9th March, 2009

Today was a very long drive of over 300 miles from Perth to Geraldton. Having reasonably successfully managed to find our way out of Perth (only one wrong turning which actually seemed to us to be better than the way we should have gone) we stopped for a drink at a roadhouse at about 11 am when the temperature was 92F in the shade!! We made a detour to the Nambung National Park to view The Pinnacles. Rising mysteriously from the dune sands are literally thousands of limestone pillars, a landscape in eerie contrast to the surrounding heath and in the not too far a distance, the Indian Ocean. We took the Pinnacles Drive across the sand dunes which is a 4 km one-way loop with a few parking bays so that you can get out of your car and take pictures. It is very difficult to describe the scene except to say it was pretty amazing and I will post a picture so that you can see what I mean.
After a quick sandwich we were soon back on the road and arrived in Geraldton about 5 pm in time to have a quick dip in the Indian Ocean which is just a 5 minutes walk from our hotel. Later in the evening we went for a walk along the seafront. By now the temperature had dropped to a much more pleasant level and a gentle breeze off the sea was a real pleasure.