CERVANTES 4 - THE PINNACLES (15 APRIL 2014)

"The pinnacles experience is entirely personal and distinct. To some they are a pile of interesting rocks whilst others see them in a more spiritual or artistic light. Regardless, this is an experience of the Turquoise Coast that cannot be missed". So reads the article on the pinnacles in 'Parks of the Turquoise Coast'. 

How true is was. For us our visit to the pinnacles was both personal and distinct....there is nothing like this area anywhere else in the country.

As luck would have it Tuesday 15 April was the night of the full moon....we decided that a visit to the pinnacles to watch the setting sun and the rising full moon was too much to resist.






The road to the pinnacles took us along Indian Ocean Highway, some 10 kms or so south of Cervantes. Here we passed a shifting dune of the startlingly white sand of this coast before

turning off the highway where the totally different yellow/orange sand area we were to visit in the Nambung National Park provided a real contrast of colour. This is the colour of the pinnacles.












How on earth did this phenomenon come about? The Discovery Centre seemed to be the right place for an answer.







Here I got more than I had bargained for....my quest for knowledge about the pinnacles took me past another display. What a revelation! Dear SA readers, never again let a Western Australian cousin mock you with the name 'croweater'. For lo and behold, this insignificant little desert burrowing creature is....A SANDGROPER! Nothing more to be said as far as I am concerned.


On to more serious matters. The pinnacles are believed to have formed about 500,000 years ago during the last Ice Age. It is believed they were exposed originally about 6,000 years past before being reburied by the shifting sand.  They were re-exposed at some stage in the last few hundred years, and oddly enough, were missed by all the early explorers of WA. But they are now well and truly on the map with an estimated 200,000 visitors a year coming to marvel at one of nature's oddest creations.

To good dons of science are at odds as to the manner in which these rocky lumps and spires took form.  I decided I could do no better than reproduce the relevant plaque in the Discovery Centre (completed with flash light reflection...apologies).

I can only trust that you can read the text in this enlargement of my normal photo size. Having studied this explanation in detail, I decided I was not in a position to line up with either view....I had another type of view in mind. 



A great aspect of a visit to the pinnacles is the ability be be able to drive through them on the 4kms loop track laid out around the park. We were off at the posted 10 kph. Why anyone would want to use this track as if it were part of a rally is beyond us, but there were a couple. I did take quite perverse pleasure in blocking the antics of one such fool for a short distance.

One of the first things we noticed was the diversity of size, shape and colour of the various rocky spires. Another was the groupings. In editing down the 70 photos I took (and this was without a doubt the most difficult of these exercises I have had to undertake since blogging...this place is aweinspiring), I have tried to present all these aspects of what we were seeing. I have kept words to a minimum...they are supurfluous.

Not far in we came to this dark coloured, quite crowded grouping.

More dark, bulky lumps followed

some of which are

 of of significant size, whilst others

are far less phycsically imposing.

Just as trees in a natural forest grow well apart from each other in certain areas, so are some of their (asserted) remnants,

whilst others must have grown as a real thicket.

In several sections the track traversed open ground through living stands of stunted trees before we came to a spot where the track divided. We chose to turn off to the north.

At the end of this track the northern edge of the pinnacle formations gave way to the dunes beyond.

As the cruiser seemed to become lost in this alien landscape,

we found spires of an entirely different nature. Some are flat

and model thin, 

others full and bulky, and just as is the case with human kind,

a few are real loners, like this chap standing tall and erect 

as if challenging the nearby sand dune to to its worst. I did wonder if I might be able to persuade the powers that be to include this specimen in the tourist blurb under the title of 'The Raised Digit of the Pinnacles'! Probably not.

Back to the main track and on past this somewhat exoctic looking group on a hillside

before we squeezed through these track side sentinals and made our way back to the starting point. 

Because the track is one way we had to retrace our steps to reach the Desert View Lookout, our planned sunset picnic and viewing spot. This proved to be a popular choice but we were at the head of the rush. 



We chomped away on our cold collation whilst the sun continued to dip lower in the western sky. A glass or two a accompanying bubbly was contemplated, but we decided that completely unchallenged faculties were a very necessary part of a safe journey out of the park. This was not even an occasion on which the toss of a coin was appropriate.









Within no time at all we were part of a throng of eager tourists who came and went constantly, snapping away. And nary an Aussie accent to be heard!









We had staked out our spot on the west facing rail and held fast as the sun finally surrendered for the day.










Others had been more adventurous like this group of French (I still can pick that language) lasses who took up a vantage point on a nearby raised rock. They were all set.  A blanket for their bums and a glass or two of red in hand, they had the game sown up.










Sadly this was not a 'postcard' sunset. Plenty of golden glory, but little other colour












but it was not long before the pinnacles took on a completely different look as the shadows lengthened and then disappeared.











Almost as the sun finally set, the full moon nudged its way upwards in the eastern sky. The harsh outlines of the pinnacles softened in the moon's glow and a strange hush descended on this extrordinary place. It was a magic time.

Gone were the harsh colours of both the rocks and the sand, and the sharp outlines of shadow surrendered to the gentle persuasion of the moon's glow as the landscape was washed with watercolours.






And even as we reluctantly drove out, we continued to be presented with stunning scenes in the ever changing light.  

We left the pinnacles in no doubt that our decision to visit this incredible place in the afternoon and evening had been the right one. It was a quiet drive home.

CERVANTES 3 - GREEN HEAD & JURIEN BAY (15 APRIL 2014)

We had decided to use our time in Cervantes to also range further afield.  We had been told of Green Head, another small coastal cray fishing and tourist town some 60 kms to the north. En route we would pass through the largest of the seaside towns in the area, Jurien Bay.  

