The Great Western Jaffle Discovery

Apparently Ron Smith (Grandpa) had a round jaffle iron, that had quite an effect on Darren. So basically, we have been traveling Australia searching for a round jaffle iron. We go into every camping store, second hand shop and randomly ask people at camp sites.

Things came to a head in Kalbarri, we had our first rainy day of the trip and the desperation for a warm jaffle lunch escalated. We enjoyed Kalbarri, we checked out the NP, loved ‘nature’s window’ and learnt all about Zuytdorp shipwreck, a Dutch East India ship from early 1600’s.

The drive from Kalbarri to Geraldton took us a while – the coastal cliffs were spectacular. No wonder the Dutch ships ran aground on the surrounding reefs. (We learnt more about these ships in Geraldton.)

We also passed a pink lake! WA has three of these lakes, an algae turns it pink, weird but wonderful.

Anyway, back to jaffles…. We arrived in Geraldton with Daz announcing his intention to just buy a square one! ARB Geraldton had some (and a set of Clearview mirrors I won from ‘Travelling Aus with Kids in a Camper Trailer FB page!!!!) And the jaffle fun dance commenced.

Spaghetti, baked beans, ham, cheese, tomato and ‘the blue tin’ all went in. Kids were amazed at the deliciousness of the Jaffle. Everyone went to sleep dreaming about the next ARB jaffle (breakfast) and what else could go inside them.

Geraldton is somewhere we could live. What a great town! The museum provided a tour about the Dutch shipwrecks, seafood for lunch on the marina, a park on every corner, the most bizarre church we’ve ever seen.

A young man, John Hawes, who grew up in Wales in the 1870’s, trained in architecture, became an anglican minister, then became a catholic priest, went to Rome, met an Aussie bishop, moved to WA and built a whole lot of churches changing his ideas and design as he went along. Then he retired to the Bahamas and died in Miami.

It certainly was a different looking interior to the usual “cathedral” we are familiar with. We did enjoy a rare Sunday in church though!

Tomorrow sees us packing up and heading south, a bit closer to Perth.