Here we go, back to the WA road trip. Please remember to hit the like button, share with others who you think may like the post and (if you haven’t already) please subscribe to receive email notification of posts….

North of Perth to the Pinnacles Desert

The Pinnacles Desert is part of the Nambung National Park and lies just under 200km and about 2 hours drive north of Perth. The national park overlooks the Indian ocean and is definitely worth a visit if you are in the area. For me it was as unique and fascinating as Mungo National Park (see here , here and here for posts on that site). It gives you a kind of otherworldly, surreal feeling.

Thousands of limestone pillars that seem to have been pushed up through the yellow desert sand. The place has almost a spooky allure. A place where you could easily lose yourself in the landscape and tranquility. That is of course, apart from the hordes of tourists that now visit the site. And this is a sample of what people come to see:

Incredibly this place remained largely unknown until the 1960s even though it had been surveyed and documented back in 1935. The Pinnacles area was added to the national park in 1968 and has been protected ever since.

We even saw some emus roaming the park. Here are some more photos. Enjoy…

It’s a beautiful place. One of those places that would look very different yet equally stunning at various times of day – or year. Personally I thought the vivid colours on this hot summer’s day were perfect.

Cervantes

The seaside town of Cervantes took its name from the famous Spanish writer Miguel Cervantes – but not directly. In fact the town is named after an American whaling ship called Cervantes which ran aground about a mile offshore in the area in 1844. That ship was itself named after the Spanish writer.

Cervantes lived in the same era as Shakespeare and wrote many books; the most famous being Don Quixote of course. And there is a nod to this book (as well as the old whaling ship) as you enter the town….

However tenuous the link between the township of Cervantes and the Spanish literary master  there is plenty of evidence that the builders of the town knew where Señor Cervantes was from. Most of the streets are named after Spanish towns & cities.

The small town is a holiday spot with beaches and caravan parks, but the main attraction seems to be a place called the Lobster Shack. A large restaurant attached directly to a factory processing the lobster catches provides the perfect combination. Fresh lobster meals by the thousand. It was packed! But it was worth the wait for a table and the lobster was terrific.

This part of the Western Australia coast is known as The Turquoise Coast. It is easy to see why…