Scenic flight over the Abrolhos Islands

We could not leave Geraldton without taking a flight to the Abrolhos Islands.  Official name is the Houtman Abrolhos Islands, discovered by Frederick Houtman in 1619 on board the Dordrecht while following the coast northward. There are 122 islands in total which span 100 kms of ocean in approximately a north/south direction.  There are three main groups. the Pelsaert, Easter and Wallabi group.

We selected Shine Aviation from the many companies offering flights for no particular reason but our young pilot was named George, a name that has close associations for me.  Father was George, ex-husband is George and this very personable young man did a great job flying us to East Wallabi Island.

Co-pilot Andrew enjoyed sitting up at the front while we lesser three others sat in the back of the small 8 person plane.

Another of the small planes which do these flights also landing on East Wallabi Island.

These groups of islands hold the tragic story of the Batavia saga of 1629. The location of the wreck was unknown for 350 years until it was discovered by fishermen and then researchers in 1963.

The ship, heading to Batavia now modern day Jakarta along the trade route to the east, came to grief along the coral reefs as the Leeuwin current which flows from April to October caused it to flounder.  A mutiny followed and 125 men, women and children were murdered by the mutineers during the time that Captain Pelsaert set off in a long boat to Batavia for rescue.  The others survived and on Pelsaert's amazing return some months later the mutineers were dealt with in various ways, none of them nice.

Many of the islands are semi-permanent homes to fishermen who are there for commercial fishing.  People from Geraldton and other towns nearby also come for week long fishing holidays and camping.  A lady at the bridge club, on hearing we were doing the flight to the islands told us of the many many happy holidays she and her family spent there.  She said the islands were the most beautiful places on earth as far as she was concerned.

The colours of the coral reef are wonderful with wonderful healthy reef all over the ocean.  Quite a few of the scenic flights include shallow reef snorkelling but we chose not to do one of those.

The view of Geraldton on the way home.

A photo of the remains of the fort on West Wallabi Island built by the soldiers led by Wiebbe Hayes during the mutiny.  We could not make out the remains clearly enough to take a photo as we flew over the island so resorted to this image which is on the wall at Shine Aviation showrooms.

Passing the time in Geraldton

Our big news is that the Geraldton Bridge Club has opened its doors again after the lock down.

Only 20 people allowed at any one time but this is not a big problem for a smallish bridge club.  Notice the big bottle of hand sanitiser.  Everyone was asked to carry their own bidding boxes from table to table and to use the sanitiser at each table before play.  Geraldton plays three times a week and they opened for two sessions to start with and are moving to a third session this week.  We will continue with online bridge which is still enjoyable in its own way but it was also very nice to face real people across the table once again :-)

The library in town is also now open but people have to sign in and are limited to a 30 minute visit.  Cafes and restaurants are slowly opening their doors.  Schools have gone back but playgrounds are still off limits, until next week.  The inconsistencies between various restrictions are hard to fathom.  For example the library is open but the visitors' centre is not.  And yet, the Premier is urging West Australians to holiday in WA.  But we understand the caravans leaving Perth for the north are filling up the roads.  Hopefully, if we wait to leave Geraldton until the end of June we will miss some of the big rush.

Sand dunes along the coast between Geraldton and Cape Burney where Andrew went for a walk.

Our social life has burgeoned these last few weeks.  Not only has the bridge club opened but we had visitors staying a few days too.  We met Marienne and Robert from The Netherlands on our recent trip to Dongara.  They too have been captives of the corona lock down and are only now able to continue with their planned WA trip.  They finally left Dongara after some months there and they visited us on the way to the north.

Here we are having a game of rummy kub.  Not as good as bridge but more people play that and it provides a very nice few hours of entertainment.

Our two motor homes lined up outside 20 Glass Crescent.  We may meet up with them somewhere up the northern parts of WA as we both continue our trip.  We set off later this week with a farewell to Geraldton.

Our lovely neighbours at 23 Glass Street, Ailsa and Chris.  They are the ones who gave us the two wonderful crayfish some weeks ago.  Then they had us for a farewell to Geraldton dinner at their house.  Chris is, like me, a continuous joke teller and we had a great evening with them.  And Ailsa is a wonderful cook and hostess.  We seem to be lucky with neighbours who are both hospitable and good cooks.  Thinking of you Desiree and Todd back across the road at Ebden Street :-)

Trip to Dongara

We went to Dongara, a coastal town 64 kms south of Geraldton.

The Irwin River.

Blacks swans on the river.  They glide along in a rather majestic fashion.

A small stone cottage.

Another old building, once the Roads Board Office,  that seems a great favourite in the town.  It now houses Poppies, a cafe that has not closed during the Covid19 restrictions, serving takeaway coffee and cake to the population.

The rather more imposing Dongara Hotel, built in 1867, which has just reopened its doors for meals.  This was the first inn in Dongara and was known as the Irwin Arms.  The original structure forms the core of the present building.

