Geraldton
From Sandy Cape we skipped up the coast to neighbouring towns Dongara and Port Dennison stopping at Green Head for lunch and Milligan Island campsite for a splash. Milligan Island had a fabulous little snorkeling spot. There was a tiny island (more a rocky outcrop), 20m off the beach that had a natural archway through it. Snorkeling through the arch, in water shallow enough to wade through was just stunning. Light pouring through caught hundreds of tiny fish and countless bigger fish. Matthias braved the other side of the arch and saw crayfish hiding under the rock shelves. I encouraged Hugh to snorkel back out with me. It's difficult to know exactly what he saw but he seemed to be impressed, recounting the experience over dinner.
We pulled in to a few other campsites on the way up the coast but nothing could beat Sandy Cape so we opted for another free roadside camp, Dongara East Rest Area. Other than the prolific mice population we had the spot to ourselves.
We had more great snorkeling in waist deep water 5m off the beach (Nun’s Pool) in Port Dennison and Dongara. I can’t believe how much of an underwater cornucopia there is to discover so early along the west coast.
After a playground lunch and a raid on the local charity shop we continued making our way up to Geraldton. We stopped for an obligatory photo with one of the many leaning trees along the highway, as they get a mention and an illustration in Hugh’s book "Are We There Yet".
The landscape at this point was pretty uninspiring. It was largely agricultural with little topographic relief, dry and void of green. We pulled in hopeful to the Devlin Pool Lookout on the Greenough River, but it was hard to find a positive adjective for the place.
Our first impressions of Geraldton were similarly grim. The drive in from the south was reminiscent of Adelaide’s Victoria Road between Outer Harbour and the Port and the beaches were windy and weedy. But, the old light house was a nice stand out feature and the port was exciting with big infrastructure, mountains of containers and huge silos.
We stopped at the 24h RV Stop right next to the port to take a look for sea lions on the breakwater. No sea lions but a nice interpretive walk out to the lookout which also maked the start of the redeveloped foreshore. What Geraldton lacked in natural beauty it made up for in shared public infrastructure. The foreshore had excellent playgrounds, greenspace, public art and a selection of eateries. As the sun set and we scoffed fish and chips my heart started to thaw for Geraldton.
For the sake of convenience we stayed at the RV stop for the night. This was definitely rock bottom worst of all our camping spots, but to the point of being comical. We fell asleep to the dulcet tones of Gangsters Paradise (really!) and locals ripping burnouts across the street. Then three times in the night we were jolted awake by the loading (or unloading) of a freight train, metres from our camper. The last one finished up around 4am giving us one hour before the kids (who'd slept solidly through all the commotion) decided it was time to start the day. But it was a great start to the day. Hugh and I watched with excitement two tugs deliver a big container ship out of the harbour and into open waters. We all had brekky on the lookout as the sun rose and Geraldton residents took their daily constitutional.
The day continued as it began. The foreshore was a hive of activity with street sweepers and tree felling keeping the kids entertained while Matthias packed down the trailer. We enjoyed the view and a history lesson at the attractive and moving HMAS Sydney II memorial. We stocked up big time at the shops and finally the kids and I whiled away a good couple of hours in the excellent Museum of Geraldton while Matthias solved the puzzle of a faulty trailer fuse. I left Geraldton with an appreciation I hadn't thought possible on our arrival 24 hours prior.
