Geraldton

Geraldton is a thriving regional city of around 40,000 people. It is situated on the shores of the Indian Ocean and has a very Mediterranean climate. The town is an important service centre for regional mining, fishing, wheat, sheep and tourism industries. Our first day here made me realize that deep down I am a city girl. I came to this realization in the Coles supermarket in one of the two shopping centres. Walking around Coles I found myself getting excited and saying (to myself) how nice the fruit and vegies where, how much stock was on the shelves. I also found myself smiling and enjoying walking around the supermarket - this doesn't normally happen.

You could tell I hadn't been in a large supermarket or shopping centre for a while.

 

For a bigger city I have found there is not a huge amount of touristy things to see, but it's quite a nice place to spend some time. Needless to say, what there is to see we have seen.

 

This is yet another location that has a memorial for the HMAS Sydney II that I wrote about back in another post. But I must say this one is the most impressive. I think the reason so many towns have memorials for the ship and it's crew is because for so many years the authorities didn't really know where it actually was bombed and sunk. This beautiful memorial pays tribute to the 645 men lost in the battle in various ways, one being the silver dome being made up of 645 silver seagulls.

HMAS Sydney II Memorial

To the north, a bronze statue of a woman gazes desperately
out to sea as she awaits news of the ill-fated Sydney.

The Moore Point Lighthouse was the first steel tower built on the mainland of Australia.

It is also the oldest surviving Western lighthouse under Federal control.

 

The Moore Point Lighthouse

Just south of Geraldton is the historic hamlet of Greenough. We wandered through the Central Greenough Historic Settlement while getting a glimpse of how life was back in the 1860's.

The stone buildings were part of a once thriving pioneer farming community.

 

Wesley Church built 1870

Central Greenough School built 1886

This is the door handle of the court and goal - oh the stories it could tell

At Walkaway Wind Farm you can watch as the almighty turbines churn through the winds high above as they produce enough energy to power 60,000 homes. I find these huge wind turbines utterly fascinating. While there I almost got picked up and carried away with the flies.

I have never in my life been hassled by and landed on by so many little flies.

 

Wind Turbines are far as the eye can see

One of the turbine blades - BIG

With all the wind churning those turbines it's not surprising that all the trees in this area have also been affected. The leaning trees of Greenough are red river gums and as a result of being buffeted by the prevailing southerly winds they have taken on a bit of a lean. It's quite funny as you drive along the road all the trees are leaning in the same direction.

Leaning Trees of Greenough