Blogs from Pinnacles, Western Australia, Australia, Oceania

Well we didnt get to post on the blog last night because we free camped on a beach which was lovely. but no phone signal... Can't have everything! So on Wednesday morning we saw the dolphins at Monkey Mia. Now this is a great experience, for sure, and no doubt on many folk's bucket list. So I would recommend you go to Monkey Mia if you can, but dont fret if you can't make it. You will enjoy it no doubt, but its not the most amazing thing we've seen on this trip. The Parks & wildlife WA do a fabulous job, balancing the needs of the dolphin and the visitor. Apparently it hasn't always been that way and the dolphin families were exploited to the point where quite a number of the calves didnt make ... read more

We had a long weekend (25-26th Jan) a while ago now which I forgot to write about but shall fill you in now. We took the van up North to a small town called Lancelin. On the way we stopped at Yanchep National Park to see the Kangaroos and Koalas. It was boiling hot so we only walked a short way but it was nice and we hadn't seen kangas properly before and it was really cool to see them. They are so beautiful and impressive. We made it to Lancelin in mid afternoon and spent some time in the pub garden listening to a guy and his guiter. Amazing view of the beach and very relaxing. The Australian Open was on that evening so we stayed in watching it with a bunch of pommies. I ... read more

Finally got the campervan, 2011 model car, only done 15000km... If you guys ever need hire campervans, we recommend going onto the backpacker campervan website and have a look, our camper sleeps 4, even has a fridge for beer and a microwave. Fun driving... First stop, Pinnacles, 250km from Perth... Pinnacles has a ranger's office, 11 dollar entry fee for car, over 5000 ancient stones, all naturally formed, noone really know how they got there, against a dessert like background... Geraldton was another 350km up North, we decided to bunker down there for the night, right by the beach... shame we didn't read the no camping sign... got woken up by the ranger... So lesson learnt, rangers do NOT go away by TRYING TO ignore them, they knock even louder to wake you up... always read ... read more

There are strange events, strange people and in this case, a strange desert. There is no consistant explanation from geologists for this bizzar land scape. Some of the pinnacles have the appearance of petrified forests, others not so. Either way, aging is agreed as quite young, that is thousands of years, not millions of years. We walked through about 1/4 of the desert and enjoyed our time here. The location is a little south east of Cervanties, and there is good parking for all types of vehicles. The coast is a few ks away with more bright white sand. This appears in some of the photos as it contrasts so strongly with the golden tone of crumbled lime stone that lines the desert. The area is not entirely lifeless with reptiles, spiders and some bird life. ... read more

Sunday 20th December We are now back home. We took two days to come back via Wongan Hill. As we always do when we are on that particular route, we stopped at "Goomaling Caravan Park", it is a shire park and it is unrated, however, it would put to shame some of the rated park. The service is great and friendly, the facilities are superb, and you can even exchange books freely in the laundry, there are plenty to choose from. A bonus: it is only $10.00 per night per van- pets are welcome This year, Goomaling Caravan Park is having a get together for their clients on Christmas day and a big meal will be provided in the park's kitchen. We loved Jurien Bay and we will go back, hopefully when the wind is not ... read more