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Published: December 22nd 2005
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Oh, the seagulls have a lighthouse in Mobile...
Does anyone know that song then? If not, I'd be happy to tell you the line that rhymes with lighthouse, but you'd probably guess it yourself if you think hard enough. Occasionally you go to a place and you think that it’s going to be fantastic, that there’s going to be loads to do & see. Hey, its beside the sea, weather’s going be grand, the brochures look amazing; there’s fishing and canoeing and heaps of other stuff going on. Then, on approach to the said place, you get a twinge of something that you can’t quite put your finger on, something that makes it seem a bit dull, bit boring. It’s quiet - there’s no cars around, no people in the pubs or on the streets…A feeling of dread comes over you that you’re not going to be enamoured with this town… well, that was us with Geraldton. It was deffo not our most favourite stop on this road trip.
Things we had PLANNED to do in Geraldton included:
· Deep sea fishing.
· Boat trip to the Abrolhos Islands, sight of a famous mutiny resulting in 130-odd folk being murdered in the 18th century, but also apparently an amazing wildlife sanctuary,so thats OK then.
· Spot of relaxing sunbathing on the beach.
· Bit of beach fishing for Mr McCabe.
· See Harry Potter Movie
· Go to visit
Alan & Shaz after they have had their Weetabix
...and grown like 50 metres tall. Or, maybe its a small replica of the lighthouse? What do you think Pop Pickers? the popular Lobster processing factory
· Maybe try our hand at sea kayaking.
Sounds good, eh? Unfortunately we only got to see the Harry P film, and try our hand at beach fishing. How crap is that!? We found out that its Cray fishing season and all the boats which normally operate for the tourism industry are engaged in supporting the Cray fish harvest. Boooooo! That meant no boat trips for the McCabes. Because of this, the Lobster tours were also restricted to one a day, real early, and apparently they had stated charging bucks too - so we boycotted that one. Ever heard of cutting your nose off to spite your face? Well, that us! Yes siree!
The beach fishing was a disaster. It was WAY too windy (see blown away trees) and the line that Alan was casting was being blown right back at him onto the beach. He persevered for about an hour then gave up. I didn’t bother at all, and tried my hand at laying on the beach for a sunbathe. I had so much sand blown onto me though that I looked more like the sphinx! Well, naturally I’m not half lion,
After Alan stood up straight......
....the lighthouse looked more like the Leaning Tower of Pisa. But don't tell him I told you that, OK! but you know what I mean.
Harry Potter was good - however, for any of you who have read the book and now seen the movie; Don’t you think that they missed out a lot of stuff that would have been good to keep in? I also thought that it might be difficult for folk who hadn’t seen it before to keep up with the storyline. Alan enjoyed it though and told me to stop acting like Barry Norman. Fair do’s. In the cinema - there were this bunch of kids having a carry on, and making loads of noise, and the rest of the crowd were shouting at them to shut up. The young uns kept it up though, and the next thing you know, a heavy burly guy from the audience gets up and goes over to them and says in a very broad Aussie accent,whilst doing a full arm point at them- not just a finger, ‘Right you lot, you’d better shut your big bloody mouths, or I’ll take you outside and show you what it means to scream. Now, don’t make me get back out my seat and come over here again’ Then the rest
No, Shazza is not wearing an all in one suit!
It just looks that way on the photo. Honest, I havent fallen out the fashion tree and hit my head on every branch ....yet! of the audience stood up and clapped and cheered. It was great. Usually at home we just grin and bear it then complain to the management at the end, but this guy was a proper filmhouse vigilante! The sprogs did pipe down for a bit, so I’m all for it.
One thing that was quite interesting about Geraldton was the unusual River Gum Eucalyptus trees that grow to the South of the town. The wind blows so hard here, that the branches are blown all the way over to one side, making them look (to my mind anyway) like a bad lop-sided New Romantic curly hairdo. Check the piccies - they look strange don’t they? Oh, and there was a nice bright stripy lighthouse, that reminded me of the top that Corrine Drury from Swing Out Sister used to wear. Hey - too many eighties references here! I’m really showing me age!!!
We didn’t take many photos in Gerro - there was nothing doing, but we’ll make it up in future blogs by adding our usual million or so.
We were glad to move on, two days later, with the next stop being Shark Bay……(cue the Jaws
theme, and lets GO, GO, GO! …………..)
Shaz & Alan. xxxx
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anonymous
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Gee, I guess Geraldton sure changed in the years since I was there. It used to have at least 15 pubs, (and most pretty packed every day including Sundays) and the population was only 14,000. It was livlier than Perth! Had loads of fun there. Most of the pubs also had live bands playing. I even sang with a couple of bands when they came to town and wanted a female singer. ( That was extra cash for me to save and keep travelling.) I ended up staying there for about five months and working there too. What a shame, as I have fond memories of the place. I guess things change over the years.