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| Laurie just loves getting the fire ready |
Of course Laurie got straight into the fire building, which was very welcome as it was a very chilly evening.
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| It ended up a cold night so we were ready for the fire |
During the night the weather really turned and it rained and blew all night, in fact all of our chairs etc got soaked.
Cervantes
This laidback fishing village boasts white sandy beaches and turquoise waters, but the main reason we came here was as a base to visit The Pinnacles, and to visit The Lobster Shack and do one of their 'Lobster' tours.
First up we drove the 17kms south to explore the amazing limestone Pinnacles which rise up out of the sand dunes.
The Pinnacles
We entered the Pinnacles park and chose to do the tourist drive which takes you right around and through this amazing park. There were plenty of places to get out of the car and walk around them, and plenty of photo opportunities.
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| Jude and I enjoying the Pinnacles |
The Pinnacles desert covers an area of approximately 190 hectares, is around 60 metres above sea level, and contains thousands of limestone Pinnacles, some up to 5 metres high.
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| We were fascinated by the amazing limestone structures |
The variation in colors and the stark relief of the Pinnacles against a backdrop of constantly shifting sand dunes creates an eerie landscape of ever changing moods.
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| Some were over 5 metres high |
So how did these strange Pinnacles form?
The coast of Western Australia, from Shark Bay nearly to Albany, has a near continuous belt of Tamala Limestone which has been produced by the combination of wind, rain and the cementing agent of calcium.
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| There were thousands of them |
A set of unique circumstances produced the pinnacles. Firstly the huge sand dunes stabilised. The rains which fell on the dunes leached down through the sand carrying the calcium. This resulted in the lower levels of the dune solidifying into a soft limestone. As this stabilisation occurred a layer of soil formed on top of the dune which allowed plants to grow and further cemented the limestone below. Gradually the lowest layer of soil, which lay between the surface and the limestone, formed into a hard cap which resulted in the old dunes having three levels - a soil and plant level near the surface, a hard cap below the surface, and a thick layer of soft limestone at the bottom of the dune.
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| The tourist drive was marked by the stones lining the driveway |
Inevitably the roots from the plants on the top level found cracks and broke up the hard cap and the layer of soft limestone. The result was that under a surface covered with plants and soil the pinnacles developed. No one knows for sure how long ago this process occurred. It may have started as long ago as 500 000 years but equally it may only be a few thousand years old and it may still be continuing today. The Western Australian Museum has opted for some time in the last 80 000 years.
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| It was an amazing site |
Anyway the advent of drier weather in the region resulted in the top layer of plants and soil being removed and gradually the pinnacles were exposed so that today they stand like strange sentinels on a plain of wind blown sand.
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| As with the wildflowers, people come from all over the world to see them, and we have them right here - aren't we lucky! |
We spent the most of the morning wandering around this fascinating desert park. We all loved this place.
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| Laurie, Jude, Helen and Jeff |
The Lobster Shack
We were so looking forward to our close encounter with the Western Rock Lobster on the advertised tour, but unfortunately the day we were here the boats had not been out due to bad weather, and the tours had been cancelled.
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| Nono Lobster and Grandma Lobster |
So we had to make do with a Lobster lunch instead....OH! Poor us!
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| Jude really looked forward to this lobster! |
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