Thursday, October 15, 2009

Day 122 - 123 Geraldton to Morewa – 8-9 Oct 2009

19,597 kms, 30 degrees C




Geraldton is the Big City in the mid WA coast (for a map, see the Kalbarri previous blog entry). It was a bit of a shock for us to have to deal with traffic lights and roundabouts once more – it seemed like they were from a previous life. It is one of those many Australian coastal cities that have amazing ocean vistas but are blighted by heavy industry, right along the beach, a bit like Gladstone in Qld.


The most notable feature of Gerry was the memorial to the HMAS Sydney, sunk off the WA coast in WW2. The Sydney was lost until 2008 when its wreck was discovered off Steep Point, WA. The memorial is a moving tribute to the 645 souls lost – the dome is made of seagulls, one for each person lost.


Next we headed inland to go Mullewa and Morewa, to see the wildflower country. WA is blessed with a dazzling array of flowers over huge areas in Spring – one of the hotspots was Mullewa where we went to see the wreath flowers, a plant that grows on the side of the road in a circle with flowers on the outside, as if an arranger has created a wreath. The appear for 300m and that it! The roads are full of colour that changes with each passing km.


We were tempted by the local rodeo, especially as we look the part with our Akubra hats!



1 comment:

Honora said...

Did anyone catch up with the steer? Looks like the rider forgot his lassoo!!! Glad to hear you are gently easing yourself back into "civilisation" with traffic signals. Be good to do that before you return to Melbourne! Mum X