Carnarvon, Western Australia
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Carnarvon ( ) is a coastal town situated approximately north of
Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
, in Western Australia. It lies at the mouth of the
Gascoyne River The Gascoyne River is a river in the Gascoyne (Western Australia), Gascoyne region of Western Australia. At , it is the longest river in Western Australia. Description The Gascoyne River comprises three branches in its upper reaches. Draini ...
on the
Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...
. The
Shark Bay Shark Bay () is a World Heritage Site in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. The area is located approximately north of Perth, on the westernmost point of the Australian continent. UNESCO's listing of Shark Bay as a World Heritage S ...
world heritage area lies to the south of the town and the
Ningaloo Reef The Ningaloo Coast is a World Heritage Site located in the north west coastal region of Western Australia. The heritage-listed area is located approximately north of Perth, along the East Indian Ocean. The distinctive Ningaloo Reef that frin ...
and the tourist town of
Exmouth Exmouth is a harbor, port town, civil parishes in England, civil parish and seaside resort situated on the east bank of the mouth of the River Exe, southeast of Exeter. In 2011 it had a population of 34,432, making Exmouth the List of settl ...
lie to the north. Mungullah Aboriginal Community was formerly in the town however it has moved east of the town. Inland, Carnarvon has strong links with the town of Gascoyne Junction and the Burringurrah Community. At the 2021 census, Carnarvon had a population of 4,879.


History

The Inggarda people are the
traditional owners Native title is the set of rights, recognised by Australian law, held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups or individuals to land that derive from their maintenance of their traditional laws and customs. These Aboriginal title rig ...
of the region around Carnarvon. Before European settlement the place now called Carnarvon, located at the mouth of the
Gascoyne River The Gascoyne River is a river in the Gascoyne (Western Australia), Gascoyne region of Western Australia. At , it is the longest river in Western Australia. Description The Gascoyne River comprises three branches in its upper reaches. Draini ...
, was known as which means 'neck of water'. Indigenous Australians associating with the Carnarvon area typically associate as being Yamatji, traditionally speaking the
Wajarri language Wajarri ( ) is an endangered Australian Aboriginal languages, Australian Aboriginal language. It is one of the Kartu languages of the Pama–Nyungan languages, Pama–Nyungan family. Geographic distribution Wajarri country is inland from Ger ...
. The town was founded in 1883, initially as a port and supply centre for the surrounding region, and is the administrative centre for the Shire of Carnarvon. The town site was officially gazetted on 4 June 1891, named after
Henry Herbert, 4th Earl of Carnarvon Henry Howard Molyneux Herbert, 4th Earl of Carnarvon, (24 June 1831 – 29 June 1890), known as Lord Porchester from 1833 to 1849, was a British politician and a leading member of the Conservative Party. He was twice Secretary of State for the ...
, a past
Secretary of State for the Colonies The secretary of state for the colonies or colonial secretary was the Cabinet of the United Kingdom's government minister, minister in charge of managing certain parts of the British Empire. The colonial secretary never had responsibility for t ...
.


Carnarvon Jetty

The carnarvon Jetty was built in the late 1890s and had reached its maximum length in 1904. In 2021, it was destroyed by Cyclone Seroja.


Carnarvon Tram

Carnarvon has had three tramways. * The first, shown on a
Public Works Department This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...
map of 1884, ran from a landing site on the river, across Olivia Terrace to a shed on the other side of the roada very short tramway indeed. The trolley used on this tramway was supposed to be hand powered, using a lever attached to crank on two of the wheels. However, there is a reference to the use of wind-power. * The second tramway, constructed between 1886 and 1887, ran west from Olivia Terrace in a straight line to the jetty, which was halfway between Mangrove Point and Conspicuous Clump. It was horse drawn. * The third, and partially remaining, tramway was completed on 9 November 1900. It runs from the townsite, across Babbage Island to the deep-sea jetty. It was constructed with a rail gauge of . It was long. Due to the heavy loads of wool being carried on what was a very light railway, it was decided to convert the tramway to gauge in 1908–09. This tramway was worked with a steam locomotive. The tramway ceased operation in December 1965. The ''Carnarvon Light Railway Association'' operated trains along restored tracks on the jetty; however, due to unsafe conditions the jetty was closed to the public. In 2021 it was destroyed by Cyclone Seroja.


Aerospace

From 1964 to 1965, 12
sounding rocket A sounding rocket or rocketsonde, sometimes called a research rocket or a suborbital rocket, is an instrument-carrying rocket designed to take measurements and perform scientific experiments during its sub-orbital flight. The rockets are often ...
s were launched from Carnarvon to a maximum altitude of . During the 1960s,
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
set up a
tracking station A ground station, Earth station, or Earth terminal is a terrestrial radio station designed for extraplanetary telecommunication with spacecraft (constituting part of the ground segment of the spacecraft system), or reception of radio waves fro ...
nearby to support the Gemini and
Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...
space programs. The tracking station was closed in the mid-1970s. Only the foundations of the historical site remain. The site is adjacent to the OTC Satellite Earth Station Carnarvon.


