Carnarvon has been a real puzzle and fascinating.

A  People Story :- Yesterday I had my nails and feet done by a beautiful young Vietnamese mum. I wished I had ten feet and ten hands as I really didn't want our conversation to end. She opened on a Sunday just for me. Her english was good and we talked non stop for an hour and forty five minutes. I know that you will find this hard to believe but I mostly listened. I was so proud of this young new Australian woman's understanding of politics in Australia today and the depth of her opinions.
She has obviously followed the boat people story closely and had very strong views. He husband had come legally to Australia and it cost them $20,000:00 - she was not happy about how her taxes are being spent.

I learned so much about how Vietnamese families work here and in Vietnam and she said something that will stick with me for ever:- "Mary every family in the world has a story". Simple but profound.
Sometimes it is hard to say goodbye to accidental people. She shared so much of her story with me.

Carnarvon - the Gascoyne River that gives it life flows underground as you can see from the first photo. The plantation owners ( mostly Vietnamese ) sink a pipe and suck the water out - John says this is very complicated but lets not go there!

There are tomatoes and bananas ripening at present and the two major local delights are frozen bananas dipped in chocolate (on a stick) and mango smoothies.

For a kilometer either side of the river there is lush tropical growth ( grapes grown undercover) and then you are back to low scrub and thousands of wild goats.

There are new very exclusive marina estates along side the complications that come with a large, poor indigenous population. It is a small place so everything is in your face.

Pa is very sad as while I was having my nails done someone stole his 4 gorgeous Mac mudflaps. I was fond of those dogs looking up from the back of the Big Red Car. They were even coloured co-ordinated. Bugger!