We spent the past two days in Geralton. A sleepy town about 275 km north of Perth and what is supposed to be the largest major town in the region. The place was a bit worn and not a bustling city!
The temperature hovered around 40 degrees (100F) Celsius while we were there and the beach was um, uh, under construction:) Yes, they were creating about a half mile stretch of white sandy beach along the edge of town. Apparently it was a rocky coastline and they felt that more tourists would come if there was sand to lay on? In any case, we were not allowed on the beach due to construction. So, we found the next best thing. There is an aquatic center in town that only costs $AU4 per day and has several pools, showers, etc. The only problem was that both days we were there, they had swim meets, or carnivals as they called them, going on for the local schools. There were hundreds of kids running around, and the outdoor pool was closed to the public while the meet was going on.
We didn't really mind since the indoor pool was out of the sun, and just as refreshing. We spent quite a bit of time in there, and Val actually completed some of the swimming requirements to get her SCUBA certification. Not that she plans to, but she just asked what the requirements were and then tried to complete them. Who knows?
On the second day, we met a woman from Geralton who was with a friend from Perth. We started talking and found out she was a teacher and had done an exchange program with a school in Canada and loved it. She eventually invited us to a barbeque at their house that evening, but we were scheduled to jump back on the bus and head up to Kalbarri that evening. It was a genuine offer of Aussie hospitality and we really wish we could have taken her up on it.
As I mentioned, tonight we jump back on the bus and head up to Kalbarri. It's a couple of hours north of here (everything is a couple of hours away here) and we plan to spend a few days there.
We'll see what that has in store for us.
Eric & Val
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