Clockwise Around Aus: Geraldton Part 2: Lobster Tour, HMAS SydneyII and the Old Gaol

I took Rory to the HMAS Sydney II Memorial, which stands proudly over the town. It was sobering to know that after seeing so much battle and receiving glory for their accomplishments in battle in the Mediterranean, the ship was returning after escort duty when it ran afoul of a German Raider in 1941 and just disappeared, with 645 people on board. No one knew what had happened to it. It wasn't discovered until 2008. I found it very sobering to think of all those men, lost at sea with no clue as to what happened, and it made me so much more profoundly aware of all we owe past and current service men and women, and their families who support them and wait for them to return.

The Waiting Woman

The bird is pointing the the exact latitude and longitude that the HMAS Sydney II is resting at

We also did the lobster tour at the Geraldton Fishermans Co-op. We were the only people there for the tour, which was great for us. Anne took us around the Co-op and we got to see so much. We were shown how they load the lobsters for transport to Freemantle, for live shipping overseas. The lobsters are held in tanks of 18 degrees in baskets. They are then immersed in water of 12 degrees, which causes them to hibernate. Once in hibernation, they are loaded onto the back of a truck. Once loaded and closed up, they are irrigated with 12 degrees water to keep them in hibernation. At Freemantle they are packed into styrofoam boxes in pine shavings to protect them and shipped overseas. Once there, they are warmed back up and sold as live lobster. How amazing is that? We also got to watch the lobster sorting tables, which was a great opportunity for us, and learned all sorts of interesting facts, such as the Japanese Market requires only the highest grade of lobster being red in colour, with all 10 legs and no cracks on the shell. For the Chinese market, it's OK if the lobster is missing 2 legs but they can't be off the same side. Tilda found these details particularly interesting. We also got to see the scientific research they are doing to extract lobster urine from the tank water so it can be recycled. At Geraldton, they don't need to recycle the water because the sea water is so clean and pollution free they can just use it, but some of their other depots don't have that luxury so they are looking at ways to recycle water.

The location of the Co-op is beautiful

We also learned that a pot licence is worth $85,000 and the average fisherman has approx 200 pots (that's $17 million), and that's not even counting the cost of the boat, fuel etc. It is an incredibly expensive business to get in to, obviously, but the rewards are worth it. Lobster is currently selling for $90/kg and they can catch 100kg per pot (I think it was)... which would be $9,000 per pot per annum and $1.8 million per 200 pots per annum. I think those figures are right but don't quote me on them, as I'm not 100% sure of the 100kg per pot. It really was an interesting tour. It's not something we would normally do, and we only did it because we had read another family's experience and it sounded interesting. I am so glad we did.

We also visited the Old Gaol. I really like what they have done with it. They have rented out the cells (or two cells joined together) to local artists and crafters to set up shops. They have kept the structure original, they have a couple of cells in original condition with information panels and photos to help you learn more about the conditions of the gaol. It seems to me to be a great use of the space. You can explore the gaol and learn its history, while browsing unique and interesting shops stocked with local artists and crafters products.