Week Commencing 25.10.10
Monday 25.10.10 - Today we visited the following attractions:
• St Francis Xavier Cathedral – This building was designed by Monsignor Hawes who arrived in Geraldton as a parish priest in 1915. The foundation stone was laid in 1916 and the building completed in 1938. We attended a guided tour which we found very informative. Notice the stripes of orange and brown inside the church.
• WA Museum – It had magnificent displays on the Abrolhos Islands maritime history and the HMAS Sydney II ship wreck.
• HMAS Sydney II Memorial – The memorial pays tribute to the 645 men lost in battle with a German Raider off the coast of WA during World War II. The memorial is made up of 645 seagulls.
Tuesday 26.10.10 – Rest day – John played golf with Tony and he and his wife Judy invited us to dinner. Lobster – yummy it was all very nice. A very late night for us oldies, I think we got home around midnight.
Wednesday 27.10.10 – Up early as we planned a day trip with Bev & Bernie to the Chapman Valley and Mullewa.
The shire of Mullewa has a population of about 1200, of whom some 60% live in the town. Rainfall averages 425 mm a year, and the district has become one of WA’s primary agricultural areas with broad-acre grain farms producing in excess of 250,000 tonnes annually.
Town Heritage Trail – A walk through the town looking at and gaining information about the town’s built heritage (and some of it’s characters)
Monsignor Hawes Heritage Walk – This takes you along a path giving details of Monsignor Hawes life and ending at Our Lady of Mt Carmel a church designed by him. Fantastic building
Oakabella Homestead – This beautifully restored homestead is situated 30km north of Geraldton and exudes historical charm. Build in 1860, the site includes a 13 room homestead, cookhouse, barn, shearing shed, stables and blacksmith’s workshop. The museum on the property has an impressive display of relics found onsite including a mid 1800’s bottle collection.
Our tour guide Loretta, a mad Irishwoman was very entertaining with her stories of ghosts and strange things that has happened to her and others. We had great fun.
Thursday 28.10.10 – John played golf and Bev and I visited the arts and craft centre which is at the Old Gaol.
Friday 29.10.10 – We had a tour of the Bureau of Met which was very interesting. We got to see them let off the weather balloon. Each Bureau in the world does this at the same time each morning and evening. We then went to the Art Gallery to view the Small Town Collection.

