Friday 17th November – Space Museum!

Up early, I had barely boiled the kettle before I called Travellers’ Autobahn (TA).  After persuading Jeff in Sydney that we’d tried everything to the extent of our electrical knowledge to no avail he went off to see if they had a local contact they would use for fridge repairs.  Within ten minutes he was back to me.  We had an appointment at Gary’s Refrigeration, just up the road, at 10am to identify the issue and we would take it from there.

Gary tinkering with the fridge... it was looking bad...

That gave me time to have a quick swim and a shower before we were ready to drive over to see Gary.  We arranged with the campsite to leave our food in their fridges whilst we went to our appointment in the hope we would be back shortly to re-stock our own fridge.  Gary was a friendly chap.  He did some tinkering to establish what we already knew – there was enough power getting to the unit but the compressor wasn’t working or some reason.  He needed to pull the unit out to get to the back of it.  Taking off a series of screws and inching the fridge forward revealed an alcove full of horrors!  Manky tissues, oil and a rotten wooden board that had been supporting the fridge following who knows how many years of use for old Ozzie. 

Gary messed around with the wires for a few minutes and somewhere in the process the compressor and the cooling fan burst back to life.  It was one of those situations where he couldn’t quite put his finger on why it was broken but, for now, it was working again.  I said we were happy as long as it kept running for the next fortnight for us, but there’s really no guarantee.  A quick call back to TA and we were shaking Gary’s hand for a job well done.  He seemed content that TA were going to pay him directly so we lost nothing more than an hour of our day.  Result!  Major issue and delay averted!  I have renewed confidence that if we suffer any more technical issues with the van then TA will do their best to help us.

This gave us the time we needed to visit Carnarvon Space and Technology Museum.  What a place!  Readers of our US adventures will know of our visits to NASA not only in Florida but also Houston, Texas.  Well, this place was entirely set up and run by a group of volunteers, so on another level of budget.  But they’ve done such a great job!  Good enough to get astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Gene Cernan to visit to open sections for them, to name only two that have visited. 

As well as a couple of theatres showing visitors all about the Satellite Earth Station set up here to assist NASA, there were interactive exhibits and left over machinery from the Station with as many buttons available to press as anyone could cope with! 

They even give you the opportunity to don fancy dress and sit in a copy of the Apollo 11 capsule to experience count-down and take-off (above).  Buzz the cat had clearly seen it all many times before. 

NASA contracted Australia’s Overseas Telecommunications Commission (OTC) to provide the earth station to help keep contact with astronauts whilst they were in orbit over this section of the globe during the Gemini and Apollo space missions.

This ‘sugar scoop’ antenna (left) is the last one of its kind in the world.  First operational in 1966 it was used in the first ever live telecasts from Australia to England in November of that year, with British migrant workers now based in Carnarvon being interviewed and put in direct contact with their families in the UK.

However, the station is most famous for relaying Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon in 1969 to Perth’s TV audience and being the last point of contact with the Apollo 11 astronauts prior to ‘splash down’ on their euphoric return to Earth.

Now that's a big dish.... Cordey added for scale

It was a good thing the place shut at 2pm or we may have stayed all day, there was so much to see!  But we had a long drive ahead.  I am starting to get nervous about the magnitude of the drive we still have ahead before we reach Darwin in a fortnight.  Before that, we intend to spend quality time exploring the Ningaloo reef listed as a stunning place to dive including it’s infamous ‘Navy Pier’ dive.  It was estimated we were about three and a half hours away from Exmouth, where the diving companies are based.  We would not reach them before closing today and with it being the weekend tomorrow I was worried we may miss out if we don’t contact them today. I had a voucher for 15% off a dive tour with Exmouth Dive Centre so they got my call.  With a little to and froing, Kerry there helped me book us on a boat trip out to the Muiron Islands tomorrow morning, meeting at 730am, to do two dives.  Plus, we are booked to do the Navy Pier on Monday afternoon.  So that’s us spending the whole weekend in Exmouth.  Now, just to get there in daylight hours and without killing any livestock on the way.

During the drive we crossed into the tropics

That is easier said than done, believe me.  We were not only trying to avoid birds like ravens and hawks that had appeared to clear up the previous roadkill but the number of goats, cattle and sheep along the route this afternoon was immense!  They all roam freely and fence-free and seem to have no fear of traffic.

Having been breathalysed for the second time by WAPOL (me, again), we did a quick recce to find the dive centre before checking into the Ningaloo Caravan and Holiday Park who are doing a cheeky offer of ‘stay 4 nights, pay for 3’ which gives us a place to stay for the whole visit at only just over $25 a night. We are visiting during the ‘low’ season, luckily.  Time to pack our diving gear for the morning and get an early night.