Wonthella

Wonthella is a suburb of Geraldton, known as Sun City, the big port and administrative centre for WA's Midwest region. Geraldton lies on Champion Bay about 424km north of Perth.

Wonthella itself - about three kilometres east of the city centre - seems to have most of Geraldton's sporting venues contained within its modest boundaries, including the racetrack, an international-standard hockey stadium, a soccer field, swimming centre and a golf course.

Geraldton has always been a popular holiday destination, with its warm, dry climate, great fishing and long, white-sand beaches. Geraldton is also WA's main lobster fishing centre.

The Geraldton coastline, known as the Batavia Coast, is named after the Dutch ship Batavia that was wrecked off the coast in 1629, almost 150 years before Captain Cook discovered the eastern coast of Australia. The mutiny, rape and murders which occurred after the wreck of the vessel form a very important part of early Australian history.

Two of the mutineers were punished by being marooned on the coast and they are considered to be the first European settlers in Australia. The first British contact in this area was by Captain Phillip Parker King in 1822.