The Geraldton coastline, known as the
Batavia Coast, is named after the Dutch East India Company flagship Batavia. The
Batavia was wrecked in the Houtman Abrolhos Islands in 1629, almost 150 years before
Captain James Cook's "discovery" of the eastern coast of Australia, and 200
years before the founding of the Swan River Settlement in 1829. This settlement became
Perth, the capital of Western Australia. The mutiny, rape and murders which followed the Batavia
shipwreck represent a particularly grisly chapter of early Australian history. Two of the
mutineers were punished by being marooned on the mainland coast. They are believed to be
the first European "settlers" in Australia. Many decades later, there were
reports of early explorers sighting blue-eyed aboriginals, suggesting that at least one of
the mutineers survived for a time.
| The Houtman
Abrolhos Islands comprise 122 islands built on a unique sub tropical coral reef (the most
southerly in the world), sixty kilometres or 38 miles offshore from Geraldton. The Islands
are home to highly diverse coral and other marine animal and plant life, and are a major
resource for the local fishing industry. They provide some of the best diving and deep sea
fishing to be found anywhere in the world. |
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Situated in one
of the richest native flora regions in the world, Geraldton /Greenough is the perfect base
for wildflower walking or driving tours throughout the year, although the most abundant
displays are seen between July and October.The Geraldton /Greenough Tourist Bureau can
provide maps, information, brochures and booklets on all wildflower sites and
identification, cycling, walking and the longer distance drives. |
Surrounding the City of Geraldton is the Shire of Greenough,
named for the scenic river which winds through the hills, valleys and flats to flow into
the Indian Ocean at the picturesque Greenough Rivermouth. It is normally dry, but flows
every few years when heavy rains fall inland. Hillgrove Farm is situated in the area of
South Greenough known as the Front Flats. The front and back flats were once vast lagoons
that were gradually cut off from the sea and then filled with alluvial soil brought down
by the then meandering and frequently flooding river, resulting in extremely fertile land
where crops could be grown without fertiliser. The limestone ridges shown in the picture at the top of the Hillgrove Farm home page,
between the house and the Indian Ocean, would have been the ancient offshore reef. The
Greenough Flats became a highly productive agricultural district from the late 1850's. The
inset picture is of Geraldton Wax, a widely cultivated ornamental shrub native to this
region.
more pictures........
The photographs on
this page are reproduced here by kind permission of the Geraldton / Greenough Tourist
Bureau and the Geraldton Historical Society.
