We left Denham and headed for a free camp near Geraldton. We drove for a couple of hours before setting up for the night.
The next morning we drove the remaining 100ks into Geraldton. We set up in the caravan park and took a look around the city. Our first stop was the HMAS Sydney II Memorial. I have to say this is the most amazing war memorial I have ever seen. It commemorates the 1941 loss of the ship and 645 men. The memorial consists of three elements. The first is a dome of 645 stainless steel seagull outlines (one for each man lost in Sydney) resting on seven columns it is the centre-piece of the memorial overlooking Geraldton. The second
Near the dome is a tall, narrow representation of a ships prow. This is based on the symbolism of standing stones as grave markers and serves as a visual marker for the site visible from many kilometres away.
Separate from the dome and prow, but still part of the memorial, is a life size bronze statue of the 'Waiting Woman' representing women who lost a husband, son or brother in HMAS Sydney. She is leaning into the wind, holding her hat in place, while looking into the sky. It is really moving and you can feel her fear.
Behind the Waiting Woman is the Wall of Remembrance which is a semi-circular wall faced with black granite engraved with the names of all 645 officers and men lost in the ship. The third element is the round pool which has a map printed under the water and a seagull hovers over the exact point that the Sydney was found.
I was really moved by this memorial and I recommend everyone see it if you get a chance.
The next day after a lovely breakfast date with my husband we went to explore the museum. It was similar to the museum in Darwin with lots of animals, more memorials to the Sydney and other ships, and some Indigenous art. The kids loved it. I was also lucky enough to get some black pearl earrings from Luke (very spoilt).
We had lunch then in the afternoon we took the kids to the water park and visited the red and white lighthouse.
We really enjoyed our visit to Geraldton.
Tomorrow we are heading south toward Perth.