Week Commencing 18.10.10
Monday 18.10.10 – We headed off to Geraldton , passing the Pink Lake which wasn’t pink at all. Amazing we were told that it can be different and you are just lucky to see it pink. We stopped for lunch at Northampton which is one of the oldest settlements outside Perth . Northampton was declared a town site in 1864. In 1993, Northampton was classified by the National Trust as a “Historic Town”. We visited the Museum which took us about 3 hours, there was so much to see and the lady was very passionate about her job. We settled in to the Sunset Caravan Park later that afternoon.
Tuesday 19.10.10 – We visited the Information Centre and ended up doing the 2pm tour of the Victoria Hospital and the Old Goal. Once again a very interesting afternoon, these people who do the tours are great they a very passionate. The goal cells are leased to Arts & Crafts group who sell their wares.
Wednesday 20.10.10 – Today we went on a day trip to Walkaway & Greenough. The township of Walkaway is derived from a crop failure circa 1860 when a few farmers “walked away” from their land. When an indigenous man was asked where the farmers were, he said “They wagga wah” in his pronunciation of English. Walkaway was the name given to the railway station when the line was built from Geraldton in 1887. In 1894 it was linked with Midland Junction by the building of a private line by the Midland Railway Company. From here we went to Ellendale Pool which is 20kms east of Walkaway. This lovely natural pool laps at the foot of an impressive river cliff and is surrounded by tall shady trees. On this occasion we had lots of flies to join us for lunch – not nice. After lunch we went to the Alinta Wind Farm, which is located near Walkaway. The Wind Farm is the largest renewable energy generator in Western Australia, capable of powering the equivalent of 60,000 homes or in broad terms, all the power consumed by Geraldton. The are 54 Vestas 1.65 Megawatt Wind Turbines.
Our next stop for the day was Central Greenough Historic Settlement. Located approx 25km south of Geraldton and 380km north of Perth , the Greenough flats form the flood plain of the river system close to the mouth of the Greenough River. The buildings and altered landscape provide an example of colonial expansion in the mid-nineteenth century- an expansion which dispossessed the indigenous population of is resource rich land. Central Greenough developed as the local administrative centre, housing the churches, schools, stores, government and law enforcement offices necessary to service the surrounding farms.
• Greenough Store – Constructed in 1886, the building served as a store until 1936, after which it was used as a residence.
• Central Greenough School – The school was built by William Trigg in 1865, the first teachers being James & Susan Rowe. It also served as a community hall and an Anglican place of worship.
• Police Station and Goal – The police were first stationed at Greenough in 1863, and two years later. Maitland Brown was appointed the first Resident Magistrate. In 1870 work began on the construction of the Police Station, Gaol and Court House. Built by J Nunn and HF Brophy, it cost 1,500 pounds. The gaol cells were not used for the long term housing of prisoners, who were instead transferred to Geraldton upon conviction. Four of the cells were for white prisoners, holding one or two people in each. The fifth, larger cell was for Aboriginal prisoners who were chained to the iron bar along the back wall. A small enclosed exercise yard was located adjacent to the cells. The building complex served a variety of purposes, all associated with government services. In addition to the court room, which also served as a meeting place for Greenough Road Board until 1906, the complex housed the police station/charge room, a retiring room used both by the magistrate and visiting doctor, the police sergeant’s quarters, a school teacher’s quarters, a kitchen for preparing prisoners’ meals and from 1874 a post office. A stable for police horses and two outside toilets were at the rear. Ticket-of-leave men dug a 22 metre deep well in the rear courtyard.
• St Catherine’s Church – Is the second Anglican Church built at Central Greenough. The first, an iron and timber building that had been shipped complete with all fittings from England, was erected on Company Road in 1892. It was replaced by the present building in 1913. St Catherine’s church is still in regular use for worship.
• St Catherine’s Hall – The plans for a community hall were prepared in 1893 by Perth Architect Thomas Whitney. It soon became a popular venue for dances, parties, concerts, politicial meetings and flower shows. During the 1930’s the hall was used as a school. It continues to be used for social functions.
• Hackett’s Cottage – Ned and Harriet Hackett, who ran a store on land adjacent to their home built the cottage after the 1888 flood. Ned was a versatile man. As well as running the store, he also acted as the community’s blacksmith, cobbler, carpenter and undertaker.
• Presbytery – Was built in 1900 by Mr Bennett and furnished by the church, it housed the local priest for thirty years. Monsignor Hawes was the last priest to occupy the house. The house was later used as a boarding house for some of the older boys from the Convent School.
• Goodwin Cottage – The Catholic Church built this cottage in 1890 for Ned Goodwin, a retired policeman, and his wife until Ned died in 1912. The Presentation Sisters used it as a school until 1958, demolishing a wall between two small rooms to make one large schoolroom.
• St Peter’s Church - Was designed and built by W Martin in 1908 and continues to be used for worship today.
• Greenough Convent – The convent was constructed in 1898 to house a group of Dominican Sisters from New Zealand. They conducted a mixed day school in the large room until they moved to Dongara in 1901, The building was then taken over by the Presentation Sisters who ran a boarding school for boys.
On the way home we came across The Leaning Tree, these trees are buffeted by prevailing southerly winds and from the salt of the Indian Ocean, the trees of Greenough have taken on a decided lean. The horizontal trunks of the Red River Gum (eucalyptus camaldulensis) have become something of an icon for the region. We have taken a picture of one particular tree which is on the Brand Highway – Greenough Flats.
Thursday 21.10.10 – Sunday 24.10.10 – We have really been a little lazy this week as it is very windy and not for much at all. Today, Sunday we took ourselves for a 2 hour hike up the Chapman River.

