Western Australia, Part 1: Augusta, Yanchep National Park, the Pinnacles, Murchison River Gorge

Murchison River Gorge, Kalberri, Western Australia

Recently, I was cleaning out and found my diary from our trip to Australia in 2007, when we toured the west coast with our friend Mike in his camper van, traveling from Augusta to Shark Bay and back to Perth. As I read through the entries I was reminded of the uniqueness of that landscape–different from anything else we had seen in Australia. Here is the first installment of some highlights from the trip.

Jewel Cave, Augusta, Western Australia

We spent the first few days in Augusta (about 200 miles south of Perth) getting ready for our trip and seeing some of the local sights including the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse (see my post of March 31, 2014), Jewel Cave, with its curtains of stalactites, a tour of the Leeuwin Winery, where we tasted and bought some excellent wine, and hikes to see the local flora and fauna, including various colorful parrots. Mike studies parrots, so he was the perfect guide.

Black Cockatoo, Yanchep National Park

On our first day on the road we drove north to Yanchep National Park, about an hour north of Perth, where we camped in a caravan park near the beach. It was raining when we arrived, but the following morning was sunny and we went to see the koalas displayed in the park (Koalas don’t live in Western Australia so these had been imported from eastern Australia.) A flock of rare black cockatoos had settled in the trees above the koala enclosure.

Looking at Stromatolites at Lake Thetis near Cervantes

We then continued north to Cervantes, famous for its stromatolites. Stromatolites are the oldest known living organism and grow only in shallow, super salty water. The tiny organisms grow very slowly and form clusters (they are extremely fragile.) A boardwalk allowed us to see them up close without causing any damage.

The Pinnacles, Nambung National Park

Also near Cervantes are the Pinnacles, in Nambung National Park, an assemblage of conical rocks rising out of the sand like an army of stone soldiers. They reminded us of a giant chessboard with odd shaped pieces or something from a science fiction movie. We stayed until sunset, fascinated by the strange shapes and shadows.

Banksia flowers

Our third day on the road in Western Australia took us from Cervantes back to the Brand Highway and on to Kalberri where we stayed the night before setting off to visit Murchison River Gorge in the morning. The sand road into the gorge was a bumpy giant washboard lined with yellow-flowered Banksia bushes.  Signs warned us to watch out for bilbys (a marsupial with long, rabbit-like ears) and we were hoping to see one. We didn’t, although we did spot a flock of emus.

Emus

Few other people were at the overlook when we arrived at Murchison River Gorge. After taking pictures of the impressive view, we hiked down to the bottom of the gorge. As we were leaving, a thunderstorm rolled in, making the view even more dramatic.

Murchison River Gorge with storm approaching

The rest of the day was spent back on the road, driving to our furthest destination, Shark Bay.