Sandy Cape, Jurien Bay & Cervantes

 

First stop on the drive further south was Sandy Cape. This was 7km off the highway and was a lovely little spot to camp ‘off grid’ along the beach – if we had more time this would have been a great stop to spend a few relaxing days (particularly in the summer months). We walked along the pristine white sand to the end of the beach, which was unfortunately littered with too much seaweed for our liking (evidently common in Winter) and then hiked up the sand dunes to the top of the cliff for an awesome view further south along the coastline. We tried hard to spot a sealion, who evidently inhabit this area, but alas, no marine life to be seen.

A further 10km down the highway and we arrived at Jurien Bay. We went for a lovely stroll along the waterfront and then headed to the harbour area for a little picnic on the sand, with the locals (seagulls).

We arrived in Cervantes around 3pm and checked in to the RAC Cervantes Caravan Park. This park has had a recent upgrade to its facilities with a very modern amenities block, a full stainless steel catering camp kitchen and a large, heated swimming pool. It was also right on the bay. Again, beautiful white sand, but covered in thick seaweed – so not very appealing during late winter. We imagine the place would be very busy during summer, being only a little over 2 hours north of Perth.

The following morning, we headed off to see the Pinnacles, only 15km south in the Nambung National Park. We were excited to revisit as we had fond memories of visiting with mum and dad 30 years ago. The pinnacles are believed to have been formed over 500,000 years ago during the Ice Age. Evidence suggests that they were exposed around 6,000 years ago but were again covered by shifting sands until only recently (a few hundred years). Scientists believe the pinnacles were made when shell fragments broke down to form fine-grained sand that was rich in calcium carbonate (lime). The beach sands form extensive dunes along much of the coastline. As rainwater contacted the sand dunes, it dissolved the calcium carbonate. As the dunes dried out, the calcium carbonate recrystallized and cemented nearby sand grains together, forming limestone, and thus the pinnacles. We enjoyed walking around the desert and taking photographs in the sun.

It was then back to Cervantes for a visit to the Lobster Shack for lunch.  I ordered a whole lobster, grilled in garlic butter with chips and salad – delicious! Poor Sippy was still suffering from a painful toe, caused by a gout flare up from too much lobster last week – so he ordered an angus beef burger. We did the lobster processing tour after lunch (ordinary after our Lobster Pot Pull tour last week in Kalbarri) and then spent the afternoon on the sun deck at the shack having a prosecco and craft beer. Not a bad way to spend a Tuesday afternoon!