I stayed in Carnarvon last night. Memorial Drive, a road several kms long, is lined with individual plaques on both sides, commemorating the loss of life aboard HMAS Sydney II during WW2.
And a School of the Air base - the teachers bit. I was fascinated by this as a kid, and understand that it's now really up to date with kids in remote areas benefitting from email and Skype type stuff so they can see their teachers face to face. That must reduce their isolation dramatically, although I don't know if there is a link with other pupils.
I also found out that the old telegraph office in Hamelin Pool saved the American space programme back in 1964. Apparently the Gemini space craft was orbiting over this part of Australia when it vaporised part of the line telecommunications. But the old morse link that was still intact, so local lady, Mrs Lillian O'Donoughue, spent the next four hours sending messages back and forth to NASA until they fixed it, for which she later got a special award!
Then I met a real life Lillian - Sandy and Lillian at Sandy McGinns (Honda) mototcycles in Robinson Street who are the business! Super helpful people. They ordered the parts I needed no trouble by phone to my next stop as they didn't have them in stock, replaced my chain, and changed my tyre as I couldn't do it with my dodgy hand ( courtesy of the cannula from my hospital stay) and then wouldn't let me pay any labour costs. What nice people; it's so nice when you meet such good people and makes up for those Honda idiots in Wagga Wagga before Christmas.
Sandy moving Gerty
After that, the bank and another helpful person who sorted out an issue with my card. Must be great person day today!
So with two main jobs done, I moved off towards Coral Bay via the servo and another chatty lady there who gave me excellent directions and unconfused the directions Google maps was insisting I took.
It's plantation central out here , with bananas and mangoes ( I think) flanking the highway.
But evidence of the dire drought situation is ever present although the verges are surprisingly green. This area had heavy rain recently, hence the verdant verges, and was flooded, yet already the rivers are drying out.
And it's also big road train country up here. I'm used to three trailers but they do four up this way and when they pass, they just keep on coming.
My 'sit in the middle of the lane' tactic seems to be working and is far less scary than allowing them to squeeze by and risking them getting it wrong. I let them know I know they're there by flickng my indicator, and so far, so good; no dramas to date.
I also crossed the Tropic of Capricorn this arvo - 23 degrees south. I crossed the Tropic of Cancer a few years ago,also on a bike, that time in Western Sahara, but they had misspelt the sign and it read Topic of Cancer. Funny. Sounds a bit like a BMA Journal write up.
Coral Bay zoomed up as planned by late afternoon. I had planned on a free camp but because there is no free camping in the actual bay, I stopped just short of it and found a good spot off the road and up a bit higher which vehicles can't reach. There is supposed to be an official free camp along here but I must have missed it although there is a layby right by the side of the highway. That's a bit too exposed for my liking though. So I'm tucked away under some scraggy trees, now with a canopy of stars stretching as far as the eye can see in all directions. Not bad! I even managed some real food tonight instead of canned stuff. Gourmet scrambled eggs with real veg. Nice.
Ningaloo Reef is off Coral Bay which is where whale sharks, the worlds largest fish, hang out this time of year. You can swim with them but at a price which I can't afford,so I'll just have to imagine. But then again, I'm not too keen on the whole fish thing so I'm not fussed.
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