The Geraldton Street Party photograph is just one of the thousands of Australian photographs featured on the Australian Explorer website. New images are being added regularly so please keep checking the photo album for the latest additions.
Also, don't forget that you can brighten up someones day by sending one of the many photographs appearing on this website as an Electronic Postcard.Approximately 400km north of Perth, Geraldton (Sun City) has long been a favourite resort for Australians and travellers from overseas. It owes this to its year- round sunny climate, its pristine beaches, its pleasure harbours, its excellent fishing and its central position for touring up and down the coast or further inland.
Sun City is no empty boast. Geraldton has an average of 8 hours sunshine a day - summer, winter, spring and autumn. The Abrolhos Islands where the Dutch merchantmen in the "Batavia" ran aground, are where Europeans first set foot in Western Australia -
it is thought that two Dutch mutineers who were cast ashore managed to survive here and possibly lived the normal span of their lives here on the mainland.
Geraldton is a great place for just laying around and living the beach- life. You can hire windsurfers, charter fishing boats, tour inland, go horseriding, spend time scuba diving in the clear waters or take to the air in a charter plane to see the coast, the islands and inland scenery.
Geraldton is a deepwater port exporting grain and mineral sands to overseas markets. A visit to the fishing boat harbour, the centre of rock lobster industry, is a must.
The town is a popular tourist destination and has a backpackers’ hostel, hotel-motel, motel, caravan parks, villas, cottages and a good shopping centre. There are also al-la-carte restaurants, takeaway establishments and the usual counter meals at the hotel.
Water sports dominate the scene and windsurfing, surfing, swimming, body surfing, scuba diving, snorkelling and fishing, are all everyday activities.
Geraldton is also an internationally renowned windsurfing location. The most famous spot is Coronation Beach, located to the 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 offshore and starboard tack waveriding becomes possible.
Geraldton is also home to a flourishing horse racing industry, which since 1887 has hosted the annual Geraldton Gold Cup.
Sixty four kilometres south of Geraldton is the picturesque fishing town of Dongara, its main street lined with Moreton Bay fig trees that join overhead to form an archway. It is another important link in WA’s multi-million dollar crayfishing industry. Testimony to this is to be seen at “suburban” Denison, one and a half kilometres to the south of town where a modern marina home ports to the fishing fleet.
The coastal plain between Dongara and Geraldton is known as the Greenough Flats and consistently produces some of the state’s highest yielding wheat crops. Along this stretch of road, visitors will see fully grown trees that have been forced parallel to the ground by the consistent south west winds.
The region boasts many historical buildings and museums but no visit to Geraldton could be complete without seeing the Greenough Historical Hamlet where several buildings have been restored to their original glory days of the mid-1800’s. Daily walk tours are conducted from 9.30am and are most informative.
Coach operators conduct regular tours of the region including the Greenough Hamlet, wildlife park (in the same area), Dongara, the city sights and Northampton. During wildflower season (July to December), they also run tours to the top spots to see the most spectacular of the region's famous wildflowers. An air charter company operates flights to the Abrolhos Islands taking in the coastal cliffs and the Murchison River Gorges

The Department of Defence has announced it has finalised an agreement with the United States Navy for a new satellite communications facility near Geraldton.
The base will be built to send and receive signals from the US Navy's satellite mobile phone network which Australian forces on deployment also use for communications.
The new station will be built next to the existing satellite communications base just outside Geraldton.
Construction is due to start early next year with the base due to start operations in 2010.

I travelled to Geraldton by car which is about 424km's North of Perth. Takes you about 4-5 hours to drive so if you leave early in the morning about 6 you get there at 10 or 11, depending on how fast you drive. The speed limit is 110kms but I sat on about 120-140... I know ,I know, I was speeding... Just north of Geraldton, you can find awesome coastal cliffs. Observe the surf pounding into the rocky shore and also the hundreds of native Australian birds which call the cliffs home. Great fishing is also available, although caution should be taken when seas are rough. It's a quiet kind of town, great to kick back and relax unless you're into Wind Surfing, then you'll love it. As a rather windy city, Geraldton's coastline offers a great venue for windsurfing. The sport is highly encouraged in the city with ample equipment available for purchase or hire. Lessons can also be taken for those of you who want to try this for the first time. Geraldton is situated on the west coast of Australia's Coral Coast tourist region. Geraldton faces west to the Indian Ocean on a small peninsula and is one of Western Australia's major deepwater ports and is the largest city in the region. A great location for quality rock lobster fishing and is often referred to as the world leader in this area, a result of the pristine waters along the Batavia Coast. The Abrolhos Islands are close offshore.
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 The other side of The North Island
  Abrolhos Islands
I have a friend who is a major cray fisherman that lives 5 months of the year on the North Island of the Abrolhos Islands. A beautiful serene place to stay. A formation of 122 islands located just 64km from Geraldton. Home to the southern most coral reefs in the world, the waters of the islands are home to one of the most diverse bird and marine populations in the world. One of the best diving and deep sea fishing areas in Australia. You have to know someone that lives on the island to stay overnight, but you can hire a plane to fly you there and back for the day. I think it costs about $130 one way. I stayed for 4 days last year and walked daily to the other side of the island where sea lions lay basking in the sun... didn't get too close to any as being bitten by one and then getting to a doctor would take a while. So best to keep your distance.

North Island in the Abrolhos
The great thing about having the opportunity to stay on this island was how beautiful the water is, as you can see in the picture above. We were taken out to sea to look at the Coral Reef which displayed brilliant Reds and yellows and were urged to jump in and swim amongst the coral where opportunities to experience the fabulous underwater life was awaiting us. I'm a little scared to swim in open water so I didn't venture in. That went for everyone else and we all chose to stay dry opting to look into the water from the boat. We were also taken to a small reef where the waves were breaking in the open water further out . There, Dolphins were wave surfing and as soon as they saw us thwarted underneath the head of our small runabout. We watched them as they watched us. Again we were urged to jump in and swim with them, with all of us again, declining... You could tell we were from the city!!! Our meals consisted of freshly caught Crays and fish which were barbecued and eaten outdoors in the freshness of the evening . Purely a haven to get away from the city life. The airport has this high quality built Passenger Terminal, as you can see by the quality of expert architecture, this would be one of a kind!

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