Streaky Bay and Surrounds

Streaky Bay is a lovely, sleepy seaside town and the caravan park is right on the water. We only had 1 day/2 nights there and it was blowing a gale for a fair bit of it, so it wasn't particularly pleasant to be outside or at the beach. Regardless, I still liked it as a town and I can see why lots of people love staying there.

Caravan park foreshore and view

One of the most bizarre things about Streaky Bay is that wheat is grown almost to the cliff/beach edge. Coming from where we do in NSW we just aren't used to seeing crops growing that close to the ocean, and certainly not wheat. So you look over all these beautiful pale brown wheat fields to the ocean beyond and it is lovely.

In 1990 a young man caught a Great White Shark on a handline off Streaky Bay, and given that it's not far from there that you can go cage diving with sharks, I wasn't too keen to go in the water. There is a lifesize replica of the Great White on display at the Shell Service Station, so we went to check it out... it is truly a monster. It was over 5m long and weighed 1500kg! Scary as to imagine being in the water with that! There is a netted swimming area near the jetty, and I am guessing that is where most people swim... pretty much no one was in the water more than ankle deep when we were there because the wind was just too unpleasant, or perhaps they knew something we didn't.

Shark replica 

On our first day we did one of the tourist drives and drove out to Whispering Rocks and the Blowholes. The weathered limestone coast makes for some very rugged and interesting views. The Whispering Rocks makes a 'dragon breathing in a cave' type of sound when the waves rush in to a cave (Tilda's description). It was certainly more of a noisy breathing sound than a whistle, as such, but it certainly an interesting phenomenon. The Blowholes weren't blowing when we were there. I don't know if the tide was too low or if the sea just wasn't rough enough/big enough waves, but given that they're a short way from town, it's worth the drive to check them both out (they're next to each other).

Whistling Rocks

The Blowholes lookout

Our second day we drove to Point Labatt to see the sea lion colony. This is definitely worth the 51km (one way) drive. It is the only place on mainland Australia where you can see sea lions and while you are up on a cliff above the colony, with binoculars or a good zoom camera lens, you can see them so well. We got to watch pups feeding and playing about in a rock pool, as well as see all of the ones just lazing about sleeping on the rocks and sand. We were there for half an hour or so before Rory started getting bored and I could have stayed there for hours. It was simply amazing to watch.

We also explored the coastline along the Westall Loop and  the rock pools of Smooth Pool.

One of the many beautiful views along the coastline

One of the rock pools

"Camelot" the public toilet at Scaeles Bay

Geraldton Part 1: The Pink Lake, Playgrounds and the Museum

On the way from Kalbarri to Geraldton we detoured via Port Gregory (for obvious reasons). One of the interesting things along the way is the Pink Lake. The pink colour is the result of algae and the lake looks amazing, especially through polarised sunglasses. Port Gregory is a very small but very pretty town.

We were very relieved to see Geraldton, because it felt like returning to civilisation. It is really the first "real civilisation" since Darwin, except for Broome. And while I have absolutely enjoyed a lot of the top of WA, I have discovered I also like my comforts and a much more reasonable price for groceries. I would say, on average, our grocery bill has been $20-50 more per week shopping at the more remote towns and I truly feel sorry for people who have no choice. Their grocery bills must be horrendous. There is quite a lot to do in Geraldton, from the pretty great foreshore, which has a long pathway along the waterfront and multiple playgrounds and a water park, to the (donation requested) museum, the HMAS Sydney II Memorial and the lobster tour at Geraldton Fishermans Co-op. There are also beautiful blue beaches complete with very white sand. It was too cold and windy for us to enjoy the beaches but I could imagine living there.

The Foreshore has a long path along the waterfront. I'm not sure how long ago it was completed but it is a fantastic outdoor space. It goes from a walkway/esplanade which takes you to a lookout over the harbour, where you can see the working port and sea lions lazing on the rocks, all the way to the marina and residential areas a couple of kms away. As you walk you pass a couple of different playgrounds designed for kids of all ages and a water park. The big slide on the big kids playground is so much fun!!! It goes pretty fast and is pretty awesome. I loved it. I am such a child still.

This is the awesome slide

Rory climbed the rope ladder up into this to get to the slide. He has no fear

The Museum entry is by donation. It showcases the area's natural and cultural heritage. The kids were fascinated by the shell collection and pearls from the Abrolhos Islands.

It also houses a room dedicated to the shipwrecks of the Batavia, Zuytdorp and Gilt Dragon. The way the information is presented, and the way the stories are told, makes it so incredibly interesting and I could have spent quite a long time in there. The Batavia was carrying massive sandstone blocks in its ballast. These were going to be built into a grand portico for a castle at Batavia once they reached the shores. These rocks were rescued from the bottom of the sea and the arch has been created as the massive centrepiece of this room. It is an awe inspiring sight.

The stone archway is stunning. This photo doesn't show just how amazing it is and I can't believe they were shipping it. 

A cannon from the Batavia

Some beautiful metal detail on the Batavia canon

The suspected layout of the inside of the Batavia

They had a temporary display called Rough Medicine. It is all about medicine on the ships voyages from the 1800s through to recent history. There was a wonderful collection of items, from doctors tools to a book donated to a young boy for his good behaviour on a long sea journey, and all sorts of things in between. One of the facts I read that stayed with me was that many babies died between the ages of 6 and 36 months, which is when babies do most of their teething. There was a belief that the teeth coming through somehow caused many of these deaths and so it became practice to lance the gum above the teeth to enable them to come through. In the age when medical equipment was not sterile, I'm sure that practice caused even more deaths. I am so glad I live in an age where we know so much more. And I can't help but wonder what people 100 or 200 years in the future will think about our current medical knowledge? Will they think we are ignorant and stupid?