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Wednesday 25 August 2010

The Pinnacles





































Wednesday, 25 August

Happy 21st birthday to Laura!

A very brisk start to the day, with clear skies. Today we drove from Dongara to Cervantes and The Pinnacles. Unfortunately, we had a very strong, buffeting head/cross wind for most of the trip – not good for the fuel consumption! We also made numerous stops for photo opportunities (someone had been psyched up before we left!!!) of wildflowers (plenty more boring photos to come). Lots of different wattles to colour the landscape, with small understory and groundcover plants. It isn’t until one actually stops and walks around that the large variety of plants becomes obvious. We stopped to look at some white flowers and then realised that the little clumps of green scattered about were actually kangaroo paws. As we neared the coast again, the wattle became very low clumps, as well as prostrate.

We are staying at the Cervantes Pinnacles Caravan Park (the only one in Cervantes), which is on the beach and mainly full of permanent on-site caravans for holidaymakers. We have a reasonably large grass site and the amenities are older style but very clean.

This afternoon we drove to The Pinnacles – these unusual limestone rock formations are in the middle of a sandy desert only a few kilometres from Cervantes. We were here in 1986, and the place has certainly changed since then. There is now an entry fee, a discovery centre (and shop, of course), a walking track and car track. We decided to walk the 1.2 km walking track, which was probably closer to 3 kms in length, before undertaking a drive around the rock formations. There are a lot more people here now than in 1986!!!

The snake season in this area officially commenced this week and after seeing spotting an active stumpy tailed blue tongue this afternoon, the low temperatures probably aren’t indicative of reptile movement – wildflower photography now becomes a hazardous occupation!

1 comment:

Di's Blog! said...

Looks familiar!! What's with all the winter woolies????