20150802 WA Geraldton

20150802 Talk about a blast from the past, Desi’s hasn’t seen Ian, an old school mate in about 48 years so the chances of even finding him were slim, but thanks to the google queen I found only one Ian Powers in Geraldton and bugger me dead if it wasn't him.  Ian was more than surprised but also pleased and offered us a camp on his footpath so off to Geraldton we head.

20150804  Ian and Hom take us site seeing around Geraldton to take in the sites of their beautiful town.

Ian and Des strolling along the boat harbor when I snuck in a photo, he! he! got ya boys.

These are the pots used by the professional to catch Cray, they are then exported live or frozen to Asia, the United States and Europe leaving very little for the local markets.






 


CBH grain receival point silos at Geraldton which are spread around Western Australia and have been linked with the wheat-belt railway lines for export.

This is an open topped wheat bin with covers attached and serves as a land mark in the town, in 2013/14 harvest was a record year with 15.9 million tonnes of wheat received.


 

 

 

 

Ian, Hom, Des and I walking along the boardwalk as Ian tell us the interesting story of the Batavia tragedy.

In 1629 the Batavia sailed among the rocks and reefs of a small group of coral islands of the Indian Ocean where it ran aground and although her survivors made it to land they face a bloody mutiny in which 125 men, woman and children were killed.

Overlooking the town stands the HMAS Sydney II Memorial to honour the 645 Australian sailors who lost their lives in a battle off the coast of W.A when they intercepted a German rider near Sharks Bay in 1941, both ships went down and they were lost for 66 years.  The memorial consists of a replicated portion of the ship’s bow, a wall listing the sailors lost a bronze statue of a woman looking longingly out to sea and a dome made of 645 steel seagulls suspended over a massive propeller.

 

Point Moor Lighthouse

 This 34m tall structure was brought over from England in 1877 in pieces and was bolted together in Geraldton, it was up and running in 1878.  The red and white was painted in 1969 and is the oldest surviving Commonwealth lighthouse in WA.

After our tour of the area we headed home to prepare for a night out to dinner with a few of Ian and Hom's friends only it didn't finish there.   A quick trip  home for some supplies after dinner then back to Glen and Robin's home to party on.

 

  









I have no idea what went wrong but everyone of my photo's turned out blurry, it could have something to do with being very wasted but it still show's what a great time we all had.

Des and I love meeting great people and we had a ball dancing the night away with Ian and Robin steeling the show.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Denice keeps us entertained as she plays the part of who I assume is Cousin Itt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don't ask me what Wayne is doing but he had everyone in stitches. We all had a wonderful night dancing and singing till the early hours of the morning and poor Hom had to work the next day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

06-08-2015  This is a very exciting day for Des and I as Glen has offered to take us fishing on his Cray boat only we need to wait for the wind to drop so it meant a later start.

 

Let the day begin, although it was still about 30knots and we were all staggering around the boat it was time to get serious so with our lines bated we drop them over the side waiting for that big bite, this is so exciting.

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 Ian and Wayne are on and in they roll check out these beauties, I asked Des the name of the fish and he said Yum Yum fish because they were yummy, he's such a wanker, a coral trout and a snapper, very pretty fish and great eating.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

  

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The fishing in W.A has been just amazing, we could really get use to this. 







 I am loving Fishing but I must be honest Shane caught this lovely girl but he did let me pull it in.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 How many men does it take to detangle a fishing line?  This wasn't the first, three time they had to detangle" bluey" as they called this line and I must say they have the patients of a saint.

 

The wandering albatross has the largest wingspan of any living bird ranging from 2.51 to 3.5 m (8 ft 3 in to 11 ft 6 in) and she followed the boat it the hope of a snack from the crew.

 

 

Looking keen there Des maybe you need to talk dirty to them, it works for Karen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have no idea what we're laughing at but all I know is we are having the time of our life. 

 

We caught our quota so now it's time to sit back and enjoy a nice cold beer. 

Des and I would like to thank Glen, Ian and the guys for given us adventure we will never forget.