Nambung National Park

Nambung National Park in WA is surprisingly surprising

The Pinnacles at Nambung National Park was a perfect end to the Batavia Coast Road trip and a clear highlight of this Australia Voyage. The Park is located north of Perth, next to a fishing village called Cervantes. I would call it a "sleepy fishing village" but I think that title has been taken by every small seaside town and I am trying to avoid clichés, so, without further ado, here is the enchanting beauty of the Pinnacles.

The Pinnacles in Western Australia has officially been classified as a "Don't Miss" in my book of Aussie things. I still don't exactly know why this place had such an impressive effect on me, but I will do my best to dissect the experience in the coming photographs.

 

For starters, the pinnacles section of Nambung Park has a 1.2 Kilometer walking track and a 4 kilometer driving track. It's like driving through a forest of phallic stones. Even Uluru, which gets more tourist attention based on the amount of advertising I have seen, but as a natural wonder it still can't compare to the Pinnacles.

Even in this dry landscape, life was always visible. Galahs take watch over their land and sing a little song for the visitors. They were friendlier than other galahs letting tourists get within feet before flying away. Earlier, two kangaroos jumped through the park, hiding behind a pinnacle before continuing to the other side of the park. Emus are a common site as well. You can see the life in the footprints made up in the sand.

I went to the park twice, once for sunset and the following morning for sunrise, which this photo above shows. Each time I found myself distracted by one pinnacle or another, taking photo after photo of seemingly the same thing. But they aren't the same. Every pinnacle and every angle is different. Every time the clouds move, the scene changes.

The different times of day and the different light colors and angles, it is this constantly changing aspect of a natural phenomenon that makes this place surreal. In the end, I took about 150 photos of the Pinnacles and each photo is very different. It's actually hard to remember that there is more to see at Nambung National Park than the Pinnacles.

I suppose I should also mention the other thing people come to Nambung National Park to see, Stromatolites. No big deal though, they're only made up of the oldest known living organisms on the face of the earth. It's only a living thing that has been alive for thousands of years. A thing that, some say, is the very building block of every living thing on the planet. Not to mention they have been alive longer than, oh, I don't know, every living thing on earth. Stop me if I'm repeating myself.

Their uniqueness has to do with this environment which supports their life being so fragile. Thus, there are only a few places on the earth that still support Stromatolites. That means you'd better start appreciating. Lake Thetis has the Stromatolites and Thrombites, both of similar nature, and you can get a great glimpse of them from the comfort of the boardwalk that prevents your clumsy tourist feet from killing their environment.

Nambung National Park was surprising in that I expected not to be surprised. More over, I expected a fraction of as many Pinnacles as I found in those sandy dunes, and was given hundreds Pinnacles to look at. It was a constantly photogenic place to get completely lost in. The Best times of day to visit are for Sunset, Sunrise and at night during a full moon.

Combine the Pinnacles with stromatolites and we have a party. I can safely say, If I had passed the opportunity to see these places, my trip to Australia would have been suffered. Full Stop.