| Geraldton Western Australia |
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 Location of Geraldton |
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| Population: | 29,996 (42nd) |
| Established: | 1850 |
| LGA: | Geraldton-Greenough |
| State District: | Greenough |
| Federal Division: | O'Connor |
Geraldton is a city and port in Western Australia located 424 kilometres (263 mi) north of Perth. Western Australia is a state occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. In Biology a population is the collection of inter-breeding organisms of a particular Species; in Sociology This list of Australian cities by population briefly explains the three different population figures given for Australian cities and provides rankings for each For the game see 1850 (board game. 1850 ( MDCCCL) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link Local Government Area (abbreviated LGA) is a term used in Australia (and especially by the Australian Bureau of Statistics) to refer to areas controlled The City of Geraldton-Greenough is a new Local Government Area in the Mid West region of Western Australia, north of the state capital Perth State Electoral District is a term used to refer to an electorate within the Lower House or Legislative Greenough was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Western Australia from 1890 to 2008 The Australian House of Representatives is elected from 150 single-member districts called Divisions. The Division of O'Connor is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of Western Australia. Western Australia is a state occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. The kilometre ( American spelling: kilometer) symbol km is a unit of Length in the Metric system, equal to one thousand A mile is a unit of Length, usually used to measure Distance, in a number of different systems including Imperial units United States Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. According to the 2001 census, Geraldton has a population of 29,996, making it the fifth-largest city in Western Australia. Western Australia is a state occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent.
Today the city is an important centre for mining, fishing, wheat, sheep and tourism.
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History
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 that any made landfall near the site of the current town. The Houtman Abrolhos (often informally called the Abrolhos Islands) is a chain of 122 islands and associated Coral reefs in the Indian Ocean off the west The first European to explore the area was George Grey in 1839. For other men with a similar name see George Grey (disambiguation or George Gray Sir George Grey, KCB ( 14 April A decade later the explorer Augustus Gregory travelled through the area. Sir Augustus Charles Gregory (1 August 1819 – 25 June 1905 was an English -born Australian explorer He discovered lead on the Murchison River and the mine which was subsequently established was named Geraldine after the Governor Charles Fitzgerald. The Murchison River is the second longest river in Western Australia. Captain Charles Fitzgerald (1791&ndash1887 was the Governor of The Gambia from 1844 until 1847 then Governor of Western Australia from 1848 The town of Geraldton was gazetted in 1850.
Attractions
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. Monsignor John Hawes (b September 7 1876, Richmond England - d
The lighthouse located on Point Moore was recently repainted and established as another cultural attraction of Geraldton.
Geraldton's public high school, John Willcock College is famous for having been attended by Ernie Dingo. Ernie Dingo (birth name Oondamooroo AM (born 31 July, 1956) is an indigenous Australian actor and television presenter Also recently the school became the first in Australia to have a laptop programme with all students being provided with Apple Notebook Computers for study purposes.
HMAS Sydney was lost off the coast north west of Geraldton and there is a memorial overlooking the city. Description Sydney was one of three Light cruisers originally ordered in 1931–1932 for the Royal Navy as the " Amphion class" Description Sydney was one of three Light cruisers originally ordered in 1931–1932 for the Royal Navy as the " Amphion class" After years of searching, the wreck of HMAS Sydney was discovered north of Geraldton, 150 kilometres (81 nmi) from Shark Bay on March 16, 2008.
A popular past time of Geraldton Locals is surfing. Surfing is a surface water sport in which the participant is carried along the face of a breaking wave, most commonly using a Surfboard, although wave-riders The Geraldton Boardriders Association runs surf events throughout the year and Surf2skool, Geraldton's only surf school offers developing surfers lessons, trips and coaching. Popular surf spots include Flat Rocks, Back Beach, Greenough, Glenfield, and Sunset Beach.
Geraldton is also an internationally renowned windsurfing location. Windsurfing is a surface water sport using a windsurf board also commonly called a sailboard usually two to five meters long and powered by a single sail 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. The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's Oceanic divisions covering about 20% of the water on the Earth 's surface In the late afternoon, the wind swings a little more offshore and starboard tack waveriding becomes possible. Starboard is the nautical term that refers to the right side of a vessel as perceived by a person on board a vessel and facing the bow (front
Geraldton is also home to a flourishing horse racing industry, that since 1887 hosts the annual Geraldton Gold Cup. This article is about the sport For other uses see Horserace (drinking game or Horse race (politics. The Geraldton Cup a Thoroughbred horse race, was first run on Dec 8 1887 with a winners purse of £300 The 2007 Geraldton Gold Cup was won by the Clive Lauritzen trained 8yr old TapDog. The Geraldton Cup a Thoroughbred horse race, was first run on Dec 8 1887 with a winners purse of £300 TapDog is a racehorse (by Bletcharm from Starjazz Bred in 1997 by Doomland Pty Ltd The race was historically significant. Tapdog became the first horse to win the race three times, 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.
