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[hartrj]

Final comments

This trip has been everything we hoped for and more. I think as West Australians we underestimate how much beautiful coast and interesting places and history we have. We learned so many new things about the history of WA.

I think that so much of the beauty in what we have seen has been able to stay that way because of the sheer isolation of much of it. However despite the isolation the people who live in these beautiful places don’t miss any of the basic creature comforts and have acquired these without damaging the environment. They universally seem to get that these places will only remain as they are if tourism and mans intrusions are managed sensitively.

I do hope that as time goes by and these places become more accessible that they are not damaged or changed.

When I say these places are isolated I am referring mostly to the distances needed to be driven to access them. The presence of some dirt roads can be intimidating but we did this trip distance and dirt roads in a Hyundai I 30.There are very few air strips and when there is one it is usually very small aircraft (Learmonth is probably the exception) but even if you fly in you will need a vehicle to get around. If you hate sitting/for hours on dead straight roads with no scenery other than endless low scrub then this may not be the trip for you. However despite the boredom of the drive the destination always makes the trip worthwhile!

One technical double edged sword to make the long drives bearable is cruise control. For me it is a necessity as my instinct is always to drive as fast as I feel confident doing! When the roads disappear into the horizon in one straight line that is almost impossible to resist! Although even with the best will in the world you can find your foot pressing down on the accelerator more as it gets tired despite trying to keep to the speed limit. However cruise control with its set unmoving speed just makes it feel more like you are not moving as the road and the scenery are never changing and neither is your speed. Sometimes in can feel like Groundhog Day!

On the trip north we hardly saw any traffic but as we have come south we are seeing droves of caravans and RV’s heading north. Makes for a bit more interest if you can see other traffic and play “brand of Caravan” games etc!

We have already decided that there are some places we would like to come back to including Exmouth and Coral Bay and around Monkey Mia/Denham.

Not sure when that will happen but definitely not near April 2023 when there is some sort of infrequent eclipse which is best seen on land anywhere in the world near Exmouth. They already have people booking accomodation and the shire and town are really worried about coping with what is predicted to be tens of thousands of visitors! I am sceptical about number based on the difficulty getting to it which would be even more intimidating for those not familiar with the distances and terrain in WA.

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Views from lookout at Dongara over the Irwin river towards Port Denison. There are a number of excellent walks around here as well which we will have to done trip!

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The 800 yr old tree at the Greenough museum and gardens

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The HMAS Sydney memorial Geraldton. Incidentally I didn’t know until now that some RAAF members and some RN members were amongst the 645 lives lost.

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Day 15 Saturday 25th May 2019 Geraldton

After another walk along the foreshore and breakfast on the foreshore we set off for today’s sights. First stop was the HMAS Sydney Memorial. It is on the highest point in Geraldton and has amazing views. It was actually originally started before the Sydney’s resting place was found and then extended to incorporate the information. It is an extremely well thought out and appealing memorial and I think very appropriate for the memory it serves. There is a few weird coincidences around the development of the site. One was the position of a bronze/metal statue of a woman looking out to see as if looking for her loved one. The statue is very lifelike and was set facing where it does well before the Sydney wreck was found but astoundingly it is facing directly the way to the wreck site! The main structure is a series of seagull shapes joined together and was decided to be that way after an earlier dedication of part of the original memorial had a big group of seagulls come over. Seagulls are supposed to be the souls of drowned sailors. Very weird!

Next we went to Greenough where we went to the museum, which is a heritage house and gardens. Not your typical museum with beautiful gardens around it, good displays and lots of encouragement to interact with items so good for kids. There is also a River gumtree that is 800yrs old (planted in the 1200’s according to the local aboriginal people. It is certainly huge and as with most trees in the are is bent almost horizontal with the ground due to the howling and unrelenting southerly winds.

There is also some other historic sites to see in the Greenough area but we didn’t get to them.

Last stop was the twin towns of Dongara and Port Denison. Both sited either side of the Irwin River and right on the coast. These towns look very prosperous with lots of big new houses and even housing estates. They like Geraldton look like they are doing pretty well. They both are holiday destinations and would be great for anything sea wise from fishing to swimming and surfing.

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The Geraldton foreshore from our balcony

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From the beach opposite us at Geraldton just on sunset

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Day 14 Friday 24th May 2019 Geraldton

We left Carnarvon early for Geraldton with the intention of seeing a few things around Geraldton in the afternoon. It was not more than 41/2hr drive but by the time we got toGeraldton we decided to just wing it. Our hotel is the 4 star luxury one in Geraldton and right opposite the ocean. We have an ocean view with balcony. It is quite interesting sitting looking out as there is quite a busy port just to the left of us and we have watched several ships come and go with the help of tugs. It seems to be a grain port mostly. Geraldton has done a great foreshore development to easy to access and use the whole foreshore. We walked quite a bit of this evening then stopped and had dinner and wandered back. Tomorrow will be the day to see the sights of the region including the National HMAS Sydney memorial, Grenough, Dongara and Port Denison.

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Looking back from the tram jetty at Carnarvon to town over the water at low tide.

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Looking back from the Cairn I mentioned out of Carnarvon. In the distance our car and the road is just a wider version of the path you see!

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The Blow hole area outside of Carnarvon very wild and intimidating!

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More from space museum in Carnarvon

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Some photos of Carnarvon. We were right on the waterfront you see. The other phots show the mangrove areas and the jetty I mentioned opposite our unit

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Views into the resort at Coral Bay from our balcony

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The termit mounds I mentioned we had seen in droves along the drive. Gives you a sense of their size. In places there are paddocks full of them

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Me snorkeling at Ningaloo reef Coral Bay

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The capsule we went into including inside. I put on the orange outfit as dress up for photos was available . Pity could find one to fit. Definitely not flattering!