Arriving in Geraldton there was a definite sense we were re-entering civilisation. As the first city we have encountered since leaving Broome it comes with its benefits; restaurants and coffee shops and its disadvantages; more people and traffic. The main point of interest we found in the city was the Western Australian Museum – Geraldton. This museum was free to enter and not overwhelming; it has interesting facts and exhibits pertaining to the wildlife and fauna of this huge state as well as history of settlement and the original First Nation owners of the land. We also joined a free tour of the Shipwreck Gallery that includes details and artifacts relating to the Batavia and HMAS Sydney II wrecks mentioned in my previous post. Another fun place to visit is the Old Geraldton Gaol that now also houses a local craft centre with local craft outlets housed in the old cells.
Leaving Geraldton to continue our inexorable march South our next destination of note would be the Pinnacles, part of Nambung National Park. Before reaching what is debatably the best known tourist destination in Western Australia outside of Perth we decided to stay at a working sheep and cattle farm on the edge of the national park in order to try and get a sense of the area away from the tourist hordes. Of particular interest was the tour operated by the husband and wife running the campground on this farm into a rarely visited part of the Nambung National Park known as the painted desert. At 07:30 in the morning we jumped on the bank of a farm vehicle to be driven the approximately 4km to a gateway into the national park where we were met with the rather surreal experience of passing through a gate on the edge of a grassland field directly onto a sand dune. Climbing to the top of this sand dune we were met with examples of the Pinnacles that the vast majority of tourists do not get to see and it was spectacular.
Despite this experience we still had a desire to visit the ‘official’ Pinnacles tourist destination. It is still undoubtedly impressive with the sheer scale being the standout factor but the presence of tourists including a circuit where those who had forgotten how to use their legs could drive around and view from their cars removed something from the ‘otherworldly’ romance of these structures seemingly growing out of the desert sand.
