Heavenly Beverley : Carnarvon Calling...

Saturday 15 August 2020

Carnarvon Calling...

Our last afternoon here in Carnarvon. Grey and showery, but definitely not cold. Locals are delighted with the rain, looking for more as the season has been dry. However, the Gascoyne River is upside-down, with most of its water flowing underground. Irrigation is the lifeblood of the Gascoyne food bowl, whose bounty ranges from grapes to pomegranates, mangos to zucchinis, capsicums to bananas.

We have been at the Capricorn caravan park since Wednesday evening. We had chosen to drive straight from Onslow due to our mutual anxiety over Michael's troublesome arm. Nearly five hundred kilometres stretched my driving ability to the limit. I was exhausted as we pulled into the caravan park. Michael reversed Digger into position, we set up the essentials and drove off into the darkness in search of a restaurant named A Taste of Thai by Fon.

This tiny establishment, located in a quiet street in South Carnarvon, produces fabulous Thai street food. Our order took well over half an hour, leading me to believe we may have been forgotten. In spite of our annoyance, all was forgiven when we tasted the fried rice with prawns and chicken and Gascoyne River greens. Michael's reflux was non-existent after our dinner, an added benefit. When in Carnarvon, do sample Fon's cooking!

A sizable chunk of Thursday was spent inside the confines of the Carnarvon Health Campus. The newish Emergency Department was reasonably navigatable and we were duly seen by Doctor Jackie. Off for an X-Ray, with some odoriferous locals. Fortunately, our stint there was short-lived and we returned to the Emergency waiting room for an update with Doctor Jackie.

After an almighty tussle with technology - the public and private systems dislike communicating with each other - Jackie managed to send the X-rays to Ben Kimberley. He was in theatre, so she assured us she would contact us as soon as possible.

Yesterday involved washing, washing and more washing. Load after load was hung on the lines. The call came through from Doctor Jackie. Michael's arm and hand were healing well, which probably meant his current pain was caused by a reaction to the severe pain he suffered whilst carrying the unknown fracture. His response to pain had become sensitised. Bollocks.

So, our stay in Carnarvon has been a tad topsy-turvy. We have been on a few outings - the Fascine, the dog exercise area at Pelican Point, the exterior of the Space Museum and the lovely Baxter Park on the foreshore. However, we have also spent time inside two chemists and Woolies for essentials. Michael's mood has been variable from cheerful to contrite to chatty to concerned to critical.

Today, I hit the wall. I had run to the end of my tether. Michael was most conciliatory. I lay down for a midday nap and konked out until two o'clock. We talked about our options. In spite of all the obstacles, going home early was not an option we favoured. I wanted to carry on to Denham for our scheduled three nights. We both wanted to visit Galena and the nearby remains of the lead mine. Plus, there was still a slow reconnaissance of the Agnew Loop, Leonora, Menzies, Coolgardie and Kara-Lee dam before we headed home.

Adversity be damned...