Blogs from Geraldton, Western Australia, Australia, Oceania - page 7

Maandag 11 december. Na een rustig ontbijt waren we om 9u mooi op tijd in de vissershaven van Geraldton voor de rondleiding in de ‘Brolos Cooperative’. Naar deze fabriek wordt de West Australian Rock Lobster gebracht door de vissers die een vergunning hebben om op deze kreeften te vissen. Hier konden we zien hoe een lading kreeften werd aangevoerd, gesorteerd en vervolgens in opslagtanks bewaard. De kreeften blijven minstens een paar dagen in deze tanks om als het ware ‘gespoeld’ te worden. Afhankelijk van de afzetmarkt, worden er aan deze kreeften verschillende eisen gesteld. Japanners kopen zowel levende als ingevroren kreeft maar liefst van een donkere kleur. De grootste afzetmarkt is echter China: omdat ze daar menen dat deze kreeften op draken lijken, kan men de mooiste fel rode exemplaren verkopen voor wel 250 $, een ... read more

We arrived back in Perth early doors on Wednesday as the car had to be returned at 10 am. Whits and Greeny took the trusty steed back celebrating the fact that we hadn’t damaged it in any way, when, as turning into the car hire place, they narrowly missed being hit by a guy pulling away from the lights - close call! Back at the Planet Inn we soon caught up with Kate and Lydia and the Irish lads (Andy, Foxy, Steve and Al) who we’d met before we went down south as well as some new characters the guys had made friends with whilst we’d been away. Whilst Smithers had some QT with her bed and book, Whits and Greeny mooched around and then strolled down into Leederville with Tom to get some supplies for ... read more

Well four pubs and fifty tractor dealers later gerraldtown is finally starting to grow on us, our arrival in the pissing rain, seeing the town dominated by the biggest grain silos I've ever seen, and no wind was a real downer, but after a day of drizzle sol returned to our lives. Gerraldtown sports many sights, probably the best being the HMAS Sydney memorial; This large dome sitting atop a ridge looking over the town to the setting sun is to commemorate the sailors who died when a German raider disguised as a merchant ship sunk Australia's most famous battle ship, the Sydney. Although smaller and much lighter armed the sneaky Hun managed to engage the Sydney causing severe damage before sinking itself, though most of the raiders were captured when there life rafts reached shore, ... read more

Have spent the whole day working again today in the bookshop/internet cafe in Geraldton. It's usually $6 per hour but the guy let me work all day yesterday 9(hrs) and 2 cans of drinks and I only paid $38 instead of $60. It's still expensive way of working but I dont have much choice do I? Anyhow, my brain is going to explode as I have been working pretty much 3 days straight now so will be taking a break now as we head north on another long road trip towards Monkey Mia, which I have been looking forward to ever since speaking to an Aussie girl about there 8 weeks ago back in Sydney. Northwards we shall go. Adios Mike... read more

Our first full day in Geraldton involved me working until 5pm before settling down to a malaysian curry back at our hostel ($9). We got chatting to two guys on the opposing balcony to ours about what we were planning for our travels. One of them, Matt gave us some really handy hints and tips and even gave us a map of North West australia with loads of scribbles on where to go and whats worth seeing. We've heard on the radio and read in the papers that a few cyclones are blowing in up north so we will be checking out the road reports and weather reports before setting off anywhere further although the plan is to try to reach Shark Bay/Monkey Mia/Denham area in the next few days. We've also just gone and bought ... read more