Week Commencing 10.10.10
Sunday 10.10.10 – A little bit of fishing and lazying around today.
Monday 11.10.10 – Up early and we head off to Kalbarri National Park with Bernie and Bev. We had a great day. We did the 8km Loop walk from Nature’s Window. We also visited Z Bend
The Murchison River – Only a few million years young, it has carved a gorge through the ancient and spectacular Tumblagooda Sandstone. The contrast of brownish red and purple against the bands of white is one of the wonders of the National Park, and draws thousands of visitors each year.
The Loop (Nature’s Window) – Several lookouts are positioned around The Loop to provide different views of the winding gorge below. A key attraction is Nature’s Window, a natural rock arch that superbly frames the upstream view. The 8km Loop begins and ends at Nature’s Window provides an unforgettable gorge experience.

Tuesday 12.10.10 – 14.10.10 – Not much happening this week, lots of walking resting and just enjoying some down time. It is great.
Friday 15.10.10 – Today we decided to venture to Port Gregory, we tagged along with The Two “Bs’. We came across the Pink Lake. Beautiful pinks and purple, just amazing.
The Pink Lake – The colour of the lagoon is due to a bacteria (Dunaliella salina) trapped in the salt granules; this provides a rich source of Beta Carotene which is harvested from small ponds. As the sun sinks, the lagoon changes colour from mauve or pink to a slightly darker purple.
Lynton Hiring Station Est 1853 & Sanford Grand House. We wandered through the ruined buildings and then up the hill to Sanford Grand House which is being lovely transformed to it prior glory.
Saturday 16.10.10 & Sunday 17.10.10 – Lunch at the pub and laze around pool in the afternoon. Sunday cleanup day as we are leaving Kalbarri tomorrow.

Week commencing 04.10.2010
Monday 04.10.10 – With our new buddies, The Two B’s, Bev & Bernie we went on a day trip to Cape Peron.
Peron Heritage Precinct – Located in the National Park , provides an insight into how life was when the park was a working sheep station. Peron National Park only became a National Park in 1990 when the sheep station lease was up. The National Park covers 52,500 hectares of the northern most tip of the Peron Peninsula. The park offers a unique experience of unusual wildlift amnd dramatic landscapes. Animals found in the area include the thorny devil, euros, thick-billed grass wrens, fairy-wrens, racehorse goannas and emus. Dugong, manta rays, sharks, fish and turtles are frequently seen from the cliffs of Cape Peron. The coastal scenery and shrubland with its Spinifex sandplains and gypsum claypans called birriadas, are a remarkable sight. We were lucky enough to see the following: goanns, emus, sharks, manta rays, fish and turtles. Unbelievable – it was a great day. We shared a lovely lunch on the beach at Bottle Bay.

Dugongs – It is estimated that up to 14,000 or 10% of the world’s dugong population thrive in the Shark Bay Marine Park. Extremely shy, these large docile marine mammals form one of the largest herds still in existence. Protected from hunting, dugongs are slow swimmers – grow to about 3.3 metres and weigh an average of 250kg. Associated with mermaid myth due to its fluked tail and scientific name ‘sirenia’ (latin siren-enchantress) the dugong is endangered in most of the world.
Little Lagoon – This tranquil waterway is a natural nursery for whiting, plus a fantastic swimming area. It is just 3km from Denham.
Tuesday 05.10.10 – Once again we are spending the day with The Two Bevs. Monkey Mia, so it is up very early to be at the beach by 8am. We arrive there around 7.40am and have to wait quietly on the verandah watching the dolphins swimming around waiting for the interaction and feeding. We are eventually invited to enter the water. Yes, there are about 200 people on the beach, out of these 200 people they choose four people to feed the dolphins. I am standing there thinking I am not going to be the lucky one. Guess what all my dreams come true, I have wanted to come to Monkey Mia for the past 30 years. Yes, I am chosen to feed the dolphin, who’s name is ‘Puck’ a 33 year old dolphin. My heart is racing as I turn to the lady beside me to look after my camera. (John had moved up to the jetty to get some shots of the dolphins) . Therefore he is able to get a shot of me feeding Puck. I am told to place the fish low in the water and the dolphin will take it from me. It was over so quick, but I will never forget this moment. Fantastic, I am still on a high , I feel so lucky to have been able to do this today.
Puck born 1 December 1976. Puck is the daughter of Crookedfin, one of the original Monkey Mia beach dolphins who started visiting the beach in the late 1970’s. Puck, like Nicky, is a regular visitor to the beach, but Puck is a more social dolphin and is well integrated into the Red Cliff Bay larger community of females. Members of the Puck family have a close bond and spend most of their time socialising and foraging together. Puck’s family is very skilled at rooster-tail foraging, which occurs in deeper water. They swim fast at the surface of the water leaving a trail and then back track on the dive down to catch their prey. It is unclear what type of prey they are hunting. Puck has had eight calves. Her first three calves died while still very young. Her first calf died at a few days old, before it was named. Puck’s first calf to survive to weaning was Piccolo (06.12.1992). Piccolo is now a regular visitor to the beach and became a member of the beach interaction program in 2004. In 2003, Puck became a grandmother when Piccolo had her first calf Eden (20.11.2003) Puck’s next calf, Kiya (13.12.1997) was attacked by a shark in 1999 but survived with an impressive scar the size of a dinner plate on the left side of her body. Puck’s other surviving calves are India (07.05.2004) and Samu (12.12.2009) Samu is still being nursed by Puck.

