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| Oops the springs collapsed on the caravan - overweight or one too many happy hours perhaps??? |
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| HMAS Sydney II memorial in Geraldton |
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| The Waiting Woman at the HMAS Sydney II memorial Geraldton |
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| WA means "windy always" - even the trees are laid back |
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| Hang gliding at Geraldton |
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| Point Moore lighthouse - the beam can be seen 26km out to sea |
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| The foreshore at Geraldton |
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| The port at Geraldton |
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| One of the lobsters at the processing factory - YUM!! |
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| Sorting and weighing the fisherman's daily catch of lobsters |
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| Two "raw prawns" |
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| Oh no, not again - now the car!!! |
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| Our camp site at Sandy Cape Reserve - Jurien Bay |
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| Sandy Cape Beach - Jurien Bay |
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Jurien Bay
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Well where to start this blog?? We left Kalbarri some time ago now and happily went on our way singing and munching lollies when Anthony who we were travelling with noticed that our springs on the caravan had flattened. Immediately they all looked at me - what? I know I've been indulging in lots of happy hours but have I been that bad? Or could I have packed too much? Either way they needed to be replaced and I would be in trouble so we were hopeful of getting it done in Geraldton - gulping at how much we anticipated it would cost. However the caravan people couldn't do it for at least 2 weeks so Charlie ordered the springs and after begging the caravan park for permission to do it there, Charlie along with Anthony replaced the springs at a lot less cost. My hubby then decided that he wanted to know if we were overweight and if so by how much so off he went to the public weighbridge - You just don't want to know!! Needless to say we had to get rid of some things, redistribute the weight in the caravan and hopefully now it is ok. I bet 99% of caravans on the road are overweight.
Anyway repairs concluded we then had a look around Geraldton. It is a very nice port city. The foreshore is lovely with lots of cafes and a water park for the children. We also visited the wonderful HMAS Sydney II memorial. It is beautifully done and would have been one of the best memorials we have seen. This memorial honours 645 Australian sailors who were lost during a World War II battle in 1941. The memorial features a dome of 645 seagulls, each of them representing a lost life. The wreck of the HMAS Sydney II was discovered on 16th March 2008 ( a bit of a history lesson for you all). Anyway it is worth a visit if you are ever in Geraldton and it is quite poignant to see the statue of the "waiting woman" looking out to sea waiting for her menfolk to come home.
We then did a tour of the lobster processing factory which was interesting to see all the lobsters from the nights catch. Each fisherman's catch is sorted and weighed and then they are paid accordingly. The price for lobsters fluctuates quite a lot so the price the Co-operative is paying daily is posted on the board and then the fishermen decide whether its worth getting out of bed and going to work or not - How nice would that be!!!
After a longer stay than we really wanted in Geraldton, we hitched up the van again and headed off to Sandy Cape Reserve at Jurien Bay. This is a lovely camp spot right on the beach and at only $15 per night it is a bargain but unfortunately disaster struck us again. Talk about the Griswalds, it seems to be "The Raphaels Go Caravanning" - perhaps they can make a movie of us.
We had just turned onto the dirt road going into the Reserve area and we heard an awful grinding noise coming from the front of the car. Charlie stopped the car, then tried again and the same thing. Anthony to the rescue yet again and the boys took the wheel off and found that the "C-clip" had come off from the axle. After some bush mechanics they got the car mobile and we managed to get to the camp site. We phoned a mechanic in Jurien Bay but once again, yes you've guessed it, they couldn't do it for at least 2 weeks. We then phoned Toyota in Perth and booked the car in for about 10 days hence.
We had a great time at the Sandy Cape Reserve, seeing dolphins, sea lions and all sorts of fish at the beach. It really was a perfect spot but we decided to leave early and make our way into Perth to be closer to civilisation and public transport for getting around as we didn't want to drive the car too much. I was busy doing mental calculations about how much this was going to cost and whether I would have to do that awful four letter word - work. Needn't have worried though because once the car was looked at in Perth, it was found that they had stuffed up at Mt Isa so the costs were all covered by them!!
We had a good look around Perth which will be a separate blog and now getting ready to fly to Adelaide for Christmas to be with the family and grandies!! Oh and by the way had a beautiful baby grandson born 2 days ago in the UK, Sam William - congratulations to Abbie and Matt.
On that note its Adieu from The Wandering 2s.
