Sonia picked us up in a 5 seater John Deere Gator ATV and off we went , getting an explanation of the farm and other relevant things . We stopped at a small dam that fills from underground mainly , but also rain water when & if they get any . There is a small population of long neck turtles - about 8 that call this waterhole home , we saw about 6 poking their heads up to check us out !!
Off again , this tour also does a bit of a boundary check , to see how the fences are adjacent to the National Park - kangaroos & emus have a habit of going through , not over fences !!
Arriving at the entrance to the NP , we were given strict instructions , follow in single file when requested , there will be areas where we can walk freely , and please dont touch , climb , or take any of the pinnacles or anything else you see . There are other things to see as well , with the old root systems that have calcified - looking like straws poking up out of the sand ! there were also an assortment of small bones , probably from birds , lying intact here and there .
We climbed up the sand dune to the WOW spot , it is where you get to see the sand dunes stretching off into the distance , mainly yellow , but with white beach sand being blown over and blending with the yellow - photos dont do it justice I'm afraid - but it was awesome , you fealt like you'd just climbed a sand dune in the sahara desert and come across a mystical place .
We wandered along in single file ( there was only 4 of us and the guide ) , she took us down the dunes and around to a section showing a few pinnacles , she explained them as best she could and showed us the different colours by wetting some sections .
The highest one we found was about 3m , and there were deeper valleys in the sand dunes where new pinnacles were appearing - it's an ongoing process here , the wind drives the sand where it wants and fills holes covering some then , opens up other areas showing new ones or making them reappear again - it is a shifting system , the sand moves quite easily , while we were there , our footprints in single file had been covered up - lucky we had a guide , we may have got lost up there !!
The time had come to leave the dunes and head back , we stopped on the way to have a look at the creek that flows trough the property . Sonia showed us some Blue Lupin - a seed that they harvest for stock feed , we found some and it was indeed blue , but ages to a nicely patterned green seed .
Back to the RV , the tour was over - it was midday - the tour was meant to go for 2 hours - we had 3hours !!
Off to the Brand Highway - 22klms of orange / yellow gravel road - you can imagine the colours - the RV with a good coating of salt spray and dirt from the trees at Geraldton and further north , wheels & tyres sporting a new colour as well - it looked like we'd emerged from the outback after a 6 month stint!!!
The highway was an interesting drive , the surface not being the best we've been on . We came into Perth through the Swan Valley - vineyard country - a bit like the Barossa Valley .
Our biggest hassle was the roads through Perth and a not quite up to date gps !! There has been a lot of work done to the road system over here - the gps went into stupid mode whenever we were on a new piece of road that wasn't covered by the gps !!
We had an entertaining drive around and across , and around and about , then up , then down - I'm sure we should be going south not east , or is that west ????? Finally we found the road we needed to go south !!
That was fun , now to find the caravan park - it's really fun doing U urns in side streets with the RV attached - strangely everyone gives way - they don't have a choice usually !!!
We found where we needed to be and got set up , had an early tea and went and surprised Emma & Mike & Pepper - all were glad and excited to see us .
The blog will be a bit hit & miss while we are in Perth - time permitting we will get something down for you , but it may not be daily - sorry about that !!!
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