After an exciting morning, we enjoyed lunch on the lovely grassed area of the resort.
On our return to the caravan park, the winds has picked up and we pulled down the awning ready for our departure tomorrow. The winds gusts are up around 64kms an hour. We have spent the evening in the van. Not nice being in a caravan when the winds are howling like they are tonight.
Wednesday 06.10.10 – Not as blowy this morning but we are both happy to be leaving. As we drove along the road we had to stop as the Emu with his chicks were attempting to cross the road. When they saw us approaching they turned and headed into the scrub. We arrived safely at the Murchison River Rest Area where we were spending the night. When we got out of the car we were attacked by flies, seemed like hundreds of them – out came the fly hats. Bev and Bernie’s friends were also camping here and invited us over for a drink before dinner. We had a great night with them and also another couple joined us at the camp fire.
Thursday 07.10.10 – Up early as we had decided to wash the van and the car while we at the free camp. With fly hats on, we worked hard for the next couple of hours, it felt great to see both vehicles reasonably clean. A job well done. We then drove on to Kalbarri, this was a pretty drive as we started to see fields of wheat. We settled into the caravan park, a nice spot on the hill overlooking the Murchison River. Judy, Al, Des & Franka are also camped here. We have had drinks with them each evening. We went for a long walk along the river to the mouth and it was great watching the boats going out to sea. Lots of children still here are holidays end tomorrow.
Friday 08.10.10 - We decided to do the walks along the Kalbarri National Park Cliffs. We walked about 3kms from Eagle Gorge and then turned back to the car. The walk takes you along the tops of the cliff looking down over the rugged coastline. We then drove to Natural Bridge and walked another 6kms to Shellhouse. It was very hot and yes lots of flies. We saw some amazing coastline. We stopped off at Pot Alley and saw some children playing on the rocks. At Jake’s Point we saw some surfers catching some great rides.

Saturday 09.10.10 - As this is Daddy’s day , John played his first game of golf since July. He had a successful day , won a nice bottle of red. He said the guys were really nice and made him welcome.

Week Commencing 27.09.10
Monday 27.09.10 – Today is Maureen Potts 60th Birthday, Happy Birthday Maur hope you are having fun on your cruise. John and I visited the Blow Holes & Quobba located just 75km north of Carnarvon , this natural phenomenon is an awe inspiring sight to see. Powerful ocean swells force water through sea caves and up out of narrow holes in the rocks, jets of water erupt into the air, sometimes to a height of 20 metres, creating a spectacular sight. Just 1km south of the Blow Holes is Point Quobba a calm coral filled lagoon with fish and shells in abundance. With a while sandy beach , which is ideal for snorkelling, safe swimming and enjoying a picinic lunch. Although the coast is serene and yet rugged it can be deadly, with a dangerous swell than can turn into King Waves, capable of crashing over the top of the rock ledge. This coastline needs to be treated with caution and care – lives have been lost by unsuspecting souls here.

