On the West Coast below Geraldton is the hamlet of Greenough and so we went there to let Pat reclaim her birthright In the mid 1800s, Greenough was a thriving community situated close to the coast (with a dramatic sea
at high tide) on a fertile plain. It started to decline however from the turn of the 19th Century due to a combination of natural disasters and over farming. It is also a very windy area and is famous for the fact that most of the older River Gum trees (a type of Eucalyptus) are now bent double.
The hamlet was named after the sponsor (Lord Greenough) of the expedition which discovered the area and there is no evidence that he ever visited the place. The Australian National Trust have taken over a lot of the old buildings and restored them and created a rather nice “time capsule” of pioneer life (plus a very good cafe serving extremely good food).
The School and classroom.
The hall used by the community for social events etc
St Peters Church (one of three in the community)
The Police Station / Court / Jail / Police Lodgings and more
Rear of the Police Station and exercise yard for prisoners
Court Room
Prisoners Toilet (“a twin nettie”)
Police Stables
Living Accommodation for police officers
Although these can be thought of as only a set of old buildings, the way they are furnished and the way the contents are explained, gives one a very good idea of how the early pioneers lived.
There may be no link between the town and the maiden name, but it was a fun place to visit and we had a very interesting time there.
Echidnas and Galahs
Sam, whilst we were out today we saw an Echidna. It behaves and walks just like a hedgehog and is covered with sharp spikes. They love to eat ants and termites, they have no teeth and break open ants nests with their front paws, they then stick in their nose (snout) and catch the ants using their long sticky tongue.
It rolls up into a ball when it feels threatened. Ask Dada to tell you
about the Echidna he saw at Sydney Zoo with Nana and Papa a few years ago. We also saw some very colourful birds called a “Galah”.
These two were sitting on top of a very tall rock and waiting to have their picture taken,
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