Getting covered in sand

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Hello you lot,

Sorry about the just-over-a-week long delay on blog updates, but I've been too busy doing other stuff 😊

So right now I am in Fremantle again having a bit of a chill and internet catch up after a day of... but I'm getting ahead of myself aren't I?

OK casting my memory back to where I left off, the next chapter of my Aussie adventure kicks off on a typically sunny morning in Perth, hanging around on the street looking like a backpacker cliche (maybe not so much looking like one, but actually being one) and waiting for the tour bus to arrive. Eventually it does so, and after much faffing around during which time I possibly knocked ten years off my life with a McDonalds breakfast we departed for distant Exmouth (over 1000km away).

The group was an interesting mix of nationalities, ages and personalities, but as it turned out everyone got on at least reasonably well, with no real issues, at least that I became aware of.

And now for actual proper travel news. First stop was the Pinnacles Desert in Nambung National Park. This was quite odd- a sudden sandy desert surrounded by shrubby bushland. Even more odd, and the main attraction, were the thousands of limestone outcrops or 'pinnacles' (of course) scattered throughout. The largest, sadly only seen at a distance, was about 3.5 metres tall. I liked the Pinnacles, they appealed to my sense of the bizarre. In all honesty, we didn't pick the best day to see them. Turns out high winds and sandy desert aren't the best combo.

After that we hit the road again (something that became really familiar during the trip) to some sand dunes where we made an attempt at doing some sand boarding! This was really quite fun, although my first attempt was pretty 'special' as I went any way but in a straight line. Actually I only did one run at the first set of sand dunes (the location now forgotten) since it was very blowy and sand was flying about everywhere. So tired and with sand covering pretty much every inch of my body I got into the bus and off to Geraldton for another attempt. At Geraldton conditions were much the same but the general feeling seemed to be 'oh well, let's just get on with it'. Once I got into it, I did OK. It was sometimes a real struggle to get up the sand dunes, and every time I was at the top the wind whipped the sand everywhere and nearly blew me off, but oh well, all good fun. So after a bit of this we all piled into the bus, dropped a small desert worth of sand onto the floor, and went off to a small seaside place called Kalbarri for dinner, bed, and a much needed shower.

And so ended the first day of my first actual tour.

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Photos

Pinnacles
Me and sand and rocks

What a strange tree
The winds blows so consistently from one direction that the trees do this

More Pinnacles
A better view without me blocking it