Geraldton

The drive to Geraldton was fairly pleasant, the scenery was amazing! I ran the White Dragon on gas to save money, and she didn't backfire, so that was good. On arriving in Geraldton I searched for the lighthouse that I remembered from all those years ago. Selwyn had told me there was a campsite nearby. The last I heard of poor Selwyn he had headed to Perth to confront the dealer that had sold him his 4x4. I hope he gets on alright. I found the campsite easy enough and checked in with ease, the staff were much more friendly and inviting. The facilities are also much better, with a kitchen, tv room, barbie area, good showers and a pool at my disposal. It should be a comfortable weekend. Once camp was set I did exactly what I did the first night in Lancelin. I walked to the beach with my guitar and a couple of beers and practiced Bob Dylan tunes. The sunset was pretty cool, though not quite as good as the first Lancelin one. After that I got into my tent, watched Borat on my laptop and got an early night.

I didn't sleep all that well last night though, it was really windy in the early hours of the morning and the tent felt like it was going to be blown over. At 5am I finally got up and lengthened the guy ropes and parked the White Dragon where it might give the tent some shelter. I went back to bed till just before 9am then got up and had a shower. Once I was ready to leave the campsite I drove round to the lighthouse, at the bottom of which is a windsurf and kitesurf shop, where I asked for advice about where to kitesurf, whether they rent windsurf gear, what hazards to look out for etc. The guy was very friendly and pointed out on the map a great flat water spot for kiting protected by a reef. I went down there and it was already windy, but there was nobody else around so I thought I'd get some brekkie in town and go to an ATM and come back. Whilst in town I also caught sight of a Neil Young best of album going cheap, so bought it to listen to in the White Dragon. I hadn't heard much of his music apart from The Needle and the Damage Done, Old Man, and Heart of Gold. Those three tunes, although probably his most famous, represent a mere fraction of his talent. Every tune on the album is awesome! Anyway, on my way back past I saw that the wind had died a little so I went back to the campsite and did some writing and reading in the tv room while my laptop charged. Ulysses is so awesome, I've got to make more time for reading it, I'm still on the first chapter but loving it!

At 2pm I checked the wind at the kite spot again, driving down onto the beach in the White Dragon, something the novelty of which is far from wearing off! The wind was still not great, so I headed into town to catch up on my blog. Fingers crossed its picked up now, lets go see!