Date:
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01-03/06/2017
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Location:
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Cervantes (Western Australia)
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Distance Travelled:
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529 km
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Temperature:
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Min:
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7.5
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Max:
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18.5
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people feeling duped out of a bag of chips
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4
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Having polished off our breakfast of ham and cheese
toasties, cooked over the dying embers of a still cosy fire, we hopped back into
out trusty car and chugged off down the road. To be honest, most of the day was
a bit of a blur, we had a lot of distance to cover and we knew that daylight
would be fading on us before long. Ultimately, we were heading for Kalgoorlie,
a famous mining town in WA – with a pit so large that it could almost fit a
small city inside. But, between Hamelin station and Kalgoorlie, there was a
whopping 1277km to cover – and only a couple of days to do it in. To put it
plainly, we were strapping ourselves in for a hell of a ride!
Rather than simply break up the trip into evenly spaced, bite-sized
chunks, we were keen to make as much of the remaining time on the road count
for as cool of an experience as possible. And so, with that in mind, we set our
GPS for the next destination: Cervantes, Western Australia.
From all the other backwater towns in which we could have
pulled up for night, why did we choose this little backwater town to stop at? Indeed,
if we’d decided to forego this minor detour, we’d have saved ourselves just shy
of 100km. Well, what drew us here was the geological site that lies about 20km
outside of this township: The Pinnacles.
These rocky formations really have to be experienced in order to fully appreciate
the magnificence of this place.
…and so, we trundled down the road, as fast as our little
trailer would allow us. Stopping here and there to stretch our legs and empty
our bladders, we pushed on like four little troopers. For the most part, we
followed the coast and watched as the Indian Ocean fade in an out of view.
Other than that, nothing particularly remarkable happened on the journey, and we
completely neglected to take any photos of it either…
Just after midday, we arrived at Geraldton, the second
largest city in WA – situated about 4 – 5 hours north of Perth. Sadly, we
weren’t destined to make it to Perth on this trip, so we had to make ourselves
content with visiting its northern cousin. Unfortunately, in order to make
Cervantes before dark, we didn’t have time to explore Geraldton. So, pulling
out the cut lunch we’d made for the journey, we powered on. We did, however,
make one much needed stop in Geraldton. Pulled our trailer into a parking lot in
the retail factory district on the outskirts of the city, we picked up what has
now become one of our most prized possessions. Indeed, we purchased a little
something that we never dreamed we would need for most of our trip into the far
north, so we had simply left it home. But now, as the winds had begun to turn chilly
and the nights brought a touch of frost, so the trusty little heater we
purchased in Geraldton is something I’m sure will always have a place in our
trailer while travelling around Victoria in the months and years to come.
With newly purchased heater in hand, we pushed on for the
remaining 220km to Cervantes. We followed the coast much of the way and continued
to enjoy the grand vistas looking out over the Indian Ocean.
As the sun began to head towards the horizon, we finally began
to descend into the township of Cervantes.
The GPS took us directly to the caravan park, which we had booked into for the
night. To be honest, we weren’t spoiled for choice for places to stop in this
neck of the woods. But we had a place to park up, plug in our newly purchased heater,
and cook some food.
…However, although we quickly set up the trailer, food
would have to wait! We had about an hour remining before sunset and we were
gripped by a desperate push to get to the Pinnacles before the sun faded
entirely. So, back in the car again, we hurtled down the last 22km of road to
the Nambung National Park, to drive and wander amongst the natural standing
stones that dotted this patch of the earth.
What can I tell you about the Pinnacles? Well, according
to the Nambung National Park website, the Pinnacles are described, somewhat laconically, as:
“Thousands of huge limestone pillars rise from the shifting yellow sands
of the Pinnacles Desert, resembling a landscape from a science fiction movie.”
For those that have read our blog to this point, you will
know very well that I can spend half a paragraph describing the simple act of
purchasing a heater. So, ‘Thousands of
limestone pillars’ to describe the Pinnacles just simply doesn’t cut it in my books!
Welcome to the Pinnacles - We have some ules to follow...
We made it to the entrance of Nambung National Park with
about 45 minutes before the sun was due to sink below the horizon. Already the
dying light made this place seem magical. There were, as the blurb suggested,
thousands of limestone pillars jutting out of the sandy earth – but the scale of
these protrusions was something to behold. As we entered the one-way track, we
caught our first glimpse of these formations. Reminiscent of tombstones, or perhaps
rows of crooked teeth from a giant’s lower jaw, we simply couldn’t prepare
ourselves for the scale of the rocky structures awaiting us around the first
bend.
First glimpse at the limestone towers of the Pinnacles
The standing stones came in all manner of shapes and
sizes. From squat and flat, to tremendous columns and sharp pointy spires.
Jagged tooth like protrusions from the desert
Many were clustered together, seemingly huddled in
conversation, or turning their collective backs to the desert winds. Others
stood alone, solitary sentinels against the sand elements.
Great place for a game of hide-and-seek
We drove along the sandy trail, amidst a small collection
of other explorers, taking in the vast quantity of limestone pillars stretching
out to the horizon. The trail snaked its way through sand dunes, hills of rock,
wizened old trees and patches of desert scrub. Here and there we would park up
and head out on foot, to get up close and personal with the great monoliths of
the desert.
Unfortunately, the light was fading fast, so we had to
make it through the last few twists and turns in the dark. Emerging around the
last bend, we pulled out of the desert and back on to the highway. Heading back
to town, our bodies were covered in a fine patina of desert sand and we had a
camera full of under exposed images from the lack of light. Still, the ones we
did manage to capture were pretty cool.
On the way back into Cervantes, we spied a fish and
chippery – much to our collective delight. “Awesome”, we thought, knowing that
dinner would still be some time away. Who doesn’t like a late snack after a day
on the road and an evening traipsing around the desert? So, we pulled in to the
car park and promptly ordered a bag of chips to go.
But, when they were served…. Oh, the disappointment! Expecting
a bag of hot, tasty potato goodness, wrapped in brown paper and covered with
salt, our heart sank when the lady behind the counter unceremoniously handed over
a paper cup of French fries – the sort you might get from a van at a sporting
event or at an over-priced fair. As we eyed the paltry cup of chips, we could
see the same knowing expression creeping over everyone’s face: “Bugger, we’re only going
to get half a dozen chips each, if we’re lucky!”.
With an unsated feeling in our stomachs and a steely
determination “never to return to this
wretched excuse for a chip shop ever again in our lives”, we pulled into
our caravan park and headed for the kitchen to cook something to fill our
bellies.
With dinner done, we called it a night. We still had a
long way to drive tomorrow to make it to Kalgoorlie and, with luck, be able to fit
in mine tour in the afternoon…
Bye ‘d bye,
Gregg
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