The city is home to the Port of Geraldton,
a major west coast seaport. Geraldton is an important service and
logistics centre for regional mining, fishing, wheat, sheep and tourism
industries.
Arrived in Geraldton on August 23, 2015 and found a caravan park easily down by the sea. Certainly cooler weather which we were not looking forward to, but you get used to it.
There is a hill in Geraldton called Mount Scott, we could see it, but be hanged if we could find it. Two days of driving around the city sightseeing and we stumbled across the hill.
On this hill is the 'Rotary Memorial, World War 11 cruiser Sydney.
The memorial recognises the loss of the light cruiser during a mutually destructive fight with the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran off Shark Bay in November 1941, with none of the 645 aboard surviving.
(Note, this vessel is the second Australian warship to be named HMAS Sydney, and is sometimes referred to as HMAS Sydney (II))
645 steel seagulls
Above is the Podium
One of the two granite walls with all the names.
The Waiting Women. Waiting for her child to return, but of course, he never does!
The Stele
By the map you can see we have come a long way.
The Memorial is a Rotary International Project.
The Memorial is a Rotary International Project.
The Hopman Cup watching does come in handy and I have a grin on my face the size of the Gulf of Mexico!!! Good on Lleyton and Jarmila. C'mon.
ReplyDeleteWhere is our "D" ??? ha ha. Surely it hasn't gone "walkabout"???
I believe the sites for both sunken cruisers - Sydney 11 and Kormoran are now deemed as sacred sea war graves.
That sculpture of the woman is just so moving - a masterpiece of sculpture.
Now back to the mixed doubles. 11.11 pm BNE time.
Cheers
Colin
PS; Lavender fields of Tassie - the new header???
Oops, I'll fix he 'd' thanks for telling me. Seeing tennis balls, that's the problem :)
DeleteLleyton and Jarmilla, hope they can do it! 12.20am Tasmanian time.
Yes, the lavender, took the photo when I visited this time last year...
Enjoy the tennis..
And you watched on! I watched the "fun and giggles" of the first set of the mixed with Lleyton and Jarmila winning but sleepy eyes won the battle so I missed the "foot to the pedal" final set.
DeleteQuite fitting the 645 sea gulls in the memorial dome.
Geraldton (with the "D" intact) must be very proud of their memorial.
I was unaware that it was Rotary behind the memorial's erection.
Cheers
Colin
Yes I watched and enjoyed. Bed was very late at 1.30am.
DeleteRotary emblem on the fence, but didn't post it..
Nice to see you added to the photos - Rotary's input to the
Deletememorial's construction.
Now for tonight - us against "them". Should be good, as long as
we win - 2/1 should suffice - 3/0 would be better as a safety buffer for the finals.
Colin
Hello Margaret,
ReplyDeleteWonderful pictures.
It's a very impressive memorial for all fallen. Shot 3 is very special.
Many greetings,
Marco
Certainly is a wonderful and very different memorial for those that died at sea in the ship..
DeleteImpressive. The waiting woman looks so sad.
ReplyDeleteShe certainly does look sad, as we women would be waiting.
DeleteA great memorial for the lives that were lost. The waiting woman waiting for her son is a sad one.
ReplyDeleteIt is sad.
Delete645...one ship.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to grip the horror of that war.
That's correct. Unless we were there, we really don't know how dreadful it was.
DeleteLove those seagulls. A lovely way to remember.
ReplyDeleteAnd nice to see those waiting, hoping, wishing at home also remembered.
A wonderful memorial.
DeleteI love the canopy with the seagulls and the statue of the poor mother expresses her anxiety so well.
ReplyDeleteBrilliantly done and well kept.
DeleteIt is a wonderful memorial. The Waiting Woman is sad.
ReplyDeleteYes, it's sad, a reminder.
DeleteMargaret the waiting woman is a perfect monument. So beautifil I love it.
ReplyDeleteVery touching to be there in person, it was.
DeleteThis is such a beautiful memorial. The Waiting Women statue looking out to sea, hoping her son will return is so sad.
ReplyDeleteVery sad. A wonderful memorial.
DeleteAll the pain of the mother , waiting the return of the child is embodied in this monument . The dome , formed by Mob of gulls, is very beautiful .
ReplyDeleteKisses
It has been well thought out this memorial and a credit to Geraldton.
DeleteWhat a beautiful memorial, especially the seagulls and their shadows cast by the sun.
ReplyDeleteCertainly is a touching place to visit.
DeleteThank you, I have heard of Geralton but have never been there
ReplyDeleteA nice city Jo-Anne.
Deletethe bird dome is a nice design
ReplyDeleteYes, Adam it is, rather different to anything I've seen.
DeleteThat's a pretty new cover photo. Lavender?
ReplyDeleteYes Monica, lavender a photo taken at the biggest lavender farm in the Southern Hemisphere.
ReplyDeleteThe link...
http://bridestowelavender.com.au/pub/
That's a very lovely memorial.
ReplyDeleteThe field of lavender is quite stunning, massed blue against the deep green background of pines.
Sure is lovely River..
DeleteI was very impressed when I was there. You have captured the feeling well.
ReplyDeleteThanks Diane.
DeleteMy goodness! What a stunning memorial that is. So unique! Wow! I've never seen pictures of it before...thank you!
ReplyDeleteIt sure is excellent..
DeleteYou are welcome.
I really like the seagull memorial - very unusual and striking. I also like the statue of the lady looking out to sea... very appropriate.
ReplyDelete