DAY 96 – THE SIGHTS OF GERALDTON…
It has been
nice to have an extra day in town. Steve
had an early start this morning as he needed to clean out our car so that he
could take John and Barb across town to pick up their hire car.
We decided to have a break from sightseeing this morning. No sense
over-doing it. So we decided to go to the movies instead. I went with Ian and Kathy, and Steve would
meet us there once he dropped John and Barb off.
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| Movie date together... |
The cinema is rather nice and very centrally
located in town. We could all also use our Senior's cards. Bonus! We saw
"Victoria and Abdul". Love Judi Dench...the story was a bit
unexpected but there were some amusing moments. It was a nice way to spend a
chilled out morning together. We rarely get the opportunity to go to the movies
together at home, so it was nice to all go out together.
After the
movies, we picked up some Subway (using our senior’s discount again) and headed
up to the HMAS Sydney II memorial that sits atop a hill in town. It is certainly
a magnificent tribute to the 612 lives lost at sea when the HMAS Sydney was
sunk during combat in WW2 off the West Australian coast.
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| These two walls have the names of every soldier that was lost at sea that day. |
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| 645 Stainless Steel Gulls represent the 645 men who lost their lives at sea. |
The dome of
seagulls represents all the souls lost at sea. Apparently a flock of seagulls
flew over a memorial gathering for the HMAS Sydney and it was considered a
significant sign. There is also a bronze statue of a waiting woman,
representing all the loved ones at home who waited anxiously for news of the
fate of the ship and never knew what happened to them until the wreck was found
fifty years later. Alongside the statue is a wall with all the
sailors names and a pool of remembrance and a tall edifice meant to represent
the bow of the ship. It is very tastefully done.
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| Views of Geraldton from up at the HMAS Sydney Memorial |
Steve and I
left Ian and Kathy here as we wanted to head back into town so that I could
take some photos of all the Open air street art gallery that we had seen the
previous day.
I also wanted to go back
to the Taking Shape store that we visited yesterday when buying my tshirts and
pick up a lovely navy dressy shirt I saw before grabbing a couple of postcards
of the Point Moore Lighthouse to send home to our grandchildren.
Even the poles in the city were all painted and decorated. Geraldton is such a pretty town.
Once we had
done all of this, we headed down the coast for a drive first stopping off at
the beautiful beach parkland in Geraldton.
This precinct is a real credit to the council with all it’s wonderful
playgrounds and water parks and it certainly entices families into the main
beach area. This setting is really
lovely. It is in a grassy park with lots of picnic shelters and the nearby
public loos are in buildings that look like large Rubik's cubes.
From here we
checked out the marina where there were quite a few expensive boats moored
before going for a drive along the northern beaches. It would be good to come back here in a few
years time and see the finished foreshore.
Lots of the foreshore is closed off at the moment whilst they design,
build and improve the parklands.
And then on the way home we came across this awfully colourful clown advertising the circus that was in town
For our last
night together Ian Kathy, Steve and I
wanted to shout John and Barb to a beaut meal at Hogs Breath Café.
The steak was wonderful and we had an wonderful evening full of laughs and
reminisces.
Then it was back to John and Barb’s caravan site to eat
the pavlova with strawberries and blueberries and cream they had bought
before they realised they were going out for dinner.
It was a
wonderful way to end our remarkable holiday together.
We will miss these wonderful friends terribly
as we take off tomorrow.
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