Story Title – Shark Bay to Carnarvon, the Coral Coast Highway
Episode – 6, TX date: 18th August 19
Presenter – Carmen Braidwood

Carmen explores Carnarvon and its surrounds in the next leg of her road trip up the Coral Coast Highway.

• Leaving Denham, we are now driving all the way up through West Australia’s Gascoyne region and into Carnarvon. This is where we can start to explore a food-lovers paradise. Expect plenty of fresh local seafood, produce, fruit and vegetables.
• Just a couple of hours shy of Carnarvon off the North West Coastal Highway, is Wooramel River Retreat, an authentic Aussie Outback sheep station. Spend a night or two here to have an immersive experience.
• Glamp or camp on the station, and enjoy a slow cooked meal in a traditional Aussie camp oven, complete with fresh hot damper from the fire.
• If you take a self-drive tour, you will get a real sense, not just of station life, but also the space there is out here. Then end the day with a relaxing soak in a naturally heated artesian bath.
• 35km before you reach Carnarvon is New Beach/Bush Bay. This is an excellent spot to catch your dinner! Here you can camp, while you catch trevally, Spanish mackerel, tailor, kingfish and more.
• From Carnarvon be sure to drive ‘The Fruit Loop’, a drive along the scenic North and South River roads, taking you past all the working plantations. Stop at the roadside stalls where you can pick up fruit and veg of all varieties, as well as jams, preserves and even ice cream – all made right here on local farms.
• Each year The Gascoyne Food Festival celebrates all the fresh produce and seafood the area is famous for. With several food and entertainment events, including a stunning long table lunch at Bentwaters Plantation, this is one to put in your diary.
• While in Carnarvon, be sure to check out the iconic One Mile Jetty. The jetty itself is now closed to visitors, however the interpretive centre gives a great experience with fascinating displays covering all of Carnarvon’s rich past. Be sure to notice the beautiful art, commissioned from a local Aboriginal artist. And the entry piece is hard to miss, made from re-purposed jetty timbers. It is stunning.
• The Space Museum offers a unique look into Carnarvon’s role in the moon landing. You will learn about the former Space Tracking Station, about 10km out of Carnarvon. It was abandoned by NASA and eventually sadly, demolished.
• For a really unique ‘other-worldly’ experience that is now rather insta-famous, be sure to check out the Cactus Garden.
• End your day at the Central Waterway, known as the Fascine. Derived from the term ‘Bundle of Sticks’, the Fascine was completed in 1913 and today it is where you get to experience another fabulous sunset along our magical coastline.

Did you know that you can book special one-way drive packages with AVIS car rental between Perth and Exmouth for a huge reduction in relocation fees? For more information visit www.australiascoralcoast.com/page/fly-drive-coral-coast-highway

www.australiascoralcoast.com
www.westernaustralia.com