Geraldton

We stopped a little longer than expected in Geraldton – our wonderful new inverter worked SOOO well that it fried our old batteries to smithereens and we had to order new ones! Eeek. Whilst a bit unexpected (and horribly smelly – we thought the dry batteries were a decomposing animal for quite some time…) and rather expensive, I was glad to be rid of our old batteries. Apparently wonderful due to being “deep cycle fork lift batteries” the old inverter was never able to charge them properly. What point are great batteries if you can’t charge them??! It’s like having super dooper ski gear in the outback. Kind of useless really… So our planned one night in Geraldton turned into a few and we were able to check out all the sights.

They have a wonderful memorial to the HMAS Sydney II, a World War II warship which sunk off the Carnarvon coast during the war. The memorial is just breathtaking and we were able to have the guided tour, which happens every day at 10.30am. There are a number of different parts to the memorial, each quite individual, and each very beautiful. I said to Duncan that it was like they asked 5 different sculptors to tender for the job, and then couldn’t choose between them! 645 people lost their lives and this is a fitting tribute to them.

We also went to yet another museum. And saw yet more of the story of the Batavia, the Dutch ship which sunk off the Abrolhos Islands in the 1600s, resulting in the most bloodthirsty mutiny imaginable. This time we got to see a re-enactment which came with a warning for children – gee thanks! I was a little concerned there might be some nightmares (the story is THAT awful), but the children have accepted it. We were introduced to the story through a DVD we have been watching about another family travelling Australia. Then we saw some 1600 etchings illustrating the events in the Freemantle museums. By the time we got to this movie, the kids knew what was going to happen. I’ve incorporated it into their schooling and each has had to write a journal entry from the perspective of someone involved, so its all been blood and guts galore here!

Being held up an extra day for the batteries meant we could do some shopping, I could whip up a batch of insane Malteser slice and actually grab a minute or two for myself. We thought the kids might not be too keen on the very old-fashioned playground, but half a HUGE tyre was enough to keep them amused for days. Bonus!