Dongara, Stramatolites and Pinnacles

The week after Christmas, we took a little road trip north 4 hours to a place called Dongara.
Along the way we went through a few different landscapes. Some areas were a dry dusty brown with dry plants and a few scattered trees, others looked very green with lots of bush, and others were part green and brown with short forests of black boy trees, and finally there were landscapes of white offset by green where large white sand dunes met the green bush.

And of course, along the road, we saw some of Dave's much wanted Aussie vehicles.
(Top picture, not bottom picture.)

Dotted along the road were signs reminding us to watch out for the wildlife, which we kept a vigil eye out for hoping to see and admire the creatures instead of run into them. We didn't spot any wandering animals on our 4 hour drive north to Dongara, only farm animals caged in fences.

When we arrived at our beach cabin late in the afternoon, it was hot and the crew was ready to run and cool off in the Ocean which was right front of our cabin. After emptying the car of our stuff and relocating it to the cabin, the kids quickly put on their suits and we headed off to enjoy the beach till the sun had set.

Our second day in Dongara was perfectly clear and sunny and VERY hot. We enjoyed the cool ocean water in the morning, then took an afternoon break from the sun to play games and do...nothing. As the afternoon grew late, storm clouds drew nearer from the north where tropical storms have been brewing. The kids and Dave went to the beach to cool off and I made dinner before the storm hit. With the storm came cool....Aah. The breeze through the open cabin windows was very welcome.

Day three was a sunny but cooler day, which was a relief after the hot day before. The boys went out early to enjoy their beach boards and Mary Alice and I went to the shallower beach to swim. BUT, the boys finished up way too early and we soon discovered why...they had used their boards so much the day before that their skin on their tummies and chests was very sore and tender with a rash. Adam was done with swimming. So, after a short afternoon rest and lunch, we decided to enjoy the cooler sunny weather of the day with a walk just north of us. Dave had discovered some trails he thought we'd have fun exploring during his morning runs. So we drove a little ways north and began our trail walk. (Don't ask me why neither Dave or I brought along the camera!) The trail we started on led us straight to the beach north of our cabin. So instead of staying on the trail we walked the beach till it met up with the trail again. There we discovered where the river ended in a swampy area that would meet the ocean when the tide was in. And there we discovered (during the low tide) lots of shells and beach treasure! We had a great time looking for treasure and filling shoes and pockets with our finds. Then Dave and Adam headed back to the car by another trail and Eli, Mary Alice, and I followed the beach back to the cabin and dinner.

The next day we took a very early dip in the ocean, packed up and were back on the road toward home by 10:00. On the way home, we had places we needed to stop....But first we took a quick explore of the Dongara beach and shore line south of where we had stayed.
First we found an old reef coastline dotted with now old rock corals and other sea life.

Dave and the kids hunted for the shy crabs that live in crevices along the shore.

Can you see the hiding crab?

When the sky began to sprinkle us with rain, we quickly made our way to the car and drove a little further south and found a much bigger beach that we could drive onto. Of course, Dave had to venture out a little.

We turned around a short way on as the wind picked up and the rain began to come down hard...and mom was a little worried. Dave was wondering why we hadn't discovered this beach earlier....

Once we were back on the homeward road, we had two more destinations ahead.
About 1 1/2 hours into the trip we made our first important stop to see Stromatolites. Does anyone know what they are? Well, I do now. I took a few pictures of the signs so you could learn too.

Dave, the geophysicist, was very excited about stopping here. And, I must admit, it is always educational to travel with a geology guy where ever you go. SO, we took a little walk around a small lake called Lake Thetis, saw stromatolites and learned a bit about them.

Stramatolites were all around the lake. They boys were also impressed by the foamy bubbles that were gathering on the other side of the lake.

With the stramatolites checked off our list, it was on to the next place of interest,

The Pinnacles in the Nambung National Park

near Cervantes, Western Australia.

The pinnacles are like a very far away cousin of the ghosts in Goblin Valley, only Dave says the Pinnacles are way more vast and awesome! And, of course, the Pinnacles are different. I have never been to Goblin Valley, but I will take Dave the Geology guys word for it.

They were definitely the highlight of our trip. We explored the Pinnacles till the park closed at 5:30. And I daresay, this whole crew enjoyed every part of our exploration....

Pinnacle Chairs


Adam through a Holey Pinnacle

One theory about the pinnacles, is that there were once a bunch of trees that were buried by a sand dune and then petrified. Hmmmm....

Dave and the kids did a bit of excavating during our explorations. They dug up Rhizoliths, which are small petrified roots (if I remember right, Dave is not here to correct me) and found many more just lying all around them in the sand.

We even found some animal prints making there way through the sandy pinnacle landscape around us. These were some Emu prints.


During our exploration of the pinnacles, we had to stop a few times to rescue Adam's eyes that kept getting "something" in them.


The Pinnacles must have extended for miles around us because everywhere we looked, there seemed to be no end to them in every part of the park.

One last highlight of our trip to share...are the two Emus we finally spotted as we drove into the Pinnacles, running across the street into the bush! Maybe those were their prints we spotted...