Geraldton to Freemantle

Geraldton was another spot where we could do some jobs including publishing some blogs.  Internet access out here is almost none existent or extremely expensive with us having to wait to find cheaper internet cafes in the larger towns.  We also took the opportunity whilst we were here to send some equipment back to the UK that we were either not using anymore or had never used.  My dear travelling companion had vetted everything I had brought with me before we left, however I still managed to get what I believed to be a few essential items through the cordon, with the warning words “I bet we won’t use that”.  Well with 5kg of gear being posted back to the UK she was right and earns her self a nice meal in the restaurant of her choice (on the promise that we never talk of it again).

It may be just in this part of Australia but I keep thinking we have travelled back in time to the 1980’s.  Everything from the car design, the use of CB radio (granted it is essential out here), the meat based food, the clothing style right through to the music on the radio is all about the 80’s.  They also seem to have a far more cultural connection with the USA rather than Europe or with England, which is ironic bearing in mind Australia’s colonial history.  The northern part of WA is a rugged and at times, hostile place and it would take a certain type of person to live and work this part of the world, but it does seem to be stuck in a time that’s passed and reluctant to move forward.  It will certainly be interesting to see how Perth and the places nearby fare.

The Australians attitude to food appears to be more means value.  From supermarkets to restaurants the portion sizes are huge and they seem to be sliding the same way as the Americans in terms of the way they eat.  Fast food is definitely king with chips, pies and fried chicken everywhere.  Meat is very good quality but is sold in very large quantities at rock bottom prices.  Of course they also love their seafood and pretty much will eat anything that comes out of the sea, and a lot of it self caught by the numbers of people we have seen fishing, but this does not seem to be helping with the obesity problem which is evident.  This is surprising because compared with the UK these guys love the outdoors and the associated activities and appear to be out of the house most of the time, so lack of exercise doesn’t seem to be the problem.  

After completing our jobs, we left Geraldton listening to 80’s rock music (heaven) and singing along to songs from Fame (Emma’s idea).  Once again we headed for the coast road and an endless stream of small fishing/seaside resorts which for a Friday seemed strangely deserted with most of the houses looking like they had not been lived in for months.  We guessed that these were mainly holiday homes and being a weekday in winter, these places probably don’t come alive for another few months yet.  On top of the existing empty homes, most of the places also had large new developments of  houses being built, again we guessed as holiday homes for the wealthy residents of Perth.  Whilst passing one of these small seaside resorts, surveying the lay of the land and driving at exactly 100km/hr (our fuel saving speed) a passing car kicked up a rock making a 2 cm chip in the windscreen.  Bugger, the terms of the van rental means ANY damage whether it windscreen or flat tyre or even accident is to be fixed at our cost.  Thankfully, we were only a day away from reaching the suburbs of Perth so at least we will have a fighting chance at getting it fixed at a semi-reasonable cost.

So far on this journey the weather has been fabulous with fairly consistent highs of late twenties or earlier thirties and night time lows in the early twenties.  As we have travelled down, most days there has not been a cloud in the sky, however as predicted by everyone we have met heading north this would be the point it would start getting colder.  The day time temp started to dip although still sunny and as we moved further south each day it would drop further by a few degrees.  This wasn’t so bad in the day, however it was the nights that we started to notice it more.  Due to the clear skies, the night time temp started to plummeting to as low as four degrees one night, which is not fun in a none insulated, none heated van.  The van comes with sleeping bags and by wearing everything we own we can just make it through the night, but boy is it cold.

We eventually got to the end of the coastal road and our final brown sign experience for this stretch of the trip - the Pinnacle Desert.  We have spoken a lot about the guide books we have been using (Lonley Planet Guide) and how in some cases it has over exaggerated the must sees.  Well this time, in our opinion, it had completely understated the visual experience that this natural wonder would serve up and is definitely on our must see list for Australia. 

All the pictures we had seen advertising the Pinnacle Desert showed a empty landscape with a few monolithic stones standing in the sand.  As we pulled into the car park the sight that was presented to us was not a few, but hundreds of small rocks dotted around the scene and this wasn’t even in the park.  We paid our park fees and the ranger gave us a map showing the hiking trails and a 4km off road tour.  With the rangers words ringing in our ears “You should be ok as long as you drive slowly” we didn’t hesitate and went straight for the off road route.  We followed the signs and as the tarmac road petered out we crested a brow of a small hill to be presented with not 10, not even hundreds, but thousands of various sized monolithic stones all standing in a vast desert.  We drove the route taking pictures and generally gawping at the sight that revealed itself.  We made it back to the carpark with no dramas and went straight on the hiking trail to enjoy the place up close and personal and to take far too many pictures as every angle was a photo opportunity.  They are still not sure how these stones were created and they have several theories, but our favourite is that its an old petrified forest as most of the rock lumps do look like tree trunks or have bark looking shapes on the faces of the columns.

  After spending nearly three hours at the Pinnacle Desert, we drove 16km back the way we had come to stay in another small coastal town called Cervantes.  It was a Saturday night so we hoped that with the campsite being in the middle of town and near the beach we might be able to find a pub to sit and while away a few hours.  We parked up and I went for a walk in search of an alcohol establishment.  After walking along the sea front and not finding anything but houses, I turned inland and followed a sign for the town centre.  I shortly arrived at what looked like a typical UK housing estate shopping arcade and just on the side was the local pub.  Clearly only frequented by locals and the sound of breaking glass, our Saturday night was spent in the van dancing along to the sounds of the 80’s on the radio whilst cooking sausages, mash and carrots and consuming a newly opened box of red wine under the gentle glow of torch light (how romantic!)

Next day we drove the remaining 250 km to Perth, and as we entered the city limits the odometer read 6695 km (4185 miles) since we had started in Darwin 27 days ago (yes, we do need our heads testing).  

We made our way a little further south of the city to a very famous town called Fremantle. 

The eagle eyed amongst you may remember that we still have a week to go before we are due to hand the van back and then 4 days in Perth after that, so with time on our hands and not feeling we had got our moneys worth out of the unlimited mileage clause we made plans to spend the last week touring the south of WA.  Due to recommendations from friends (hi Sally & Chris) we were hoping to reach Margaret River (a famous Australian Wine region), Augusta and the most southerly location we would be able to reach in the time, Albany.