''Korean Star''

On 20 May 1988, the
bulk carrier A bulk carrier or bulker is a merchant ship specially naval architecture, designed to transport unpackaged bulk cargo—such as Grain trade, grain, coal, ore, steel coils, and cement—in its cargo holds. Since the first specialized bulk carrie ...
ran aground in bad weather near Cape Cuvier, within the port limits of Carnarvon. Around of fuel oil were spilled into the ocean. Damage was limited to of remote beaches and coastline. The ship was not salvaged and left grounded; however, very little of the wreck remains to be seen.


December 2010 floods


Economy

Main economic activities of the Gascoyne region include: * mining, at a salt mine on nearby Lake Macleod and at inland mines * fishing (major focus is a prawn fishery) * tourism * agriculture, including cattle, goats, sheep and
wool Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have some properties similar to animal w ...
, and horticulture, the major industry of the area. A range of products are grown along the
Gascoyne River The Gascoyne River is a river in the Gascoyne (Western Australia), Gascoyne region of Western Australia. At , it is the longest river in Western Australia. Description The Gascoyne River comprises three branches in its upper reaches. Draini ...
, particularly bananas (mainly
Cavendish banana Cavendish bananas are the fruits of one of a number of banana cultivars belonging to the Cavendish subgroup of the List of banana cultivars#AAA Group, AAA banana cultivar group (triploid cultivars of ''Musa acuminata''). The same term is also use ...
s) and
tomato The tomato (, ), ''Solanum lycopersicum'', is a plant whose fruit is an edible Berry (botany), berry that is eaten as a vegetable. The tomato is a member of the nightshade family that includes tobacco, potato, and chili peppers. It originate ...
es, as well as grapefruit, mangoes and table grapes. Climatic advantages enable the growers to meet out of season demand both locally and in export markets. Radio Australia had a shortwave relay station (built during the 1970s) that used to relay programming to Europe, South Asia and Southeast Asia.


Education

There are five schools in the town; one Catholic, three Western Australia Department of Education schools and one independent. These are St Mary's Star of the Sea Catholic School, which was built in 1906, Carnarvon Community College (formerly Carnarvon Primary School, East Carnarvon Primary School, and Carnarvon Senior High School), Carnarvon School of the Air and Carnarvon Christian School.


Climate

Carnarvon has a
hot desert climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk'') is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...
( ''BWh''). Average yearly rainfall is with the rainiest months (and the most reliable rainfall) being between May and July as the northern edges of winter
cold front A cold front is the leading edge of a cooler mass of air at ground level that replaces a warmer mass of air and lies within a pronounced surface Trough (meteorology), trough of Low-pressure area, low pressure. It often forms behind an extratropica ...
s brush the region. Occasional
tropical cyclones A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its ...
affect Carnarvon during the summer months bringing heavy rain and strong winds. Apart from this erratic source of rainfall summers are normally dry. Temperatures range from an average maximum of in February to in July. Average minimums are and respectively. On 18 February 2024, Carnarvon recorded its highest ever temperature of . The town is extremely sunny, having 211.0 clear days annually.


Notable people

* Andrew Broad, Australian politician * Troy Cook, Australian rules footballer (
Sydney Swans The Sydney Swans are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Swans also field a Austral ...
, Fremantle Dockers) * Craig Fong, actor * Shelley Gare, journalist and author * Daniel Johnson, basketball player (
Melbourne Tigers Melbourne United is an Australian professional basketball team based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria. United compete in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Joh ...
, Adelaide 36ers) * Michael Mitchell, Australian rules footballer ( Richmond Tigers) * Keith Murdoch, New Zealand Rugby union player (
All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...
,
Otago Otago (, ; ) is a regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island and administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local go ...
), spent his final years in Carnarvon * Cleo Smith, 2021 missing person (aged four at the time) * Tom Vandeleur, Australian rules footballer (Fremantle Dockers rookie) *
Jay Watson Jay Wesley Watson is an Australian multi-instrumentalist, producer, singer and songwriter. He is best known as a touring member of the psychedelic band Tame Impala and as a co-founder of the psychedelic rock/pop band Pond, with whom he's record ...
, Australian musician (
Tame Impala Tame Impala is the psychedelic music project of Australian singer and multi-instrumentalist Kevin Parker (musician), Kevin Parker. In the recording studio, Parker writes, records, performs, and produces all of the project's music. As a touring a ...
,
Pond A pond is a small, still, land-based body of water formed by pooling inside a depression (geology), depression, either naturally or artificiality, artificially. A pond is smaller than a lake and there are no official criteria distinguishing ...
)


See also

* Carnarvon Airport (Australia)


References


External links


Shire of Carnarvon

Australian Places - Carnarvon


Last accessed 22 December 2010 {{Authority control Coastal towns in Western Australia Populated places established in 1883 Port cities and towns of the Indian Ocean Port cities in Western Australia Spaceports