Tuesday 28.09.10 – Today we do some chores and get ready to move onto Denham. We enjoyed drinks with Bernie & Bev a lovely couple in the camp. A couple of drinks at 5pm turned into getting home at 9.20pm. We still enjoyed our Pink Snapper which we bought earlier in the day. Yummy

Wednesday 29.09.10 – Left camp around 10am and had nearly an uneventful drive to Denham. We came across a herd of cattle on the road and when we got closer we notice a calf had been hit and the cattle were gathering around it trying to help, it was so sad to see. Further along the highway we come across two vans travelling around 80km per hour. We passed the first and as we passed the lead van he gets on the CB to his mater abusing us for passing in danger, their last comment was bloody Queenslanders! Anyway we continue our journey and get settled into camp and yes you guessed it they roll in and camp two down from us. On the Denham road we stopped off at Shell Beach.

Shell Beach - as the name implies, is not your everyday sand beach. Instead it’s a beach made of millions of tiny shells, all from one type of animal. The shell known as the Hamelin Cockle, lives in prolific numbers in the area because of the super salty water. The discarded shells have heaped into massive piles up to 10m thick, it is a sight to behold; tonnes of vleached white shells forming a beach up to 1km wide and many kelometres long! The beautiful shoreline gives way to crystal clear water of the most intense greens and blues.

Denham – has evolved from a thriving pearl town with a street paved with pearl shell, to the hub of the tourist and fishing industry of Shark Bay. Located on the western coastline of Peron Peninsula, with views across the waters of Shark Bay towards Dirk Hartog Island.

We have settled in here and plan on staying for maybe two weeks or until we can get into Kalbarri. We are planning on doing some 4WD driving and of course going to Monkey Mia to watch the dolphins.
Thursday 30.09.10 – Today we have been very lazy, both laying about and reading books, watching television. The weather is overcast and a little glum.
Friday 01.10.10 – Another month gone. Trying to decide what to do today, so John came up with a visit to Ocean Park and then a drive out to Eagle Bluff. Sounds wonderful. We arrive at Ocean Park and it was very interesting and enjoyable. Our guide was from Sweden, a Marine biologist very funny fellow, he made the tour entertaining. We saw lots of fish, turtles and sharks. We then headed off to Eagle Bluff, where we hope to see sharks swimming in the shallows, we were not disappointed, we also saw some dolphins playing with each other. From the cliffs you look out over the world’s largest meadows of seagrass. They say the biggest population of dugongs live in Shark Bay. We spent quite a bit of time here it was so beautiful. We noticed some vehicles on the beach and decided to see how they got down there. Back along the track we couldn’t find any turn offs, so we headed along the highway and found a track. This track headed towards the beach up and down the sand dunes, finally we found the beach and decided not to drive along as we weren’t too sure. As we turned around John noticed a family of Emus, so we started to follow them. Unfortunately we came across some really soft sand and down we went, bogged. We tried digging our way out but had no luck. John decided to walk back to Eagle Bluff along the beach about 10kms. He left me with the car in case someone happened along. It took him about an hour and was lucky enough to find a young family with a 4WD ute, who was happy to help us. So Brad and Mandy drove John back to the car and he pulled us out. We were so grateful for their help, they had three children and they thought it was great fun. Our day out turned into quite an adventure, we really were in the middle of nowhere.


Saturday – 02.10.10 Grand Final Day! Game wasn’t as good as last week but we sat outside, wind blowing at around 38km per hour. We had a visit from Bernie & Bev, they joined us for a drink or two. We spent the early evening tying everything down as it was blowing strongly. A mother and daughter who were camped near us unfortunately lost their tent, John helped out but they ended up staying the night in a cabin.
Sunday 03.10.10 – Wind still blowing, so much the same as yesterday. We are meeting Bernie, Bev and a couple of their friends and heading to the local bowls club to watch the NRL Grand Final.