Carnarvon and a Trip to Rocky Pool

Three days at a powered site, quite a luxury after so many days without a hot shower and now also, 'endless' electricity. Had a bit of a problem with the root of one of my molar teeth. There was some tenderness there for some time that never quite went away. So, before going 'bush' again I went to the local Medical Centre (yes, there is a dentist but that one is going flat chat and will not take on new patients) and there, at the Medicall Centre, Dr Cynthia took one look to confirm a cyst that would need to be tackled with two lots of antibiotics. Going into the second day, I already feel some improvement and there are 6 days to go. No alcohol, said the Dr, so in the meantime, my beer in the fridge will have to stay cold for a week. Quite amazing that a town of about 10,000 should only have one Dentist, let alone one, that won't see any more patients….

Carnarvon is quite a nice little town, looks tidy and clean too.

The Civic Centre 'downtown' Carnarvon

It appears that there is quite a lot of fruit and vegetables grown here, even though the landscape looks dry. The secret is, of course, the mighty Gascoyne River which looks like a huge expanse of sand and completely dry, however it continues to flow underground, allowing Carnarvon district to grow about 70% of Western Australia's vegetable supply.

The Mighty Gascoyne River - where is that water?

There is also a large satellite communications dish that was built in conjunction with NASA in 1966. It is no longer in use since 1987.


There is a 'wild' campsite called 'Rocky Pool', about 55km east of Carnarvon, that has been recommended to me, so, this morning I have decided to check it out. I have a last hot shower, breakfast, take my pills and head out again. The sign showing the way, points down a dirt road. Not too bad condition and I decide to brave it out. About 2km down the dirt road, the road is sealed and I can travel the remaining 35km to the turn that will take me to Rock Pool. When I get there, only three trailers are parked there, plenty of space to park my van. It’s a bit windy today and an mostly overcast day and an occasional shower keeps the temperature down and most of the bush flies at bay.

Rocky Pool is a deep water basin, smack in the middle of the riverbed of the Gascoyne River. A sandbed marks the width of the riverbed, which is about 100metres wide. The deep water basin is lined with sand, the surrounding riverbanks support large stands of Eucalypts, a sign there is plenty of water in the ground also.




The colours of some of the tree barks are quite amazing
with shades from white to green, red, grey and silver.

Fragile looking flowers growing on the river bank

The river does flood regularly, on some of the larger trees huge logs of other large trees have been lodged by the flooding waters in their branches.


The water also attracts lots of birdlife that come for a drink