3^rd September:Cervantes

Cervantes, with its spanish street names, is named after an American ship that sank off the coast and boasts of a thriving Rock Lobster industry. It is small but seems to be thriving with tourism as an added bonus. A large, modern motel, a sports club,a caravan park, a school and again fibro fishing shacks beside large, new brick houses speak of a changing and growing population. We visited Lancelin today, and it is even more so. The Indian Ocean Drive which was only completes in 2011, has really opened up these areas, both to weekenders and tourists and because it is only two hours at the most from north Perth, I suppose it is becoming increasingly popular to visit these little beach towns. When the sun is out, they are beautiful and that is why the area is called the Turquoise Coast. Previously, the only road to these places was a 30 km dirt road from to Brand Highway to each town. Very laborious!

Today we visited the Nambung NP where the Pinnacles are. That has changed substantially! Not the Pinnacles themselves as they are ageless (little research has been done and their age has not been determined butarcheologists found a campsite 6000 yrs old and so they must have been there then!) but there is now a big “Discovery Centre” , flash toilets and walkpaths. A gate at the entrance ensures you pay a NP fee (I am so glad we bought a yearly pass in Kununurra!) and of course there is a gift shop! What was interesting is that, because there has been little or no research, there is no definite theory as to the origin of these limestone steles. We were told 37 years ago that they were a calcified and fossilised forest (there is a tuart forest near by) but now there is another theory as well to do with limestone penetration. They don't know yet.

Now there is a hard packed track through the forest of pinnacles and we drove through twice: once to gaze in awe; and then to take photos. Stopping places arerovided and so we were able to get out and explore. (37 yrs ago there was no designated road and we just drove through, trying to avoid the hard, limestone ridges rising out of the sand. Glen had to “walk” the Mazda through and we have photosof it!) The two ladies were amazed at it but we knew what to expect!

As you can see, this desert forest is large and covers a large area. The car gives a size comparison.  (And there is that Super Cheap man again!)

Galahs actually nest in the holes in the pinnacles. We saw two doing so, choosing a twig and then rejecting it because it wouldn't fit!

Glen was very excited to see these. Called rhyzolite, they are the calcified roots of plants.  He remembers them particularly from the past!

Lunch at Hangover Bay (where we received a text from Cherie implying she was hung over from her weekend at the Costumers' Ball in Adelaide). (We have to stop frequently for food for the two ladies otherwise they complain!) A bus pulled in and all these overseas tourists piled oujt. 2 of them in big boots were tramping all over the very fragile dunes (despite signs saying to keep off) taking photos of flowers. They just didn't get it when I told them they were killing the very plants they wanted to photograph! (And yes, they did speak English!) They shrugged their shoulders and said “So?” I was so cross!

The wildflowers were stunning! No banksias – too early! But the wattles, dryandras (now classified as banksias), the daisies, the little ground orchids and even the kangaroo paws plus many others were all there if one looked carefully. With the new road, there are many places where you can walk on designated paths and see lots. It was a great afternoon!(I didn't include any photos of flowers!)

Lots of wind farms down here. I'm not surprised! A chilly wind blew all day.

We went out to dinner last night at the motel. Silver service! April wanted to eat lobster! Glen and I didn't but she paid! So we put up with red snapper!