Coral Bay to Carnarvon

 A mini lie in today, we are in no rush. Leisurely breakfast at the bakery and little walk to the beach. We went to gas up at one of those 24 hr fuel stops and a guy was filling up a 20 litte container before us. He filled it up and asked me how much was showing at the pump and I told him $55. He said he opted for $60 and insisted I use the last $5 worth. I thanked him very much for being so generous and as I pulled the nozzle out he said, well my boss is paying!  So thank you boss whoever you are.

We then hit the road and unfortunately every bit of  our electronic bits decided to go the blink. I was fiddling with Robyn’s intercom ( on her helmet!) yesterday and obviously did something to cock it all up. Anyway we carried on and about 80kms up the road we pulled into a roadhouse for a break and I sorted it all out. 

There is just a whole lot of nothing in this section with the landscape varying between low scrub and grasslands. Often no feature to be seen in any direction. The wind was quite strong and gusty which kept me focussed and also had a bit of a cooling effect which was welcome. 

We are aware of a storm affecting the South-West corner of Australia to above Perth and the clouds ahead looked ominous. I guess these winds are the outer edge of it.

We rolled in Carnarvon about luchtime and had a little look around. A really pretty little place on the banks of a river near the coast. It is known as the fruit bowl of the area with orchards and market gardens aplenty. 

Carnarvon is also the site of a NASA communication centre which was set up in the 60’s and lasted until the mid 70’s.

The original dishes have been left in place and it is now the site of a museum. We decided to visit, the lady on the counter said they were only open for one more hour but would charge us half price. Well what a treat, all the communication equipment is on display in one section, there are visual displays throughout and a mini movie theatre showing clips from the era. Then there is an interactive display mainly aimed at kids which I imagine they would love. We had our picture taken on the moon!

There was a lifesize mock up of the lunar landing module in another area. 

By the time we gave this a very cursory visit, our time was up but there was one more treat. As we were getting ready to leave they asked me if I wanted to have a go in the rocket capsule simulator. Robyn declined but I didn’t need to be asked twice. I eased my way through the opening and lay on my back with my legs bent and raised up and the door was closed behind me. There was a screen placed above me with visual effects and then the 3 minute countdown commenced with rocket sound effects thrown in.  The countdown was obviously taken from the actual launch of Apollo 11. Such a cool experience, I had a big grin on my face when they opened the door. You can still have an imagination like a kid at 68!

Unfortunately my grin soon subsided when I realised it was pouring with rain outside. So with warnings about being careful on slippery roads we rode to our motel and unfortunately it has rained and blown all afternoon so we haven’t been able to explore this cool little place.