Thursday 2 March: Cervantes and the Pinnacle Desert

 A hot night with partial use of noisy air conditioning and we’re up early and on the road by 8am. Initially quite busy through the suburbs of Perth then onto quieter straight roads through the edges of Yanchep National Park and bush land. We take a short detour to Guilderton to refuel and admire the picturesque mouth of the Moore Estuary where it meets the golden sands and turquoise sea. The campsite here looks rather nice and we think we may stop off on our return. At about 11am we reach the Pinnacles Desert and are initially disappointed to be advised that our van is too big to drive around and we’ll have to walk instead. It’s very hot but in fact the walk is delightful and takes us right through the desert with its numerous unusual limestone pillars. Rising eerily from the desert floor, some of them 3.5m tall, the columns are remnants of a compacted seashell layer that once covered the plain and, over millennia, has slowly eroded. We see Emus too and it’s all really rather impressive. Back to the cooling aircon in the car we reach our campsite at Cervantes and have a refreshing dip in the pool. We’re under trees and it’s quite spacious. They are completely full tomorrow for the long bank holiday weekend. A 10 minute walk takes us to The Lobster Shack, a famous institution that apparently draws crowds from far and near. Simon enjoys his first fresh WA Abalone. Personally I think they make better jewellery! Then Lobster and chips with salad: awesome! It’s clouding over and we even get a bit of rain. But nothing that the van awning can’t cope with and we enjoy the cooler temperatures reading and relaxing and reflecting on a very good day.