North of Yanchep was totally new territory for me so I was more excited than usual as we headed off on the Indian Ocean Drive toward Cervantes. The road was in excellent condition and we made good time, stopping for lunch in Lancelin and then pulling into Cervantes mid afternoon, a perfect time for an ice cream at the Lobster Shack ((more on that later.)
John and Steph arrived a little later and we were treated to another stunning sunset that evening.
One of two reasons for staying here was to visit the peculiar Pinnacles in Nambung National Park. Thousands of tall limestone spires rise out of the sandy ground creating an eerie ‘other world’ setting best experienced by driving the 4.5 km track amongst them. Scientists have various different theories about their formation, more info here if you are interested.
An early start meant that we had plenty of time to get back to the Lobster Shack for a tour of the factory which was very interesting, who knew that unlike the Southern Rock Lobster, the Western Rock Lobster doesn’t have front claws??? This is a half billion dollar industry and over 95% are exported live overseas, previously to China but now to a more diverse market including the US and UK.
I think our SA version is vastly superior (after all you get claws) but we didn’t turn up our noses to the local variety for lunch in a perfect setting.
The next couple of days saw us continuing to track north, visiting many picturesque coastal communities en route as well as a brief stop in Geraldton where we visited the HMAS Sydney memorial.
Sited on top of a hill and overlooking the sea it celebrates and remembers those lost in the WW2 tragedy (more info here) – a story I have recently become more interested in after hearing a fascinating podcast about the recent identification of the ‘unknown sailor’ using DNA and the genealogy community!
We had been intending to stay in the free camp at the Geraldton port but it was fully occupied so we pushed on and found delightful little Coronation Beach campground, somewhat fitting as the royal coronation was happening that week 😉
Our destination the next day was Kalbarri but on the way I had earmarked Hutt Lagoon as a ‘must see,’ reportedly one of the best pink salt lakes in the state and very Insta worthy. It didn’t disappoint and we spent a while there trying to capture her best angles.
We arrived in Kalbarri in time for the sunset cruise which departs from the Murchison River jetty and heads out through the mouth to track down the coast, providing wonderful views of the red cliffs as the sun sets.
The Kalbarri National Park is home to some stunning geological formations which are very easy to experience thanks to its newest attraction, the Skywalk. Completed a few years ago it consists of two cantilevered steel structures, anchored deep into the sandstone which allow visitors to look down into the gorge below through steel mesh. The larger of the two extends 25 metres over the edge of the gorge which is 100 metres below. It was a sensational view -but the flies! The flies were sooo bad we thought we were going to picked up by them and dropped over the edge. We had flynets for this eventuality but of course they were back in the motorhome 😒
Russell and I also climbed down to Nature’s Window (picture in the header above) but the flies really did impact our experience here and Steph and John had already given up so we headed back to the caravan park and relative peace.
Leaving the flies behind the next day we moved on to Denham, the main population centre of the World Heritage listed Shark Bay area. We hadn’t been able to secure accommodation at nearby Monkey Mia but planned to be there the next morning for the ‘scheduled’ dolphin visit. Denham itself was a lovely surprise with its beautiful clean beach and multiple car parks full of boat trailers, they take their fishing very seriously here!
A performing arts entourage were set up on the beach incorporating live music, magical acts, trapeze artists and sand painters all of which added to the holiday ambience. We strolled along the shore as the fishermen were coming back in after a successful day, every cleaning station was busy.
The next morning we were up early to travel the 25 minutes or so to Monkey Mia where the world famous dolphins visit – in the words of the National Parks Wildlife Officer – “if they want to.” Many years ago when the dolphins first captured world wide attention they came in great numbers to be fed but it was to their eventual detriment as they lost the ability to feed for themselves, couldn’t pass this skill on to their offspring and numbers started to decline. These days the activity is much more controlled, the dolphins are all known to staff and if they do come in to shore they are only offered a very small proportion of what their daily requirements are, therefore they still have to hunt for themselves. Only a few females that have been ‘registered’ for the program are offered food and the whole exercise is very carefully controlled by the attendant Wildlife Officers. That said, it still enables tourists to get a very up close and personal view of the dolphins that do come in. We saw a total of five including a youngster who was practicing his fishing skills whilst mum came in closer.
As the dolphins headed back out to sea so did we, aboard a 60 foot catamaran for a scenic cruise that we hoped would show us the dugong or “sea cow” which inhabits these waters which are rich in sea grass. This was a fun experience, I even got to show a few guys how to hoist the sail and we did indeed see turtles and several dugongs but I think they are probably best photographed from below the waves….
We had a nice lunch in the resort cafe where we were visited by some more local wildlife who apparently can get a little too friendly if they like what is on the menu.
Francois Peron National Park was a short detour off of the road back to Denham and we had time to visit a couple of spots as the clouds started to look threatening.
The sky put on another show for us at sunset as we prepared for our departure the next day, I certainly hope we will visit again and allocate more time to this pristine and special part of Australia.
