Sunset at the Pinnacles

If you happen to be visiting Perth and don’t mind a longish drive, The Thirsty Travellers thoroughly recommend a trip to the Pinnacles.

Around two hours north of the city, the lunar-like Pinnacles were formed over millions of years, with thousands of tall limestone spires now rising eerily out of the yellow desert sands of Nambung National Park.

The natural forces of water and wind shaped the Pinnacles from seashells over millions of years. There are still little bits of coral and shell scattered all through the sand.

They’re just outside a little town called Cervantes, which is famous for its Lobster Shack. We decided to find out what all the fuss was about and dropped in for a seafood platter before exploring the Pinnacles.

We pulled up to discover a whole fleet of coaches out the front – the restaurant serves 500-600 rock lobsters to tourists every day. Not the most intimate of experiences and it’s a fairly basic setting, although we managed to grab a table with an ocean view. The seafood platter we shared was quite tasty too, so it wasn’t a total blow out.

Afterwards, Ginger wanted to make a quick detour to Lake Thetis, one of the few places in the world containing living marine stromatolites. The guide book said we’d be awed by seeing some of the oldest living fossils on Earth, which are more ancient than dinosaurs. But we were a bit borderline in our enthusiasm. They were oh-kay … though it is pretty amazing that they’re living fossils.

Then we headed for the moonscape of the Pinnacles, arriving fortuitously just before sunset. We were awed by them. Four thumbs up.

Some of the tallest pinnacles reach heights of up to 3.5m. There’s a bit of contention over exactly how the seashells formed the Pinnacles, so we’ll leave it to you to Google it if you’re curious.

Sunset was a totally glorious time to be there. We delightedly took 50 million photos as we roamed around the desert.