Geraldton 3rd to 9th September

HMAS Sydney Memorial

Jacob in the gallows in the Old Geraldton Gaol

Louise in the gallows in the Old Geraldton Gaol

Hannah in the gallows in the Old Geraldton Gaol (she needed some assistance)

Doing school work in the school at Greenough

Judge Strickland handing out his sentences

The accused awaiting sentencing

Jacob receiving 10 years Jail

Louise receiving 7 years Jail

Hannah receiving 15 years Jail and being sent to Tasmania

The accused in their Jail cell

The Anglican Church in the Greenough Village (this is still in use today)

Kids trying to turn the clothes wringer

The school in Greenough Village

The Police Station, Court and Jail at Greenough Village

A bendy Tree at Greenough

One of the beaches at Geraldton

One of the beaches at Geraldton

Hannah was excited to find a street with her name

Lighthouse at Geraldton

Hannah and the miniature lighthouse that was also a shower

Strick and kids playing on a beach at Geraldton

Fathers Day Breakfast

Jacob, Louise and Hannah with cousins Emily, Chris and Hayden

Jacob, Louise and Hannah with cousins Emily, Chris and Hayden

Hannah and Louise with Brony

Chris teaching Hannah and Louise to do the Shuffle

Group dance

Jacob watching a new found mate play the guitar

Geraldton beach

Kids at the Geraldton beach

The amusing Rubics Cube public toilets

The kids were excited they were about to get some time out of the camper and be able to sleep in a room with solid walls (it was slightly warmer). It was going to be great to catch up with family and get to know Brony's kids a little more. It actually didn't take the kids long to make themselves at home and settle in.

Brony and the kids still had to go to work and school so we were happy to amuse ourselves during the day.

Our first full day in Geraldton and we had the car booked in for a service so it was a walking explore on the agenda for today. After Strick had dropped the car off he also had an appointment at the Chiropractor. A first for him, but since our little expedition up the Katherine Gorge in the canoes his back had been niggling. We then had him go down at Kununurra with him not being able to do anything. Things had been going okay until Kalbarri where he again went down hill. So first chance we had in Geraldton and on Brony's advice he visited a Chriopractor, to hopefully get him on the mend.

We started off by going to the HMAS Sydney memorial. This was a memorial for a navy ship that was sunk in battle off the west coast of Australia and until recently it's location was unknown. This was something that we had been reading about along our travels down the west coast. It was a huge ship and no survivors so is classed as the worst Australian Naval loss in history. On the top of the memorial there were over 600 seagulls, with each one representing a life lost on the ship. This was an interesting lesson in history and again something that Jacob had been interested in.

We started to walk down to the main foreshore of Geraldton, which has all been rebuilt recently with a big park and some Rubic Cube toilets (which took the kids fancy). The kids had a play on the playground until we got the phone call that the car was ready. Going to pick up the car we went via a smoothie shop where the kids all had a smoothie (again Jacob testing out the Mango). 

Once we picked up the car we headed to the WA museum. This had information and displays of life in Western Australia showing the different Flora and Fauna, Aboriginal life and the sea life. It had displays of different ship wrecks off the west coast and of course a big display and information on the HMAS Sydney disaster and the recovery mission.

Our second full day at Geraldton was again on Brony's advice (she does give good advice and suggestions). We started out going to the Old Jail as this was something Hannah was keen to do. This is now a community market with different people having their own personal market stalls in the cells. There is also some history of the Jail and of course the Gallows in one of the yards, that of course the kids had to try out.

Once finished in the Jail we went for a drive to Greenough which is an old Village with many remaining building that have been refurbished back to what it was like in the "Olden Days". We toured and looked at the various buildings with us starting at the school. There were desks and sheets of work that the kids could complete. There was a cane and a number of pieces of information in there about school back then. Strick took on the teachers role and we talked to the kids about what school was like and the role of the cane.
The Police Station, Courtroom and Jail was the next stop. Strick again took on a role of being Judge Strickland and we had 3 offenders facing sentencing. The first to face sentencing was Jacob who received 10 years for stealing a sheep and eating it. Louise received 7 years for stealing a dress and ripping it on a fence, while Hannah who was the worst offender of them all got 15 years and was sent to Tasmania to serve her sentence. She had stolen bread from numerous bakeries along the coast and was caught while eating the bread. We then took the offenders around to the Jail where they had to wait to be transferred to their appropriate Jail. This the kids thought was great and although Strick found it difficult to come up with information on the spot it helped the kids understand some of the crimes people were Jailed for in the convict days.
We also paid visits to churches, some homesteads (where the kids tried turning a washing wringer) and a hall. Once we had finished in the village we had morning tea of milkshakes and various cakes and scones.
Heading back to Geraldton we stopped at a bent tree, with the majority of the trees looking like this due to some strong winds.
Some beaches were also on the tour back to Geraldton and driving around some streets, where Hannah found a street called Hannah and she was rather excited with us needing to stop for a photo. The beaches at Geraldton were nice, although we discovered were very smelly due to the over abundance of sea weed. We later read somewhere that the seaweed is used as protection for many mini sea creatures. We also visited the Geraldton lighthouse where Hannah was excited again as they had a mini light house that was actually a beach shower. We had a play on the beach before heading back to Brony's.
Friday night is Fish Friday so we enjoyed some fresh fish and pasta in preparation for Hayden's football grand final. We also met Grace one of Brony's friends who was a lovely lady (except that she barracks for Fremantle). Strick was also rather excited this night as he got to watch some of the football finals on the television rather than listening to it on the radio.
Saturday we woke to rain and some strong winds. I think we experienced a bit a sunshine, rain and wind throughout the day. Jacob was rather excited as we had Hayden's football grandfinal for Under 14's. So we went along and cheered and supported Hayden. He was successful with a win. While the girls helped out in the canteen (especially Louise) with jobs, the rest of us watched the football. The girls and I later in the day went home while the rest of them remained at the football for the presentations. When all was home Brony, Chris, the girls and I took 'Harry' (the dog) for a walk along the beach in between showers. We again watched the footy, unfortunately witnessing the Bombers loss to Kangaroo's.

Sunday we had Chris's preliminary final where we again witnessed success. (He has since won the grand final by 100 point). Sunday was then spent due to the weather sitting around the house playing different board games, catching up on blogs, watching football and of course kids playing xbox and wii.
The weekend also gave us an opportunity to catch up with Gerard (Brony's husband) with him home from Mandurah to watch the boys football. Although we didn't do much it was great to chill and catch up a little more with the family and recharge the batteries. It was also the Sunday that we discovered with all the rain and due to us not folding our tent up properly we ended up with a flooded tent. So Monday was spent trying to mop up and dry out our tent so that we could head off on Tuesday. Strick also woke Monday with his back not all that good, so it was another trip to the Chiropractor for him. We eventually were able to get the tent dried out in between showers and get all our washing up to date before we left.
Our last night in Geraldton we had a great night with Chris and Hayden getting out their guitars and Emily joining us all for a sing a long of various songs. It then turned into a dancing session with the boys teaching the kids shuffling and showing them different dance styles to different music. The kids had a great time and really enjoyed meeting their cousins and weren't looking forward to leaving the next morning. All good things must come to an end and it is another lot of memories that have been put into the kids memory bank along the trip.
Tuesday morning after saying Goodbye to Brony and running the kids to school, Strick had a final visit to the Chiropractor and we did final pack up on the trailer and headed out of Geraldton towards Jurien Bay.