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Day 60 - Oakabella Homestead to The Tuarts Reserve (266km)
We left Oakabella Homestead at 8:30am for the short drive to Geraldton. We parked the caravan and walked around the port until it was time for the Geraldton Fisherman’s Co-Op Lobster Tour.
We did this tour 6 years ago and found it so informative and couldn’t wait to go again. It didn’t disappoint and the processes are always changing so lots of new things.
As we arrived they were packing a truck with an overnight order valued at 3-4 million dollars. We then watched two boats come in to drop off their lobsters and it’s such a quick process unloading and weighing the lobsters. They are then placed on a conveyor belt and sorted into different categories (inc colour, number of legs etc) and placed in holding tanks ready for dispatch.
We then watched a short video, then we walked around the holding tanks and saw a massive lobster worth $1,000 on the plate in China.
Last time we were able to hold a massive lobster but now that they are worth so much we could only hold a very small one for photos.
They used to pack them in styrofoam boxes at Geraldton but this is now done at Perth Airport. Instead they place them in plastic crates with a lid on and as they are being loaded into the trucks they are put on a conveyor belt in water which is 10 degrees and within 3 minutes the lobsters are put to sleep. They are then transported to Perth Airport where they are put in 5 degree water then placed in styrofoam boxes in pine shavings. They are then exported to China and woken up in about 17 degree water. The lobsters are caught and can be in China within 24 hours and on a plate within 48 hours.
Interesting facts:
90% of the lobsters are exported to China
4 baskets of lobsters weigh 120kg
The beach price is $112 per kilo
The co-op has 150 fisherman
The co-op has been operational for over 60 years
They have 400 holding tanks and each tank holds 120kg of lobster.
They turn over 400 million dollars and is one of the largest exports in WA.
When they catch the lobsters they always check if any are pregnant (they have a black spot underneath) or have eggs under their tail. If they are they release them.
We then treated Rog to a belated Father’s Day lunch - a delicious lobster roll while the kids and I just got hot chips!
We then drove to the foreshore, grabbed some groceries, the kids went to the playground and we quickly filled the car then it was time to leave Geraldton.
As we drove through Greenough we admired the leaning trees and then stopped for a photo with one. Due to the strong winds the trees all grow side ways.
We arrived at The Tuarts Reserve Rest Area (near Jurien Bay) at 4pm. The kids had fun with their bow & arrows again. I made bruschetta again and we watched a movie
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