Carnarvon has been receiving a bit of negative press of late, so we thought wed circulate a bit of positive press, after all there are so many more positive aspects to Carnarvon thats why we love living here. Consider this: o THE CLIMATE keep an eye on the weather report each night youll see we are constantly way ahead of the rest of the state for near perfect temperatures and clear blue skies. o LOCATION on the coast, built along the banks of the longest river in WA, the Gascoyne River. The central hub for exploring Shark Bay, Monkey Mia, Mount Augustus, Coral Bay, Exmouth and the fascinating Outback Pathways. o UNIQUE BEAUTY our town is built around a unique inlet called the Fascine which provides a sheltered waterway suitable for swimming, sailing, kayaking, wind and kite surfing, fishing and crabbing, right at the end of the main street! o MULTICULTURAL POPULATION for its size Carnarvon must have the greatest range of nationalities living and working together. From local indigenous peoples to people from the UK, Ireland, North and South America, Italians, Dutch, Slavs, Portuguese, Vietnamese, South Africans, Nigerians, Indians and many more. The great beauty of this that all have fascinating stories to tell, culture to share and best of all recipes that enrich our impressive local harvest. o FRESH PRODUCE Carnarvon is famous for its Bananas, but did you know we also grow table Grapes, Mangos, early stone fruit, Carambola (star fruit), Papaya and a massive range of vegetables. These of course are all available direct from the plantations at our Gascoyne Growers Markets held every Saturday morning, May to November. o FISH, PRAWNS, SCALLOPS yes we also have a thriving fishing industry, we buy our fish direct from the boat harbour, theres nothing like fish direct from the sea filleted and ready to cook. If you are really keen drop a line in anywhere along the coast, from a boat at sea or over at the islands and you are bound to be rewarded with a decent size Snapper, Mackerel, Red Emperor you name it, its out there. o ACCOMMODATION Carnarvon has a great range of accommodation ranging from motels, units and backpackers on the water front, to beautiful shady caravan parks with on site vans or up market cabins some even have their own spas and all are pretty much within a short walking distance to town. o SPORT with our superb climate we play a lot of sport. Of course water sports feature highly we have the Carnarfin fishing competition and the challenging Fremantle to Carnarvon yacht race and have even hosted the Windrush state titles a couple of times. The Gascoyne Dash dirt race down the Gascoyne River has become an annual event that attracts participants from far and wide. Footy, Soccer, Cricket, Netball, Tennis, Swimming, Bowls, Pony Club, and Speedway are all played passionately. o The more sedate amongst us join the Garden Club or Craft Club, spend time photographing this intriguing landscape or just spark up the Barbie and enjoy a balmy evening with friends. Whatever your preference, a break in Carnarvon is guaranteed to banish the stress. Drop back to a slower pace and reconnect with the beauty all around you. CARNARVON THE GOOD LIFE

Oh! The all-important question, Chris! Where are the good free camping spots/hideaways along the river, and what's the fishing like in it? Carnarvon is one of the places I'm most looking forward to visiting on the west coast, to be honest. I spent a year over west in my younger days, never went further north than Geraldton whilst I was there, and greatly regret not getting to Carnarvon. With only 3 months available for the entire round trip we won't get a chance to spend any more than a few days or so, but a stopover in that area is an absolute 'must do'.

That's a great question Catweazle. Are you ready for the answer? The Gascoyne River runs "upside down". Oh it roars when it's running after heavy rains, but most of the time the sand is on top. It can be very deep and wide. The market gardeners have bores in the river bed and pumps on the bank to bring the water up to the gardens. They grow wonderfully sweet bananas, tomatoes, melons and table grapes among some of them just on the outskirts of town. The fishing is on the sea side, and according to my mates, it's good all the time. The Quobba Blow Holes are also the site of free camping. Actually there is space at the Quobba Station, on the beach and a few other places along the coast. It's fairly windy most of the time off the Indian Ocean. You can also go inland towards Gascoyne Junction. Mostly unsealed, but ok for vans. Just watched the sheep and wool trucks, depending on the time of the year. Oh, there are thousands of wild goats out in the country. The sheep ****ies make more money out of live goat export. No feeding, shearing, drenching, dipping, lambing, marking. There are 4 van parks. I camped there for a month and the place really took me in. I loved it, and I'll head back some time.

Hi Chris, it seems you have a real affection for the town so it's good to see someone tell it like the media won't. Yeah and as catweazel beat me to it , what about the fishing, I thought Cairns had it all

Nah, Cairns has nothing in Broome and all down the west coast. Firstly you don't have to keep looking over your shoulder for snappy handbags, and watch your legs for stinger attack when launching and recovering your boat. For some reason I did feel an affinity with Carnarvon while I was there, and want to return. The piece I quoted was actually sent to me by a local aquaintance who really loves the place too. So I fulfilled his wish and spread the word.

Yep gotta agrree with Mas post .
From Freo to Broome I rate Carnarvon as  the best major town, it seems to have the lot  and those bananas are to die for against the freeze bred crap we get in Vic
Trying to convince mate to meet me at Ceduna so i can walk accross the border and sit down and gorge myself on those nanas.

Granny forgot to say that for the river to run it must rain up to 200ks inland after a cyclone has turn to the rain bearing depression and passes near Mt Augustus it,s pretty awesome when it does run. Camping spots on the coast A.140ks south Gladstone B. 50 Ks south are New Beach and Bush Bay North 80 ks Quobba and all the spots further north East on the Gascoyne river is a perminent water hole call Rocky Pool about 50ks All these spot have plenty of room and gravel roads which taken easy are accessable with on road vans and 2 wd. One word of caution if it looks like more than a spit of rain leave as the roads turn to mud and becomes very slippery the guy at Gladstone will charge $500 plus for a tow job

You're right JRH. No go in the mud. Thanks for filling in the details and the metoerological info regarding the source of the water in the river. I was there in late Aug and it didn't look like rain. It blew like a bugger for a few days though, but the weather was fine most of the time. Geraldton's pretty cool too, but a much bigger town.

As an ex resident of Carnarvon the only advice I would give is, look past the obvious when you visit. Sure there are problems.....many however are Government caused. Disregard the surface clutter and look deeper. It's a great area to live and play in. The Gascoyne River is a sight to behold when in full flood.

Do not disregard visiting Carnarvon due to a bad press. I always have questioned the wisdom of posting female police officers to North West towns.

Still on the road and loving it.

REGARDS

You said it Wombat. That's how this topic started. My friends sent me a local brochure urging people to ignore the consequences of "riff and raff" which have recently made life a bit uncomfortable for the locals and visitors. Like most mixed communities there are the good, the bad and the just plain ugly. Unfortunately it's the ugly minority which get the highest profile for all the wrong reasons. I think that's what the Carnarvon locals are trying to change with this project. I'm just passing it on to do my bit to put a positive on a negative. I think it's worked, don't you?