Geraldton WA - Julien Bay & 'Pinnacles"

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Hi All,

After Kalbarri and it's magnificent scenery, I had a sense that I was now entering another stage in the adventure as I started to move into the heavily populated south west corner of Australia.

The raw beauty of and the "essence of the outback" from western Queensland through to the Northern Territory, across the vast north west of the Kimbely's and the Pilbara, down the Coral Coast from Broome to Kalbarri, was the Australia of legend and history and an experience never to be forgotten.

However there was still one more surprise in store, but you will need to be patient for a while.

The next stage was a short journey of 169 kms to Geraldton, but one of the worst driving legs to date. This part of the WA coast is extremely windy and the road winding and hilly, and driving with virtually a half gale crosswind, made me glad it wasn't raining as well.

Geraldton is the largest town on the mid coast, and is a majort port as well for the surrounding wheat belt country. Also it is the centre for a very large and lucrative rock lobster industry.

This part of the coast is known as the "Batavia Coast" and was a graveyard for many Dutch East Indies merchant ships in the 16th and 17th centuries, as the sailed between Holland and Java. The local museum has many mementos to this part of the very early white history of the west coast, together with the natural and indiginous history of the area.

Geraldton is also the new home of the National Memorial to the entire crew of the 645 sailors of the HMAS Sydney, who were killed in battle with the German raider Kormoran, on the 19th November, 1941, off the nearby coast. A truly moving place and with some spectacular sculptures, well worth a visit.

The town has many fine homes and buildings and even a cathederal dating from the mid 1850's. Apart from the ever present wind, a very pleasant place to visit or live in.

I next moved down the coast another 226.65 odd kms to Jurien Bay, a very pretty bay protected by reefs and small islands and has a marine national park offshore. There are also lobster boats based here. Boat (fishing) charters, sea Lion tours and water activities are all attractive for tourists.

HOWEVER, the white shoe brigade have discovered and invaded the foreshores, and with buildings already completed and a hotel and residential/holiday complex (up to 10 stories high) going through the approval process as I write, the quiet beauty and ambiance of another fairly pristine part of our magnificent coast is about to be demolished by greed on one side and official apathy on the other.

God save Australia!

To restore my god humour, nature came to the rescue as I travelled a little further south to Cervantes for a 1 night stay.
A pleasant little fishing village, only established in 1962, it is surrounded by wildflower and wattle vistas.

About 17 kms south east of Cervantes is an area known as the "Pinnacles" in Nambung National Park. In an area called the "dessert" are thousands of of limestone pinnacles from a metre or less high up to over 3 metres or more high rising from a stark and bare yellow sand landscape. Science is divided on how these were created but they are of limestone origin. It is beleived they could be up to 500,000 years old and periodically have been completely covered by sand.

So after having my faith in beauty restored. I left for Perth and Fremantle wher I will stay for at least 2 to 3 weeks.

The journey so far has been great and I'm looking forward to discovering the south west area of Australia.

TRAVELLING PETE

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Comments

[Kane & Erin]

Travelling Pete
Hey Pete, Well someone has been busy writing blog entries and seeing some great places! Sounds like you are having a ball. Good to hear it is all going well. All is going pretty well at "The Rinks" not much has changed. Erin is still talking to the Dolphins and i am been a beach bum. Enjoy the rest of your travels, i will be reading. Bye Kane and Erin