THE BIG TRIP -2008
AROUND AUSTRALIA 2008
Saturday 1 November – Friday 7 November
Denham to Geraldton
Blog 13
We left Denham early to be in Monkey Mia for the first feeding of the day. It was as we had remembered and the dolphins were beautiful.
We then spent the afternoon at the Shark Bay Marine Park which included a guided tour with a trained microbiologist and the information he gave was fantastic.
We continued travelling south to Eagle Bluff which had a superb view of the area and a beautiful board walk. The Shark Bay area has the most amount sea grass anywhere in the world. It is a critical factor as to why the area is world heritage listed.
We then drove further south to the various free campsites of Fowlers Camp, Whalebone and Goulet Bluff. Each spot had lovely view of the beautiful blue bay. We then went to the other side of the peninsula to Shell Beach covered in 5m deep cockle shells. Apparently they are one of the few organisms that can survive in the high salinity of the part of the bay. The shells are quarried and used in building, chicken farming,(they feed it to the chickens so that their egg shells are stronger) and as a ground cover to keep the dust down.
The variety and colours of the wildflowers we saw as we drove south were a real feast for the eyes.
We continued our journey south along the west coast and into Kalbarri National Park to stop at the 2 lookouts, Ross Graham Lookout and Hawk’s Head lookout and then on to Kalbarri. We didn’t go back to the gorges in Kalbarri National Park as we had been there on a previous trip.
We had to visit the Rainbow Jungle with its beautiful collection of parrots. We couldn’t resist being at the pelican feeding on the Murchison River at Kalbarri and in fact one of the young males was being difficult and trying to help himself to the fish from the bucket. The lady asked for help and Mike offered and for the rest of the talk and feeding he made sure that the young bird waited his tune and didn’t annoy her. Mike had the best time.
After the pelican feeding we drove to natural bridge and worked our way up the coastline to town. It is a beautiful wild coastline with lots of erosion and beautiful sandstone, colours and plants on the dunes. There is such a diversity of plants and colour. We saw 3 pods of dolphins travelling south in the beautiful turquoise waters. It was a real feast for our eyes. We stopped at all the little beaches, the back beach, blue holes, Jake’s Point, Red Bluff, saw mushroom rock which was a disappointment, pot alley, eagle gorge which was beautiful, grandstand, island rock and the first one, natural bridge.
As we continued our journey south from Kalbarri we stopped at Port Gregory with its pink lake that is pink due to bacteria that actually produce beta carotene. Lynton Hiring Station is a group of stone buildings that once housed convicts who worked on the Geraldine lead mine and the local pastoral stations. The facilities were built in 1853 and closed in 1856 because the conditions were too harsh.
The main street of Northampton had lots of historic buildings including the church and the sacred Heart Convent, built in 1919, which were both designed by Monsignor Hawes. The Monsignor had designed many buildings in the area including the Catholic Church in Geraldton and has left a great architectural legacy.
The heat of the north was replaced by cold and wet in Geraldton but that didn’t affect us as we spent the day in the Geraldton Museum. There was a whole room in the museum dedicated to the story of the Batavia which was a Dutch ship wrecked off the coast in 1642.
There was also a room dedicated to the HMAS Sydney which was sunk by a German warship The Kormoran off the same coast in WW2 in 1941 with all 645 people lost. The wreck was only discovered in May this year. We finished the day at the Monument for the HMAS Sydney which was built with the most beautiful symbolism. There is a dome of 645 seagulls all touching each representing one of the Australian sailors that died. The memorial also includes a bronze statue of a woman gazing out to sea as she awaits the news of her loved one.
There was still a lot more to see in Geraldton; the Point Moore light house with its bold red and white horizontal stripes, town beach, the marina with all the big fishing boats, then the private marina, the original light house at Bluff Point, the cottage of the light house keeper and the old gaol house which was still operational in the 1960s.
We love hearing the stories of the area so off we went to the guided tour of St Francis Xavier Cathedral which was designed and built by the Monsignor John Hawes who was a priest in Geraldton. The tour of the church was very informative but made all the more enjoyable due to the 3 local guides who included many of the stories of their childhood.
