For the second part of our trip Up North, we headed to the famous Pinnacles - in Nambung National Park. By now, we were about 3 hours north of Perth, and were well and truly on the famous Indian Ocean Drive. The roads were now narrower, and snaked up and down the terrain. On both sides, we saw nothing but bushland, sand, and well, more bushland!
After about an hour of driving, we finally reached the Pinnacles! Headed to the visitor's centre for a quick look, and also to see if there're any souvenirs. I got a bottle opener and a stubby holder.
The Pinnacles were made of limestone, and shaped in various ways throughout the years. They originated from seashells rich in marine life during prehistoric times, and as the shells broke down, they were blown inland to form dunes. The dunes were then shaped by various ways (some say by plants, others propose that it's by chemicals) - to form the Pinnacles we see today. Yet another masterpiece by Mother Nature, I should say! The information centre had lots and lots of educational displays too!
After walking around the visitor's centre, we headed off to see the Pinnacles...for real. And the first thing I did was to take out my phone camera to do panoramic shots :) It's interesting how the sand appeared more yellowish on my phone camera and orangey on my dSLR. I think it might have been the white balance. Either way, I love both sets of pictures! Here are the ones from the phone...
And this was taken before we walked down to get up close to the Pinnacles. These pics were taken using my dSLR - hence the difference in sand colour. Oh - and it was cloudy that day, and the lighting was just right.
I don't know exactly how many pictures I took of the Pinnacles. Standing up close to them was quite an interesting experience. Some were really tall, others were shorter...lots of individual differences here!
Some even had plants growing from the cracks...mostly small ones. Note that plants actually played some role in shaping these pinnacles...
And when I zoomed out, this was what I got - a whole bunch of pillars rising from the flat desert sand!
Some of the interesting shapes and sizes I found. As I said - lots and lots of variation here :)
Standing between some of the Pinnacles...and going up close to others. We actually stood on some of the flatter ones to take pictures. Most of them weren't difficult to climb - but of course, it definitely wasn't a good idea to climb them.
Some people chose to drive around and park somewhere, while others just walked around. We did more walking - left the car in the main carpark as we figured that it'll give us more flexibility.
And it did! We got to explore every single area, and each time I took a picture, it turned out different.
One of my favourite pictures of the day - a taller pillar overlooking the smaller ones.
There was a dirt road cutting through the area we were in, and those who drove from the desert usually took this route to get around. We didn't really walk down the dirt road...but in future, if I do come back to visit the Pinnacles, I'll explore more!
Decided that it was time to call it a day and head back to Perth, as it was about 4:30pm, and we didn't want to be driving on the highways in the dark. So we packed up and took the long, 3-hour drive back to Perth. There wasn't much of a sunset to enjoy as it was really cloudy, so we just rested and had some snacks to reduce our hunger pangs.
Ended up at Subiaco (an inner suburb) for dinner, and that's where I saw the Regal Theatre for the first time. I've heard about it, but haven't seen it up close. One of my classmates (who has a really awesome band) performed at the Regal Theatre on one of the Fridays...
I really, really miss Melbourne's music scene - it's like the best in Australia! So far, I've not been exposed to the music scene in Perth, and I hope to explore more as I go along. Sometimes I wish I live in the city - so that I can explore and enjoy all these places...even Subiaco isn't difficult to get to!
Dinner at Dome Cafe. I was so famished that I ordered garlic bread, risotto and a chocolate hedgehog slice. And finished all of them in one go! Plus my friend's salad. Felt so much better after that!
The amazing ceiling at the Dome Cafe. Map of the world!!
And after dinner, we drove back home. We spent a total of 12 hours up North, but that was such an amazing experience. It certainly was different to what I'd usually do on weekends and public holidays!
Surprisingly I wasn't tired after the trip, and I even did some revision up till around 3am!
Speaking of revision - it's time for me to get back to those books! Do stay tuned for my next post!