DAY 95 – CHILL OUT DAY IN GERALDTON WITH SOME NOT SO GOOD NEWS…

Today was very much a catch up day in Geraldton as we had baskets of washing that needed to be done, shopping to do, haircuts to have and John and Barb had a lot of decisions to make in regards to the repairs on their car and the logistics of getting around whilst they were stranded in Geraldton for the next two weeks.  

Steve made himself available to John for the morning to take him back to the garage where his car was towed too, whilst he talked to the mechanic to find out exactly what the problem with the car was, and also to run him around to see the RAC so that they could find out what their Ultracare covered. 

The news about the their car was not good as they were advised that the problem was indeed the gear box. It needs to be re-conditioned and it could only be done in Perth. They would be  stuck in Geraldton until it is repaired and it's likely to be in the region of $6,500 to repair! Ouch.

Barb was feeling shattered and both Kathy and I could emphasise with her as none of us have a reserve of that much put away for repairs of that size.  Kathy and I both felt that we could not pack up and leave the following morning when these guys were feeling so gutted, so we decided to book in for an extra night until at least they had a plan of attack or were feeling better about the whole situation. 

We did managed to get a few housekeeping jobs done that we haven’t had time to do recently because we have been constantly on the move or sightseeing.  It was nice to actually stop for a change also.  

We did manage to head into Geraldton in the afternoon to do a bit of grocery shopping, have hair cuts and I visited Taking Shape to pick up a couple of more T Shirts like the ones I bought in Darwin, as they were quite cool and very comfortable to wear….

Before heading home, we went for a drive around the area we were staying in at Moore’s Point.  The red and white candy stripes of Point Moore Lighthouse are a spectacular sight that stands out proudly amidst the Geraldton landscape. Standing 34 metres high it was the first all steel tower built on the mainland of Australia, back in 1878. With its bold colours, the lighthouse has become an icon of  Geraldton.

The lighthouse is not open to the public; however you can walk around the bottom of the lighthouse and read the new interpretive plaque that has been put up. It provides some interesting facts about the lighthouse and its history.

Separation Point - Geraldton.

It was blowing a gale....

The fence on the beach was almost completely covered by sand. 

Everybody loves a pretty sunset  and Separation Point is the place in Geraldton to go and enjoy one.  However, the wind was blowing a gale whilst we were there and it was almost impossible to get out of the car, as the wind howled and blew sand everywhere.  


You can though, view the ocean for miles as well as the outline of the city too. There were quite a few kite surfers out there zooming across the water at record speed.  I could see that on a calm day this would be a serene spot to visit.
 
From here we headed home, to a big pot of hot pea and ham soup.. Just what we needed on a cold windy night, and once again we enjoyed  our meal together in the camp kitchen at the caravan park as it was quite sheltered from the wind.