midwest of West Aust

[Storz]

Finchbreeder what is the bird situation like over in Geraldton. It appears to be over 500 kilometres from everywhere. It has a good climate and seems to be an ideal place to live and breed finches. Are there many other breeders and where do you buy/sell birds Do you travel to Perth or freight them in

Storz

[finchbreeder]

We have a small local bird club - but not Inc. and really more about bulk buying of seed than anything else. There is opportunity to buy some common birds like Gouldians and Zebs easily here, but some can only get by taking the long drive south. Yes it is almost exactly 500ks from our house to where the son lives near Murdoch Uni. Great climate, (though the freo doctor gets a little energetic as times) mind you that makes for regular European windsurfing visitors. (Move over Mandurah we are the windsurfing capital of Aust.) My block is average size at 800msq - Most selling is done by word of mouth, or the couple of local pet shops. Which does restrict prices, so good thing this is something one does for love not money. Never tried freighting in - sorry the flights have been known to be delayed or cancelled with little notice. So people here tend to be user friendly to their mates and pick up birds for them too.
Most things about the place are fantastic - but we do suffer from distance in a way few places understand.
LML

[Rod_L]

I can't answer all those questions but can throw in a few cents worth.

Good ol Geraldton, 420km or 450km north of Perth (depending on which road you take), is hot and dry and suffers from a lack of rain. The last time I was there was in 1997 and they had 2 pet shops, one of which had some nice birds. I think it was called Gary's Pet Shop or something, but the owner had a couple of blue and gold macaws, which had just come into the country. It was the first time I saw a real macaw.

When I was there a number of locals bred birds but most lived out of town on farm properties and would shoot anyone who set foot on the property. Birds got stolen so they shoot first and ask questions later. Subsequently I never got to visit anyone's aviaries to talk birds.

I know Garys Pet Shop used to get birds and fish from Fish Place in Wattlegrove, because we used to send them to him. We used a courier to send birds and fish to Geraldton and other country towns.

----------------------------
There are some crazy people in Geraldton. I was getting some salt water to set up a marine tank at the TAFE. I was walking back to the car with a couple of buckets of water when this lunatic comes out from behind a tree and he's wielding a knife. He starts going on about me stealing his crabs. I said I don't eat crabs and was simply getting some water for a fish tank. He was doing his nut and threatening to stab me for taking "his crabs from his beach". I said look, I will show you what's inside the buckets and lifted off the lids. Nothing but water. He said I was bloody lucky and walked off.

[Greg41]

I think you need to take another visit to Geraldton Rod, Its a great place to visit. I had a strong connection with
Geraldton for over 20 years with no problems, perhaps you upset the locals!!
Cheers

[Storz]

Sounds like a pretty good place to me thanks for the info

[finchbreeder]

Rod - a lot has changed in the 21 years since then. We are hot and dry in summer but this is Australia so that is what makes us a great summer holiday destination. Lack of rain? Depends on the time of year and what you are comparing us with. Our crops are doing better than most of the rest of the country and state at the moment. Place Road Pets still operates - though under different management and name. There are still people out of town with birds and guns cause we have a lot of farms and hobby farms. There was a bad patch round 2000 when someone unknown got bird theft happy and if anyone ever finds out who it was I would not like to be that person. But they have managed to stay under the radar all this time. Every City and town has a crazy or two and your own home has been called the drug capital of WA before today. Or the country would not see the news reports it does. But we also have some of the best white sand beaches in the world that attract people from all over the world year after year. We have tourists who come all spring long to see swathes of wildflowers that exist nowhere else in the world. True you do need to watch the "locals" when driving the roads on dusk because they will bound or wander across the roads in front of you. Yes I am refering to our national emblems the Roo and Emu.
LML

[finchbreeder]

Sounds like a pretty good place to me thanks for the info
Storz - you would be a similar distance from Melbourne to what we are from Perth wouldn't you? Though lots more towns in between on your side of the country. - Come and visit this side of the country some day we are somewhat fond of our "patch".
LML

[Storz]

I have been as far as Perth but never thought there was much but scrub further north I will check it out next time I am over there. We are only 300k from Melbourne, but well within that radius we have Ballarat, Bendigo and Geelong all cities with pops well over 100000 giving us great access to a large variety of Birds In between theses places there are numerous small clubs and breeders We also have plenty of locals to watch out for in fact they regularly eat my roses and plants, another good spot to visit

Storz

[finchbreeder]

There is lots of scrub that is true. But pick the right time of year and it is a riot of wildflowers in patches. And the spaces between Cities/Large towns is great. Perth to Gero (population somewhere between 25,000 and 30,000) 450/500kms depending on which end of each city you go from and to. Gero to Carnarvon (smaller still) 400/500kms as per previous. It's a real culture shock and a joyful contrast to many people.
LML

[Rod_L]

If you're going to drive from Perth to Geraldton, do it in spring and take a few days. There are a few little fishing towns along the way (Yanchep, Lancelin, Cervantes, Jurien Bay and Dongara) that are interesting little places to spend a few hours. Late spring is when most of the wildflowers are out and if there has been a bush fire the year before it will look pretty good.

If you travel during summer, the weather can get really hot. I went up in January and it was 46C in the shade and I spent 6 hours in an old panel van without air conditioning. I got out at Geraldton and it looked like I had just stepped out of the ocean, I was soaked in sweat.

The roads are long and straight and unpleasant so swap drivers regularly and have a dvd player in the car to give you something to do when not driving. It's like driving across the Nullarbor except there is a bit more bushland along the side of the road. The whole of WA is like that, country cities like Geraldton every 400-500km and very little in between.

And the rest areas along the side of the road are pretty bad to walk around. No public toilets and everyone craps in the bush so if you need to pull over, do it somewhere that isn't a designated rest area, or watch where you walk.