Ship Ahoy! (with pictures)

Am having a slow couple of days after three night shifts which always upsets my equilibrium, even though I make an attempt to get a good amount of sleep most afternoons - overcast weather and rain have not encouraged me to do much either.  This would make up for the whirl last week was.  I had afternoon shifts at the beginning of the week and then on Thursday, friend Jude and I were at the wharf opposite the Geraldton museum in part of the marina, to await one of the tenders that was delivering two family friends from NZ  off a cruise ship parked further out.  It was one of the Princess Line ships and after wet and windy weather, Thursday arrived like a summers day, with warm temps and blue sky all day.

Cruise ship taken from the memorial.
As we walked along the boardwalk to the wharf, there were people drifting in twos and threes past us who had already disembarked.  There were 1600 people on board the ship and the first to arrive had met with tour buses to maximise their 8 hours in Geraldton.  Nina and Violet duly arrived after a bit of a wait and after introductions all round we were off to see the HMAS Sydney Memorial on the hill above Geraldton as per our visitors request.  While we were waiting at the wharf, Jude had struck up conversations with several folk from the local tourist board who were there to meet folk off the ship with handouts of maps and other info about Geraldton and getting people sorted for their tours. 


Seagulls in the dome with the anchor and eternal lights.

We arrived at the memorial  in time to attach ourselves to a group with a local guide who took us round the memorial telling the story of the worst naval disaster in Australia's history with 645 lives lost when the Sydney was sunk by a German warship during WWII.  I knew a bit of the history from several visits during my time here, but learnt a few new things as we walked around.  I knew the memorial dome with 645 seagulls cut out represented the 645 souls of the men who died.  I did not know that each seagull touched another seagull to represent that no man died alone.  The memorial was a Rotary project and is full of symbolism.  The eternal lights are part of  an anchor shape which drops down from the middle of the dome.  The bollard on the path up to the memorial is one from the wharf where the HMAS Sydney would have tied up in Geraldton on its four trips to the town back in the day.  The actual HMAS Sydney was discovered just over two years ago and there are photos of the dives and remains of the ship in the local museum.  For all the families who lost loved ones, this has given a level of closure to know that the ship's final resting place was found and there have been ceremonies at the site with wreaths being tossed into the water to commerate the loss of life at the anniversary of the sinking of the ship after it was found.   The hill where the memorial stands overlooks all of Geraldton and surrounds so we got a panoramic view of town and the coastline stretching north and south.  Since the last time I visited, Rotary are completing the final phase of the monument which will involve a memorial water feature to go with the dome, the stele in shape of the bow of the ship and the sculpture of the woman, waiting for her loved one to come home.  The symbolism even includes the plants along the path to the memorial with rosemary for rememberence and yellow lantana with green leaves for Australia's national colours. 

We decided then to do a quick trip up to my place (cleaned again with an inch of its life, lol) so that Nina could report back to various family members that she had seen it.  Both she and Violet were very impressed with not only the size of the place but of course the view.  They could see the memorial where we had been, the cruise ship and then the Cathedral which was our next port of call at their request.

The Cathedral of St Francis Xavier is the Roman Catholic Cathedreal in Geraldton and not only is it a significant landmark, but is part of the legacy of Monsignor Hawes, who built it and numerous other churches and priest homes in the region.  John Hawes was born in London in 1876 to a devout Anglican family.  He trained as an architect and became a deacon in the Anglican church before converting to Catholicism and becoming a priest.  The Bishop of Geraldton met with Hawes in Rome and invited him to build the Cathedral in Geraldton, Hawes arriving in 1915.   The Cathedral was begun in 1916, opened for worship three years later and finally completed with its dome in place in 1938.    Hawes influence in architecture were the churches of  Rome at the time,  so the Cathedral and subsequent buildings that he designed are very mediteranean in style.

 
Inside Cathedral with orange arches

Once again, we were met by a guide as we arrived at the Cathedral and we sat down in a pew while  given a potted history of Hawes and the Church.  I have been to the Cathderal several times for various services and it was great to hear the background of the place.  There are several large pillars down the side of the Cathedral inside,  made of marble and on the back of each pillar is the name of various sheep/cattle stations that were owned by Catholic families who donated funds to build the Cathedral.  At the time it was built, wool was selling for a pound (money) a pound (weight) and donations were substantial.  There is a statue of St Peter along the right hand side wall inside the main door which was a replica of the statue in the Vatican in Rome.  The most unusual feature of the Cathedral is the paintwork.  Above each archway (and there are numerous) the stones featured inside the arch are painted alternatively white and orange giving the nickname the bumblebee church.  As the guide said, originally the colour would have been terracotta but in an update in the days before test pots and the likes of Bunnings in town, paint was ordered and was more orange than expected.  The highlight for me was the crypt, located to the right of the main alter and underneath the Cathedral, where the Chapel of Our Lady of Sorrows is situated, which is reminescent of the catacombs of Rome (Poem in Stone, pamphlet about the Cathedral).  Housed downstairs in the crypt are relics of the Cathedral displayed in alcoves behind glass such as original communion vessels, Bishop's regalia, and accoutrements, statues, linen, and in one instance a scale sized diorama of Jesus in the tomb at Gesthemone. 