Nearby
North of Geraldton is the town of Northampton, as well as the Hutt River Province, an area which claims to be an independent nation since its self-proclaimed secession from Western Australia in 1969. Northampton is a town north of Geraldton, in the Mid West region of Western Australia. The Hutt River Principality ( previously known as Hutt River Province, is Australia 's oldest Micronation. Secession (derived from the Latin term secessio is the act of withdrawing from an organization union or especially a political entity
The Houtman Abrolhos islands are 60 km to the west of Geraldton. The Houtman Abrolhos (often informally called the Abrolhos Islands) is a chain of 122 islands and associated Coral reefs in the Indian Ocean off the west They are famous for the 1629 wreck of the Batavia. Mutiny on the Batavia Departure On 29 October 1628, the newly built Batavia, commissioned by the Dutch East India Company A stone portico recovered from the wreck has been reconstructed at the local museum, along with other artifacts. The Western Australian Museum is the main Museum for the state of Western Australia.
Twenty-five kilometres south of Geraldton near Walkaway a windfarm was completed in August 2005. A wind farm is a group of Wind turbines in the same location used for production of electric power It consists of 54 turbines, each producing 1. 8 MW and 80 metres high with 40 metre blades.
Old Port
The original port has be dredged to a depth of 9. 4m at the berths, which is suitable for ships of 64,000 metric tons of deadweight (DWT). Deadweight tonnage (also known as deadweight and variously abbreviated as DWT, D
New Port
In 2006, it was proposed to establish a new deepwater port at Oakajee, about 25km north of Geraldton. A deep water port is any port that can accommodate a fully laden Panamax ship Oakajee is a locality located in the Mid West region of Western Australia, about north of the town of Geraldton and about inland from the coastline This port would serve the mining industry, especially iron ore.
Australian Defence Satellite Communications Station
The Australian Defence Satellite Communications Station (ADSCS) ( ) is located at Kojarena, inland near Geraldton. The ADSCS is part of the US signals intelligence and analysis network ECHELON. ECHELON is a name used in global media and in popular culture to describe a Signals intelligence (SIGINT collection and analysis network operated on behalf of the five signatory [1][2] The station has four satellite tracking dishes which intercept communications from Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Indian and Pakistani regional satellites[1] and international communications satellites (INTELSATs and COMSATs), throughout the Indian Ocean and South-East Asian regions. Intelsat Ltd is the world’s largest commercial Satellite communications services provider The Communications Satellite Corporation (COMSAT is a global Telecommunications company based in the USA, and with branches in Brazil, Argentina Staff are drawn from the American National Security Agency and the Australian Defence Signals Directorate, and the site is operated under the UKUSA Agreement. The National Security Agency/ Central Security Service ( NSA/CSS) is a cryptologic intelligence agency of the United States government Defence Signals Directorate (DSD is an Australian government Intelligence agency responsible for Signals intelligence (SIGINT and Information The UK-USA Security Agreement is an agreement or treaty that established an alliance of Anglosphere countries for the purpose of sharing intelligence [2]
On 15 February 2007, it was announced that a new US military communications base would be built in Geraldton, after three years of secret negotiations between the US and the Australian Federal Government. Events 590 - Khosrau II is crowned as king of Persia 1637 - Ferdinand III becomes Holy Roman Emperor Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. [3]
| Climate chart for Geraldton | |||||||||||
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| J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
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6
29
18
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8
30
19
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13
29
18
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24
27
16
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70
23
13
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113
21
12
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89
20
11
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63
21
11
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27
22
12
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16
24
13
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8
26
15
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5
28
17
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| temperatures in °C • precipitation totals in mm | |||||||||||
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Imperial conversion
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Images of Geraldton
 Bill Sewell Complex |
 Windfarm |
 St Francis Xavier Cathedral |
 Coronation Beach Windsurfing |
See also
References
- ^ "Tracking down the masters of terror", The Age, 17 March 2003. Geraldton Airport is an airport located east of Geraldton, Western Australia, along the Geraldton-Mount Magnet Road. Retrieved on 2008-02-22. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1495 - King Charles VIII of France enters Naples to claim the city's throne
- ^ Adshead, Gary. "Secret WA spy base", The Sunday Times, 10 June 2001, p. 20.
- ^ Brendan Nicholson. US gets military base in Western Australia. The Age, 15 February 2007. The Age is a Broadsheet daily Newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854 Events 590 - Khosrau II is crowned as king of Persia 1637 - Ferdinand III becomes Holy Roman Emperor Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.
External links
- Geraldton, Western Australia is at coordinates Coordinates:
- City of Geraldton-Greenough
- Geraldton on Google Maps
- Western Australian Museum - Geraldton
- HMAS Sydney II Memorial Geraldton
- Geraldton Boardriders Association