Priory Hotel which was originally built as a hotel in 1881 but purchased by the Dominican Sisters in 1902 for the purpose of opening a school and it operated as the Dominican Ladies College until 1971.

After being beautifully restored the building has had its historic inn licence reinstated.

Overlooking wetlands.

Sculpture bench.

Murals on the side of a couple of buildings,

A few examples of whimsy.  Teddy bears along a fenceline.  A couple of cute sculptures below.

The Western Rock Lobster, the emblem of Dongara and indeed much of the west coast.  The crayfish industry is a lively and vigorous activity in these parts.

After a couple of nights in Dongara, instead of heading straight back to Geraldton we detoured to the nearby small inland town of Mingenew.  This is view from Mingenew Hill.  In season, which sadly is not now, this is supposed to be the true heart and soul of wildflower country, according to the brochure.

Sculptures cut out from sheets of iron seem to be a feature in WA.  We have seen them elsewhere.

The stockman and his dog.

This is commemorating a rifle range training ground for WWII outside the town at Depot Hill where Andrew did a walk.

Life in Geraldton continues and restrictions easing

Things are opening up more and more, bit by bit.  Today we were allowed to visit Joke at Nazareth House. The 110 bed aged care facility was opened in 1941.  Plans for the building were drawn by Monsignore Hawes, who also did the design for the Geraldton Cathedral.

Nazareth House is beautifully situated at Bluff Point.  The buildings are a lovely sandstone colour and the grounds lie along the inlet and some parts, including Joke's room, are facing the beach.

In spite of being in Geraldton for six weeks already. this was the first occasion we have been allowed to visit due to coronavirus restrictions.  We had to present proof of our flu vaccinations and had our temperature taken before being allowed to meet with Joke in the courtyard.

Joke was very happy to see us and appreciated our visit.  Unfortunately she was not able to show us her room and reputedly lovely garden.  Hopefully, we may be able to do that before we get to leave Geraldton when the travel restrictions are further eased.  We plan to visit her regularly while we are here.  When she lived in Carnarvon we stayed with her for a week 11 years ago and we had a very nice time together.  Joke and Andrew share their Dutch background.

Proof of Geraldton friendliness and generosity.  Chris from next door knocked on the door asking if we like crayfish?  I nearly kissed him as he presented us with two lovely specimens and came into the kitchen to show us how to dismember the delicious things.  They were already cooked thank goodness.  Instead of a kiss we gave him some wine as our grateful thanks.  He also gave us some little whiting fillets which were lovely and fresh.

Our entree that night.







Chris and Ailsa's son is a fisherman on one of the Abrolhos Islands, a chain of islands and associated coral reefs off the coast about 80 kms west of Geraldton.  They get given a lot of fish and crustaceans and Ailsa us promised a big fillet of groper, plus an invitation for dinner.  I am beside myself with anticipation.  Wonderful food and socialising -  a fantastic combination.

An outing to Ellendale Pool

Suddenly let off the leash a little, we decided to go for an overnight stay in Winnie the motor home once again to visit Ellendale Pool which we last visited 11 years ago when we were in this area of WA.  It is a 50 km drive out there, south west of Geraldton.

Another leaning tree of Greenough.  These leaning trees belong to a native WA species of river gum.  Their characteristic lean is caused by constant strong southerly winds that burn off growth on the windward side.  They are very striking.

A handsome llama we saw on the way.

On the way there we drove past several wind farms which have a total of 50-60 turbines.  The mid west region of WA is one of Australia's windiest regions.  The typical wind strength is around 20-25 km.

One blade of the wind turbine is 48.7m in length and it is 9.8 tonne in weight.  The material is fiberglass composite.

Finally we arrived at Ellendale Pool.  The reflection of the cliffs over the water is a little reminiscent of Karijini National Park in the Pilbara.  I wonder if we will be allowed to go there this year with Covid restrictions?

Being at Ellendale Pool brought back memories of our trip around Australia eleven years ago.  We looked up the blog and we were here in October 2009.

The bird life is impressive.

The corellas (white parrots) make a lot of noise morning and night.  At first they can drive you mad but you get used to their shrill cries after a while.

Andrew obligingly climbed up those cliffs to take some magnificent shots of the Greenough River below.  Actually he did not have to climb up the sheer face but he did take a 4km walk around in order to cross the river on the bridge and then walk steadily uphill.  When we were last here 11 years ago I also went up with him  Oh, those were the days :-)

The left hand view of the river.

The right hand view towards the campground.

Looking down on Winnie from the heights.

At one end of the campground was this little lagoon that is not part of the main river.  The algae makes it this amazing red colour.

We have seen pink lakes caused by algae but never such a rich red hue such as this.

It looks spectacular.  Others there told us that a week ago it was a lavender colour.