Saturday 1 November – Friday 7 November
Denham to Geraldton
Blog 13
We left Denham early to be in Monkey Mia for the first feeding of the day. It was as we had remembered and the dolphins were beautiful.
We then spent the afternoon at the Shark Bay Marine Park which included a guided tour with a trained microbiologist and the information he gave was fantastic.
We continued travelling south to Eagle Bluff which had a superb view of the area and a beautiful board walk. The Shark Bay area has the most amount sea grass anywhere in the world. It is a critical factor as to why the area is world heritage listed.
We then drove further south to the various free campsites of Fowlers Camp, Whalebone and Goulet Bluff. Each spot had lovely view of the beautiful blue bay. We then went to the other side of the peninsula to Shell Beach covered in 5m deep cockle shells. Apparently they are one of the few organisms that can survive in the high salinity of the part of the bay. The shells are quarried and used in building, chicken farming,(they feed it to the chickens so that their egg shells are stronger) and as a ground cover to keep the dust down.
The variety and colours of the wildflowers we saw as we drove south were a real feast for the eyes.
We continued our journey south along the west coast and into Kalbarri National Park to stop at the 2 lookouts, Ross Graham Lookout and Hawk’s Head lookout and then on to Kalbarri. We didn’t go back to the gorges in Kalbarri National Park as we had been there on a previous trip.
We had to visit the Rainbow Jungle with its beautiful collection of parrots. We couldn’t resist being at the pelican feeding on the Murchison River at Kalbarri and in fact one of the young males was being difficult and trying to help himself to the fish from the bucket. The lady asked for help and Mike offered and for the rest of the talk and feeding he made sure that the young bird waited his tune and didn’t annoy her. Mike had the best time.
After the pelican feeding we drove to natural bridge and worked our way up the coastline to town. It is a beautiful wild coastline with lots of erosion and beautiful sandstone, colours and plants on the dunes. There is such a diversity of plants and colour. We saw 3 pods of dolphins travelling south in the beautiful turquoise waters. It was a real feast for our eyes. We stopped at all the little beaches, the back beach, blue holes, Jake’s Point, Red Bluff, saw mushroom rock which was a disappointment, pot alley, eagle gorge which was beautiful, grandstand, island rock and the first one, natural bridge.
As we continued our journey south from Kalbarri we stopped at Port Gregory with its pink lake that is pink due to bacteria that actually produce beta carotene. Lynton Hiring Station is a group of stone buildings that once housed convicts who worked on the Geraldine lead mine and the local pastoral stations. The facilities were built in 1853 and closed in 1856 because the conditions were too harsh.
The main street of Northampton had lots of historic buildings including the church and the sacred Heart Convent, built in 1919, which were both designed by Monsignor Hawes. The Monsignor had designed many buildings in the area including the Catholic Church in Geraldton and has left a great architectural legacy.
The heat of the north was replaced by cold and wet in Geraldton but that didn’t affect us as we spent the day in the Geraldton Museum. There was a whole room in the museum dedicated to the story of the Batavia which was a Dutch ship wrecked off the coast in 1642.
There was also a room dedicated to the HMAS Sydney which was sunk by a German warship The Kormoran off the same coast in WW2 in 1941 with all 645 people lost. The wreck was only discovered in May this year. We finished the day at the Monument for the HMAS Sydney which was built with the most beautiful symbolism. There is a dome of 645 seagulls all touching each representing one of the Australian sailors that died. The memorial also includes a bronze statue of a woman gazing out to sea as she awaits the news of her loved one.
There was still a lot more to see in Geraldton; the Point Moore light house with its bold red and white horizontal stripes, town beach, the marina with all the big fishing boats, then the private marina, the original light house at Bluff Point, the cottage of the light house keeper and the old gaol house which was still operational in the 1960s.
We love hearing the stories of the area so off we went to the guided tour of St Francis Xavier Cathedral which was designed and built by the Monsignor John Hawes who was a priest in Geraldton. The tour of the church was very informative but made all the more enjoyable due to the 3 local guides who included many of the stories of their childhood.
posted by Mike and Carol at
12:24 PM
