9th – 12th July 2017
Sunday 9th
We continued south to Mingenew, a great place for wildflowers, so we’re told (too early yet), then headed west to the coast. We had lunch today at a lovely little cafe on the beach at Dongara. After being away from civilisation for so long it made a very pleasant treat for us.
Tonight we’re staying at another of WA’s wonderful free camps at Cliff Head South. We’re right on the beach, camped amongst the trees, and as the afternoon progressed the campers rolled in, as you can imagine. This spot is just outside Beekeepers Conservation Reserve, and there were a lot of bees around.
We enjoyed a walk along the beach and sundowners watching the sun set.
Monday – Wednesday 10th – 12th
On our way south we stopped off at The Pinnacles, a section of Nambung National Park.
The raw material for the limestone of the Pinnacles came from seashells in an earlier era that was rich in marine life. These shells were broken down into lime-rich sands that were blown inland to form high mobile dunes. However, the manner in which such raw materials formed the Pinnacles is the subject of debate. One theory states that they were formed through the preservation of tree casts, while another suggests that plants played an active role in the creation of the Pinnacles, based on the mechanism that formed smaller “root casts” where large amounts of calcium (derived from marine shells) moves with water into the roots. This calcium accumulates at high concentrations around the roots and over time is converted into a calcrete. When the roots die, the space occupied by the root is subsequently also filled with a carbonate material and so the ‘calcified’ root system remains.
However they were formed they make for a very interesting landscape. It was quite busy there today – could be just school holiday traffic, but our memory of visiting here 35+ years ago is that we were the only ones there at the time.for many hours. Today there’s a large information centre, shop, and talks given by the rangers.
Yanchep National Park is not far from Perth and a good spot for us to take a break while waiting for Laura and Olivia to arrive in Perth. The camping ground is on what used to be an oval – the National Parks are planting it up with native vegetation and making it quite a beautiful camping area, and still only $11.60 per night. Within the grounds there’re more parks, walking tracks, a lovely tavern, cafe, and information centre. We watched the final State of Origin football match at the Tavern and enjoyed a pub meal there.
Click here for a few more photos from these few days.