Our Lady of Sorrows Chapel in the crypt.


Unfortunately for Monsignor Hawes, the Bishop who bought him to Australia died and the next Bishop did not share the same vision and in fact did not like Hawes at all, sending him out to Mullewa to work, where he built the Lady of Mount Carmel Church and priest's house, and closer to home (for me), St Mary's Convent and the Christian Brothers Agricultural School at Tardun, where I first began my time in WA,  so for me there has been an affinity for his work from the start.  There are many who say that the Lady of Mount Carmel Church was his finest work and closest to his heart from when he lived and worked there.  There are 15 other buildings he undertook to design and build which are now part of the Monsignor Hawes heritage trail from Carnamah to Carnarvon and out to Yalgoo.    Hawes left for the Bahamas in 1939 and lived as  Franciscan hermit on Cat Island until he died in 1956.

By now we were all feeling a mite peckish, so decided to head to town for lunch.  As we looked for somewhere to eat in the main street and along the waterfront, I realised that Geraldton has not been hit with the whole cafe society lifestyle and that most of the eateries here are licensed premises with the exception of maybe two or three small eateries.  All appeared full as we drove and walked about the place so we decided to head to the Camel Bar, a favourite from Tardun days and we were not disappointed.  It seemed that there were only locals there for lunch and there were plenty of spare tables.  Jude and I both had calamari salad that was fresh and the calamari melted in your mouth coated lightly in a tempura batter.  Nina and Violet had bruchetta as they were due to have dinner back on board with all the trimmings.  We had enough time to head to the post office for stamps, the chemist for some vitamin D tablets for Violet and the Vistors Bureau for some local postcards before we dropped Nina and Violet back to the wharf to catch their ride back to the ship.  As it happened, one of the ladies at the tourist bureau was one who Jude had met that morning and before we left, they had arranged that the woman would drop some plants of for Jude at my place the next morning at 8.15am!!  I have now have wild flower - everlasting daisies - growing in my garden amongst the other recent plantings of lavender.

I have to say it felt like I had been on a bit of an adventure after all our touristing and Jude and I decided, that as it was so easy, we would plan to see further places near and around Geraldton on our days off that co-incide.  There had been three options for tours when the ship came in that Nina and Violet did not do, - all places Jude and I both wanted to see so on Sunday as we had the time, we decided to head out to see one of them.  As it happened, Janet had come round for a coffee so she came with us to, to go visit Oakabella Homestead, said to be WA's most haunted location.  However, more about that in my next posting as I will try to do photos in that too.

On the Thursday evening after our day out, I had been invited to dinner where my favourite little lad from work was visiting for a sleepover with another ex resident now in foster care.  It was a delightful evening with lots of laughs.  My little lad asked if I would put him to bed like I had done at work which was one of those awwwww moments.  We had this routine where I would say "night, night, sleep tight, sweet dreams and happy thoughts" and he would say it along with me.  It became a bit of a mantra when he felt scared sometimes and couldn't sleep and I had to teach him what a happy thought was.  He came up and gave me a big hug before hopping into his sleeping bag (the boys were camping on the floor on mattresses in the lounge) and whispered the words as I said them which bought tears to my friend's eyes.  When my friend came round for coffee the next morning he came too and went from room to room in awe around the house.  He wanted to play with the pup tent I used to take to work, so we set it up in one of my spare bedrooms, and found a sleeping bag and pillow for him so he could play camping. 

I have continued in the garden, hacking away at plants that have spread too far, pulling old dead vines of wire trellis, nearly having a heart attack when two different locusts flew out of the leaves - loud squeals each time as I was taken by surprise especially as the first one was a brown locust looking similar to a weta (NZ insect) that I am terrified of.  I came across some other insect yesterday that actually went to stand on its hind legs as I approached - some sort of beetle I think.  I had a similar one in the house recently and was told it was harmless ........  I was thinking maybe I should carry a can of fly spray with me while outside as protection, lol. I have planted spinach, capscicums, runner beans and herbs in the past week and they are all growing, yay. Have added mulch to the sandy soil and with all the rain we are having it seems to be doing the trick in helping the seedlings take off.

Will now sort photos for next post about Oakabella Homestead. :):)