January 7, 2019 - Monday
Geraldton
Recently I have been waking up after 6 hours of sleep. This morning I awoke at 4:30. I went to the Lower Promenade Deck and walked 3 miles. This is a real joy on Holland America ships because this deck goes completely around the ship. 4 laps equal a mile. I was all alone. I wonder why. I averaged 17 minutes per mile with no foot pain.
Next I walked up to deck 11 to drink plenty of water. After spending 2 hours working on this blog I went to the Crows Nest for our approach to Geraldton. The approach winds through a narrow channel into a small industrial harbor. The normal activity is loading grain or iron ore into large carrier ships. Because of this the port provides shuttle buses to get us out to the nearby information center.
I returned to our stateroom, and we prepared for breakfast in the dining room. All of our old favorites were on the menu. Vegetable frittatas for both of us with crispy bacon and no bread. Sambal on the side for me. I spread this Indonesian hot sauce on the frittata as is my custom. It was delicious.
At 9:30 we were met by a volunteer at the information stop when we exited the shuttle. Fiona asked if we were up to walking. When we said yes she took a map of the city from the bottom of her pile. She had marked out a walking guide on this. She said it would take an hour plus, and would include all of the highlights. That would be the Cathedral, the memorial to the Sydney, a war vessel sunk off the coast and a beautiful shoreside trail. We thanked her for her kindness and encouragement. As we set off we had no idea what a fine time this small and lovely city would provide for us.
Soon into our walk we came upon the formal visitors center. It was a charming place with brochures, gifts and helpful assistants on the first floor. Upstairs was a gallery featuring the art of a local young woman who is autistic. She uses her recently developed artistic skills to communicate through beautiful floral paintings. We thoroughly enjoyed her work.
Returning to Fiona’s map we made our way towards the Cathedral. We passed many retail establishments along the way. One of these was a Mazda dealership. I could not help but drag Alice inside to see if they had a Mazda 6 similar to mine. Indeed they did. It was a beautiful red. The kind salesmen priced it for me as they do not have window stickers on the cars. It was $54,000 Australian dollars. That is about 12% more than current US pricing. We exchanged pleasantries and walked on.
The Cathedral stands impressively on a small hill. It was staffed with volunteers who thoroughly explained the history and ably answered all questions. It is built of local limestone. Construction was challenging because the city is built on sand dunes. This large church was built in the late 1890’s and it is a testament to the engineering that it still stands today.
Now Fiona’s route steered us through a neighborhood and up a steep hill to the Sydney Monument. This is a very nicely designed plaza with a modern sculpture in a setting that provides marvelous views of the city and shore. It is a fitting tribute.
We retraced our steps down the hill. Again Fiona’s trail led us through lovely neighborhoods. Just before getting to the seaside we encountered the old Gaol. This is the second oldest gaol in Western Australia. Only Fremantle Prison is older. When Geraldton scheduled this place for demolition, local crafters and artisans banded together to save it. They preserved it and repurposed it as a craft center. The cells are now individual shops. It was interesting to stroll through here.
We finally made our way to the shoreside trail and enjoyed a pretty and breezy walk back to our shuttle stop. We passed a very nice marina where many motor yachts and sailboats are docked. The wind had been building throughout our walk providing wonderful relief from the heat which had also been rising. At one point we walked past a small water park. The spray blew across our path very refreshingly.
Back at the shuttle stop we sought out Fiona. We teased her about her estimate of how long our walk might take. We had been gone over 4 hours. We made sure she understood that we were very happy with that, as we again thanked her and her colleagues.
We returned to Maasdam satisfied with a lovely visit to Geraldton.
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