Up to Kalbarri

We were up early and packed and then off to Geraldton to have a look at the museum. The museum is housed in a lovely building on the waterfront and has some terrific exhibits. There were a lot of artifacts and information about the wreck of the Dutch ship, Batavia as well as a brand new exhibit about the HMAS Sydney - very interesting!

After this Mum and I dropped into the supermarket to get some supplies - what a nightmare! What is it about having the shops closed for ONE day (Anzac Day) that makes people flock to the shops the next day to get a fix!

We drove on north after this, heading up the coast. We called in to look at some ruins near Port Gregory. These were ruins of an old convict hiring depot from the 1800s. The convicts were brought here and then hired out to work in the lead mines. It was stinking hot when we were there, I can only imagine how dreadful it would have been for the poor convicts in the middle of summer!

After this we went on to Port Gregory where we had lunch by the sea. We watched some lobster boats come in and unload - amazed at how quickly they loaded the crates into the waiting truck.

We drove on north, stopping at Kalbarri National Park where we stopped off to see the beautiful views.

We set up in a caravan park in Kalbarri and then went out to the rather famous "Findlays BBQ" for dinner. This is a set of sheds set up on an old ice-works site, filled with bizarre bits and pieces. It was set up by a local fishing family during the pilots strike when they couldn't get their fish out to the market. The chef had a microphone and a weird sense of humour and the food was fantastic (but far too much on the plate). Uncle John won the "Old Bastards Club" raffle, so that was a good end to the night!