Cervantes to Geraldton

Day #143 February 3rd, 2009

Today we woke up after a somewhat windy night sleep, around 8 AM to check out for 10 AM. We didn’t really love the caravan park and were ready to leave. We went back down to the beach and took some pictures of the beach and the ocean, Jenny collected some shells and then we were off to the small visitors centre – located in the news agency. The lady there gave us some ideas of what we can do around the area in addition to the Pinnacles. The Pinnacles are thousands of limestone pillars, up to 4 meters tall, which form the Pinnacles Desert. They have been carved into these shapes from the wind over millions of years. The moonscape scenery is made by the pillars rising out of the stark desert landscape of yellow quartz sand. It is a favourite subject for photographers. We drove to the Nambung National Park; they had a loop about 3 km long, winding through the Pinnacles Desert. The day was beautiful, blue skies and a few fluffy clouds. We took tons of pictures as we couldn’t believe how beautiful the area was. The Pinnacles were as far as the eye could see. Far off in the distance were beautiful white sand dunes and the ocean to one side. Some of the Pinnacles were small and others were up to 3 to 4 meters tall. We took some funny pictures; some of us jumping off them, one of Jenny peering through a hole and one of Ross pretending a Pinnacle was a giant wanker! After driving through the designated loop and stopping to take pictures whenever we wanted to, we headed to the information centre. We checked out the information centre and then it was time for lunch. For lunch, we found this beautiful little spot called Hangover Bay. We were blown away at how beautiful it was; a spot with a picnic table and BBQ area over looking the bay and white sandy beaches. There were sand dunes behind us and amazing parkland all the way around, making unreal 360 degree view for lunch. We enjoyed our packed lunch and strolled down the beach before driving to the next spot. We were told to check out the stomatolites and Lake Thetis. We couldn’t find the stromatolites, due to poor signage, but walked up a large very steep staircase to a lookout over looking the ocean on one side and Lake Thetis on the other. We drove to Lake Thetis next, it didn’t look very exciting so we left to find the infamous stromatolites…we drove all the way down this dirt road but it just kept getting more and more narrow – only to have it open up to the ocean! With you guessed it, no stromatolites. The view was very nice but we were determined to find the stromatolites. We drove all the way back and decided to check out the lake a little bit closer. Low and behold there they were; grey mounds by the water, they looked like rocks but were made up of tiny microbes that only grow a microscopic amount each year, which in return is the interest in them. We didn’t get it – boring! After that we began our drive North to Geraldton. We took the scenic drive from Cervantes to Geraldton, stopping at a few ocean towns to check out the ocean views. The water is getting warmer as we go north. We stopped in a place called Dongara for some fish and chips, which were delicious. Today we finished the drive past Geraldton to Drummond Cove Holiday Park. We had a swim in the pool, ate our supper, called home and fell asleep for the night.