Carnarvon

We visited the Carnarvon Space & Technology Museum today, and spent 1/12 hours there  and could have spent more time. A must see for visitors to the area.

It was very informative and they had great replicas on site. For example, right to the exact measurements, of the first lunar landing module. It was small. We also went into a replica of the command module and listened to the take off with footage from inside Mission Control, noise and all. 

Good experience, good information and a lot of machinery. Samples of space junk, videos of a space walk, games to play. We even had our photo taken on the moon, next to the landing module.

Also visited the Maratime Museum whilst there, lots of history involved.  There was the Shearer’s Hall of Fame, the first in Australia with lots of drays, engines and carts related to the banana industry.

There was a replica of Captain Cook’s barque HMS Endeavour, beautifully crafted, in another building, but here was the main interest for us was the history surrounding HMAS Sydney II. Lots of photos, information and the original lifeboat from the Kormoran. 

They also had a little theatre seating around for 40 people, and showed right from the start, and the decision making of searching for the Sydney. They first found the Kormoran and knew the Sydney wasn’t far away. After several days, they had the first glimpse of the Sydney.

When cameras took photos of the sea floor, its shape and relics were easy to spot. A life raft, shoes, gun tower, and the actual damage the Kormoran did to the vessel. It was an emotional time for the crew and the message was then sent to Admiralty house. Word quickly spread to the nation. 

Some of the photos and information about them told the story that some 80 prisoners were taken to Carnarvon Gaol, but they couldn’t keep them there. They then walked the mile jetty to MV Centour and were taken to Fremantle for interrogation, and then on to prisoner of war camps in and around Murchison, in the north west of Victoria.

We took a trip out to the Quobba Blow Holes. A, because we hadn’t been there before, and B, because it was there. Scrambled over some rough rocks to get to the blowholes, but it was worth the effort. The sea was rough, it was windy, of course, so they put on a great show for us. Didn’t disappoint.

Bonus was there was a food van there, selling coffees, even on with soft serve ice cream, or flavourings (yuk) hot food or cold drinks and ice creams.. much appreciated.

We also had our photo take under the famous sign King Waves Kill. Then a quick trip around the area, but the sand and corrugated roads we too much, so we moved on.

Further on driving though to a few free camps, we sighted dozens of termite mounds. Not the ones that we were used to seeing, but these had a huge round base, towering up to a height of around 8-10 feet, with a little ‘chimney’ on top. Some were impressive and looked like the Taj Mahal of termite mounds.

These seemed to get less and less in numbers the further we got towards Minilya Bridge.