.
The simple Gascoyne Junction war memorial stands at the front of the tourist information centre.
The roof in the centre of the photo is that of the original Roads Board (Shire Council) building which is now heritage listed and is being developed as a museum.
At the eastern end of the complex this garden bed is a work in progress
whilst the flowering shrubs in the centre of the buildings are far more established,
as are the frangipanis in this nook.
A small exhibition of old machinery stands around the Roads Board building and along the fence line of the adjacent works depot. As I menitoned earlier, this is all still very much a work in progress.
After scooping up a few useful pamphlets in the information centre we went on to admire the display of beautifully coloured local stones including opalite, chalcedony and, particularly the speciality of the region, mookarite.
Thanks to the Internet, I have included a couple of photos of this Australian form of jasper which combines many arresting colours in some incredible patterns, here as a raw lump of rock
and here as a finished gemstone.
I have to confess I had never heard of, nor seen, this stone before, but can tell you that the range of jewellery on show in the information centre (and, as expected, all for sale...at suprisingly reasonable prices) was strikingly colourful and impressive. Notwithstanding the modest price range of this collection, I left relieved that Liz was not quite as enamoured of these stones as I and did not expect a present. I had a plan to exchange our hard earned for something more fluid in nature whilst at The Junction.
For now it was back to our digs. As we wandered past the local, fully sealed airfield on the ridge opposite, the extended wind sock left no doubt as to the strength of the breeze and did little to raise our hopes of a peaceful sunset libation on our cosy front porch.
True enough....hot, windy and gritty does not do it for either of us. It was a champers aperetif in our cabin before we were off to the tavern for tea, and a mission of another kind. One of The Plantation park permanents who lives near our site had heard of our planned visit. He approached me on the morning of our departure, pressed a $10 note into my hand and asked that we "buy Pronto a drink from Val and John". "No problems, Simmo...will he be in the pub?" "Of course!"
And he was. As we broached the bar we noticed a chap who just had to be a local propping up one end corner of it. "Now I could be about to make a complete idiot of myself, but I reckon you must be Pronto." "You're right mate, who are you?"
Oddly enough it was a while before I managed to join Liz under the verandah, but once settled we were able to confirm the reports with which we had been pre-armed.....that the chef had recently moved to The Junction from the Carnarvon Gascoyne Hotel and knew his stuff. What a treat it was to munch into a fine array of very nicely cooked veggies as an accompaniment to our chicken parmies instead of the ubiquitous sides of soggy, fattening chips and limp salad.
But, beyond our meal and a couple of acceptable glasses of sav blanc, we did not tarry. A long day awaited us on the morrow. We were off to see the much vaunted Kennedy Range and take in two of the less challenging walks on offer before heading back to Carnarvon.
At the western end of the park are the campsites where any attempts to nurture the lawn originally planted here have failed disappointingly.
The camp kitchen is large and well equipped (even if a little exposed) as is the ablution block (from what we could see...we were enjoying the luxury of our own)
and for those caravaners who would like the convenience of their own en suite, they too are well catered for (seen here looking east back towards the hotel building)
Those who planned and built this facility must be expecting it to be visited by many who have children. With this second playground in the park itself, they will be spoiled for choice.
So, after a wander around our new digs, which will look so much more attractive once the trees and shrubs have grown and the lawned areas are properly cared for, it was off to visit the local information centre which we found housed in the nearby (everything in The Junction is nearby!) Shire administration buildings.
As we passed the adjoining large shire works depot
we came to the first of a number of gardens which are a feature of the administration buildings area. As you will soon see a real effort has been made to liven things up around these buildings with colourful and well planned gardens.
The simple Gascoyne Junction war memorial stands at the front of the tourist information centre.
The roof in the centre of the photo is that of the original Roads Board (Shire Council) building which is now heritage listed and is being developed as a museum.
At the eastern end of the complex this garden bed is a work in progress
whilst the flowering shrubs in the centre of the buildings are far more established,
as are the frangipanis in this nook.
A small exhibition of old machinery stands around the Roads Board building and along the fence line of the adjacent works depot. As I menitoned earlier, this is all still very much a work in progress.
After scooping up a few useful pamphlets in the information centre we went on to admire the display of beautifully coloured local stones including opalite, chalcedony and, particularly the speciality of the region, mookarite.
Thanks to the Internet, I have included a couple of photos of this Australian form of jasper which combines many arresting colours in some incredible patterns, here as a raw lump of rock
and here as a finished gemstone.
I have to confess I had never heard of, nor seen, this stone before, but can tell you that the range of jewellery on show in the information centre (and, as expected, all for sale...at suprisingly reasonable prices) was strikingly colourful and impressive. Notwithstanding the modest price range of this collection, I left relieved that Liz was not quite as enamoured of these stones as I and did not expect a present. I had a plan to exchange our hard earned for something more fluid in nature whilst at The Junction.
For now it was back to our digs. As we wandered past the local, fully sealed airfield on the ridge opposite, the extended wind sock left no doubt as to the strength of the breeze and did little to raise our hopes of a peaceful sunset libation on our cosy front porch.
And he was. As we broached the bar we noticed a chap who just had to be a local propping up one end corner of it. "Now I could be about to make a complete idiot of myself, but I reckon you must be Pronto." "You're right mate, who are you?"
Oddly enough it was a while before I managed to join Liz under the verandah, but once settled we were able to confirm the reports with which we had been pre-armed.....that the chef had recently moved to The Junction from the Carnarvon Gascoyne Hotel and knew his stuff. What a treat it was to munch into a fine array of very nicely cooked veggies as an accompaniment to our chicken parmies instead of the ubiquitous sides of soggy, fattening chips and limp salad.
But, beyond our meal and a couple of acceptable glasses of sav blanc, we did not tarry. A long day awaited us on the morrow. We were off to see the much vaunted Kennedy Range and take in two of the less challenging walks on offer before heading back to Carnarvon.
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