Green Head is clearly a town which has been 'discovered'.  A large scale housing development now sits side by side with the buildings of the original fishing village. A seafront lookout provided an ideal spot for an overview.

Panning left, the remainder of the township came into view.

But we hadn't really come to see the town.....we were more interested in the caravan park and the beaches. You will note that the park does not appear as a photo....it had no appeal to us and was crossed of our list of possible later destinations.

The beach was a different matter altogether.  Another gem. White sand enclosed by the 

rocky arms of headlands at either end, crystal clear water, rollers creaming over the outer reef ledge, and, unusually for this part of the coast, a hint of surf.  

Considering that WA was in the grip of school holidays, we were surprised by the dearth of holiday makers enjoying what the Green Head beach had to offer. We did, however, spy one young chap who was very much a 'man on  mission'. What a 'postcard shot'!

Beyond the northern headland of the swimming beach lies the working end of the town where a service jetty supports the limited cray fleet based here.  At the time of our visit a small truck had rolled along the jetty. We suspected that a cray boat's arrival was imminent. Indeed it was, as we later saw.

Our Cervantes neighbour, Karl, had told us of some pristine secluded beaches north of Green Head and of some interesting tracks to access them. So, north we drove.  He was right about the tracks (and the beaches). 

Even the well maintained gravel road to the coast presented an interesting phenomenon...the shifting sands of the Coral Coast to which we were first alerted by this strategically placed sign.

Before we had reached this point on the road, we could see one of the long, high, longitudinal dunes rearing up out of the surrounding scrub. 

This is a very large mound of sand. To give some perspective, if you look very closely at the bush on the ridge in the centre of the photo, you will just make out what appears to be stick projecting upwards from its centre.....that is actually a man who was wandering around the dune with his family, the rest of whom can be seen on the ridge at the far right.

Whilst many of the dunes of this area have been stabilised by the coastal plants which surprisingly seem to thrive in this relatively harsh environment, some are shifting. This one was definitely one the move....drifting northwards under the prevailing southerly wind of the coast....right across the road.

Although the local authorities keep the roadway clear, the sand was continuing its inexorable march north. It was fascinating to see the genesis of a new dune in its formative stage on the opposite side of the road.

Past the shifting sands we came to Billy Goat Bay.  We pulled in at the beach access point for a look.

What a wonderful spot. The sands of these beaches are held together quite tightly by the stringy strands of a local seaweed with the result that beach driving is often possible with a conventional drive vehicle, and is an obvious doddle with 4WD. Small rocky islets feature in most bays, fish are to be had from any part of the shore, and sheltered swimming is on offer throughout.

Just beyond Billy Goat Bay, on our way to Point Louise, we came across another pristine cove, the name of which now escapes me.  Let me draw your attention to the dot on the sand at the far end of the bay. It is a tent!

If this is not the epitome having a beach all to one's self, I have never seen it. This enterprising family had parked on the track behind the dunes and carted their gear over the ridge to the beach below. What a day out...perfect beach isolation and only a ten minute drive from Green Head. 

The southern tip of Point Louise provides a wonderful vantage point from which to look south over the outer reefs and harbour of Green Head,

and at its extremity the ground underfoot is relatively comfortable.

To get there, however is something of a challenge. A reasonable set of steps lead from the headland car park to the neck of the point where

rock formations like this have to be scaled by what ever route one chooses. Carrying a camera at the same time adds significantly to the degree of difficulty.

But it was worth it...I had spotted the incoming cray boat, the arrival of which we had thought imminent when at the jetty.  With personal damage limited to one barked and bleeding shin, I had the ideal spot from which to watch it negotiate the reef,

and make its way into the safe waters of Green Head harbour.

Liz thought I was mad, but this was just something one does not see every day.  And so, after the scramble back to the Cruiser we were on the return leg.  Jurien Bay awaits.

Our visit to this largest of the coastal towns in this area was brief. To be frank, its appeal was limited to us. Too big, too flash, too crowded.  

But we did visit the local marina, the approach to which took us along another coastal avenue of splendid Norfolk Island pines.

Jurien Bay is much more the place of large homes and boats than its neighbours to the north and south which is clearly reflected in the infrastructure of the marina

and in the size of the houses at the end of the lawn which runs along the marina beach.

And speaking of size....this would have to be the biggest boat trailer we have ever seen. Strangely enough, it was being towed by a truck.

The Jurien Bay foreshore presents a fine linear park

at the end of which the local jetty is accessed via this plaza.

This jetty is for recreational activities only, and is considerably longer than that in Cervantes.

The Jurien Bay beach is also much longer and wider than those of other local towns, and much more commercial. Large holiday apartment blocks line the foreshore roads and the entire beach front was quite busy. I am sure Jurien Bay provides just what many holiday makers are looking for, but this did not include us. We much prefer the smaller towns.

Having said that, I must  admit that one real advantage of these larger towns is the broader range of services available, including a supermarket.  We did take advantage of this to stock up on a few goodies before making our way back to Cervantes. We have found that it's the little non-essential but desirable things which can drain a travelling food budget quickly. Take that seemingly insignificant munchie, BBQ Shapes, for example. In Cervantes these were on the shelf with a price tag of $4.00. In Jurien we snapped up a few packets on special for $2.10.  It all mounts up (oh, and by the way we did buy considerably more than just BBQ Shapes). 

From the coast to the sands of the Pinnacles.  Tomorrow is another day.