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Geraldton is a city and port in Western Australia
located 424 kilometres (263 mi) north of Perth in
the Mid West region. At the 2006 census, Geraldton
has a population of 27,420, making it the
fourth-largest city in Western Australia.
Today the city is an important centre for mining,
fishing, wheat, sheep and tourism.
Though many European maritime explorers encountered
or were even wrecked on the Houtman Abrolhos islands
60 kilometres (37 mi) west of Geraldton in the 17th
and 18th centuries, there seems to be no
evidence[vague] that any made landfall near the site
of the current town. The first European to explore
the area was George Grey in 1839. A decade later the
explorer Augustus Gregory travelled through the
area. He discovered lead on the Murchison River and
the mine which was subsequently established was
named Geraldine after the Governor Charles
Fitzgerald. The town of Geraldton was gazetted in
1850.
The construction of the St Francis Xavier Catholic
Cathedral started in 1916 but was not completed
until 1938. The cathedral was designed by Monsignor
John Hawes who was both an architect and a priest.
The lighthouse located on Point Moore was recently
repainted and established as another cultural
attraction of Geraldton.
HMAS Sydney was lost off the coast north west of
Geraldton in 1941, and there is a memorial
overlooking the city designed and build by Joan
Walsh-Smith and Charles Smith of Smith Sculptors
http://www.smithsculptors.com. After years of
searching, the wreck of Sydney, and her opponent,
the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran were
discovered north of Geraldton, 150 kilometres (93
mi) from Shark Bay, in March 2008.
Surfing is a popular activity in and around
Geraldton. Popular surf spots include Flat Rocks,
Back Beach, Greenough, Glenfield and Sunset Beach.
Geraldton is also an internationally renowned
windsurfing location. The most popular spot is
Coronation Beach, located just north of the town.
"Coro" is a spectacular port tack jumping site, with
flat water on the inside and unhindered Indian Ocean
rolling swell offshore. In the late afternoon, the
wind swings a little more offshore and starboard
tack waveriding becomes possible.
Geraldton is also home to a horse racing industry,
which since 1887 hosts the annual Geraldton Gold
Cup. The 2007 Geraldton Gold Cup was won by
8-year-old TapDog. The race was historically
significant. TapDog became the first horse to win
the race three times, his trainer Clive Lauritsen
became the first trainer to win the race 6 times,
Roy McKay became the first jockey to win the race
three times, and owners Peter Day, Jeannette Day,
and Hans Hoiskar equalled the most wins by an owner
in three. The race also passed the million dollar
mark for the first time in tote turnover.
The original port has been dredged to a depth of 9.4
m at the berths, which is suitable for ships of
64,000 metric tons deadweight (DWT). In 2009 the
Western Australian Government gave the go-ahead for
a new deepwater port at Oakajee, about 25 km north
of Geraldton. This port will serve the mining
industry, especially iron ore.
Geraldton has great dive sites, such as the South
Tomi, sunk in 2004. These waters are said[who?] to
be some of the best in the world, especially in
Australia, often having over 40m visibility.
Geraldton is serviced by most mobile phone companies
including Telstra, Vodafone and Optus who all
provide 3G network services.
The Geraldton-Greenough Regional Library is open
seven days a week and provides access to knowledge,
information and works of imagination to the
community. It also provides free access to the
Internet and is a WiFi hotspot. |
