February 24, 2017

       Our final port of call for this cruise, before Fremantle/Perth, is Geraldton, Western Australia. It was scheduled as a tendered port, but the ship was able to be docked.  The forecast for today was a high temperature of 39 C, windy and sunny.  The day started at 26 C, no cloud in sight but very windy, not good for tendering, so great that we could dock. The waves had two meter troughs with some whitecaps.  During breakfast in the dining room, where we were seated at about in the center, the ship was swaying noticeably. During the a five minute period, the ship was entering the harbour, at the extreme points of the swaying, when you looked over to the windows, one second only sky was visible and a few seconds later as the ship swayed the opposite way, all that could be seen in the window was distant water. The captain made an announcement later that the winds were 40 knots as the ship entered the channel into the harbour, which was not expected, that is what caused the roughness of the approach. 

    After breakfast we watched from Deck 5 as the ship maneuvered into its berth. When we looked over the side, we could see tiny shiny minnow-like fish, in a school of several hundred, flitting around at the surface.  We watched as the dock workers tied the ropes to the pier’s bollards. Then we noticed one of the dock workers launch a small white drone that rose to the 14th deck and zipped above the length of the ship.  Then he guided the drone over to a construction site at another part of the facility.  We went back to the stateroom to get our sunglasses and camera then climbed up to Deck 12 to get some photos.  We could see some reefs about 300 meters from shore as the waves crashed on to them.  Nearby is red and white striped Point Moore Lighthouse, which is the tallest prefabricated cast-iron lighthouse in Australia, one of Geraldton’s landmarks. Visible from the ship, the Point Moore Lighthouse is an iconic Geraldton landmark. Standing 34 meters high, its beam can be seen 26km out to sea. It is the oldest surviving Commonwealth lighthouse in Western Australia. There are many shipwrecks along the Coral Coast.

    For many centuries, the Yamaji People lived in this area of Australia’s Coral Coast region. The Coral Coast runs from North West Cape (that the ship passed around noon yesterday) to Perth, which is 420 km south. 

   The ship was cleared by Australian Border Force to allow passengers to leave the ship about 10 a.m. The Tours left first, to take shuttles off the dock area and onto their tour buses.   From then until 11, there was a triple line of people lining the halls, snaking around the Centrum lobby on Deck 4 waiting for a shuttle bus to take them through the dock yard to the parking lot 500 meters from the ship, which was about a 5 minute drive through the winding roads within the port. More than half the passengers opted to walk the 100 meters to the edge of the main street and wander through the town.  Other passengers paid $15 US for an all day circular route pass, where they could get on or off at the Information Center, Cathedral of St. Francis Xavier, the HMAS Sydney II Memorial and the shopping center.  The temperature was tolerable at 29 C, the wind had calmed to a nice breeze. 

     We explored the old train station, converted to the Information Center, which told a brief history of the town.  Geraldton was founded in 1849 as a port for exporting the lead from the Murchison River mines.  There was a gold rush east of the town in 1892 and a larger jetty was constructed allow larger ships to dock.  Off the coast are the Abrolhos Islands where cultured pearls are cultivated. 

     A ten minute walk away from the Information Center was the Roman Catholic Cathedral of St. Francis Xavier.  It was designed by a priest who had trained as an architect, John Cyril Hawes.  He started his design in Rome in 1913 and the first stage was begun to be built in 1916 opening in 1918, but there were issues with the bishop and construction was stopped until 1926 and the cathedral was completed in 1938.  It is a lovely church. It reminded us a bit of the southern California Spanish mission churches.

   We walked about 15 minutes further to the HMAS Sydney II Memorial.  It commemorates the sinking of the naval light cruiser off the coast about 112 nautical miles off Steep Point on November 19, 1941. This was Australia’s worst maritime disaster.  There was a brief battle with the German raider ship, HSK Kormoran before both ships sunk. The large silver coloured Dome of Souls has cutouts of 645 seagulls, one to represent each of the perished Australian seamen. Their names are inscribed on the black granite wall of remembrance in alphabetical order as well as some pictures engraved in the stone.  Rosemary bushes nearby symbolize memorials. A propeller facing down represents a sunken ship. There is a 70 foot marine steel pillar that represents the height of the HMAS Sydney II bow.  The wrecks of both ships were found in 2008 using information that the German ship survivors provided in their report of the incident.  The bow of the HMAS Sydney II was blown off in one of the first volleys, from the disguised German warship and sunk quickly.  The sailors barely had time to get to battle stations, most were on deck watching the “friendly” ship, because it was thought that they were approaching a Dutch merchant ship.  The HMAS Sydney II rear gunners were able to damage the German raider enough that crew evacuated ship before it was scuttled.  German sailor survivors were picked up several days later.  The memorial also includes a bronze statue of a woman looking out to sea for an HMAS Sydney sailor. The woman is looking to the site of the ship’s wreck more than 250 miles away and over 2.5 km under the sea. After the wreck was found an additional Remembrance Fountain was added.  The site is atop a hill that has a view of Geraldton and the ocean.

    We walked back to the main street, Marine Terrace, where we ordered milkshakes at a food court and tried the Wi-Fi, but the signal was very weak.  We found a second hand bookstore that also had Internet and paid $3.50 Australian for 30 minutes of High Speed Internet to upload the past few days of blog in a much shorter time than the ship’s slow speed Internet.  Claire bought a Lee Child novel.

    Then we walked along the Geraldton Foreshore Park.  The Foreshore is reclaimed land that was formed from sand excavated from moving the rail tracks to a different location.  The sand was dumped and allowed to be swirled by the wind and ocean for about a year then, once settled, was grassed. Next a waterpark and playground were added, as well as pathways, free Wi-Fi, beaches, picnic areas, barbecue pits, cafés, restaurants and a concert venue.  There are no crocodiles or aggressive sharks in the Geraldton area.

   We arrived at the shuttle pickup in time for the next shuttle back to the ship. At 2 p.m. the temperature had risen to 38 C, but it did not feel as hot as two days earlier in Port Hedland where the humidity was a lot higher.  We were looking forward to soft ice cream in the Windjammer, but the machine was closed off so we settled for coffee and small cake slices.

    We joined Maureen and Bob for dinner and they told us about their journey to Kalbarri National Park.  It was the longest tour taking six hours.  Bob showed us his videos of the breathtaking coastal scenery.   There was a small problem with the little non biting flies which were around everywhere in Kalbarri National Park and many flew on to the buses and made the ride back to Geraldton rather unpleasant.

   The appetizers for dinner tonight were Eggplant and Kalamata Olive tartar with pita, Sea Scallop & Chorizo and Lentil & Tomato Soup.  The main course was Tandoori Chicken Salad with Naan bread and Fish and Seafood Mash.  The chosen desserts were Key Lime Pie and Frozen Strawberry Soufflé. Near the end of the meal, the maitre d’ announced that some of the wait staff would a song. About 50 staff lip synced to a forgettable song.

    After dinner we went to the Colony Club to dance to recorded ballroom music.  We were the only people there and the music was so soft that the music from the Schooner Bar 100meters away could be heard.  The tunes were 1940s foxtrots for the 20 minutes that we stayed only dancing to one decent tune.  We returned to Deck 4 and although the Centrum was filled with more sofas and chairs than usual, we had the whole 100 square feet to ourselves to the dance to the variety of music played by the Traffle Duo.

   The Aurora Theater Show tonight was a Farewell Show with the ship’s singers and dancers and “Australia’s funniest American Juggler”, Marty Coffey.  He was quite entertaining and even juggled on a five foot high unicycle.

Daily steps 16,543