Rupan's birthday trip to the Turquoise Coast

On Boxing Day Rupan requested a trip to The Pinnacles for her birthday. So Boxing Day morning we headed in the car (now named 'Bluey' as we can't think of a better name!) for its first road trip. The first stop was at Lancelin to look at the sand dunes where people were sand surfing and riding dune buggies. Bluey had his first off road trial at the dunes.

Steve on a sand dune

Bluey at the sand dunes

There were a couple of really nice lookouts along the way - Nilgen, Wedge Island and Kangaroo Point - where we decided to have lunch although as we were being attacked by flies it was a bit rushed!

The next town along our route was Cervantes. Although the town itself doesn't have much in it, there is Lake Thetis that has stromatolites growing in it. These are thought to be the oldest living organisms on earth.

Finally we reached the Pinnacles in Nambung National Park. Here there are hundreds of limestone pillars poking out of the sand - some even taller than Rupan. They are thought to have formed from compacted seashells that have been eroded by wind and rain millions of years ago. Amazing - looked a bit like a 1970s sci-fi film set and we half expected William Shatner to pop out from behind one of the pinnacles! We definitely want to come back and see the pinnacles at sunset.

Lake Thetis

The Pinnacles

Bluey at the Pinnacles

Our final destination for the day was Edith's B&B in Green Head. We stopped off at Grigson's lookout on the way there where we got a 360 degree view of the surrounding coastline. Green Head is a small fishing village and we managed to catch the sunset on the beach with a couple of beers before a delicious fish basket supper that Edith had made for us.

The following morning Steve had arranged for us to go swimming with sealions. The water was a little bit chilly, but we donned our wetsuits and spent a couple of hours snorkelling with the sealions at Essex Rocks - very cool!

On the way home we had a picnic at Ledge Point - finally no flies and no sand - think we may have cracked this picnic malarky!!

Our final stop was at Yanchep National Park. We arrived a bit late at 4pm, but the ranger told us that the park is open all night and that just before sunset the koalas and kangaroos are coming out to play - yay! We saw koalas sleeping wedged in eucalyptus trees, kangaroos and joeys bouncing around and even went for a walk around the lake. Steve was happy twitching with his binoculars and spotted a kookaburra and a galah - proper Aussie stuff!