Scary Pinnacles!

written by Ross St Quintin Just a couple of hours drive north of Perth, the capital city of Western Australia, there is a natural wonder well worth your visit. I last visited the Pinnacles about a year ago on a trip north to Cervantes en route to Geraldton via the coastal highway, instead of the inland Brand Hwy. I consider the fastest way to drive north to Geraldton, & beyond is via the Brand Highway, an excellent road, if not somewhat lonely as there are very few towns on the trip north. If you ever travel the Brand highway be particularly careful, as the Brand Hwy is very busy with huge triple tandem trailers being towed by enormous trucks. These huge beasts travel at speeds fast enough to almost blow you off the road as they pass"¦so be very careful, especially during wet, windy weather! Anyway, back to the Pinnacles. We stayed at Cervantes, just north of the Pinnacles overnight, in order to be able to spend plenty of time enjoying the weird, spectacular sights at the Pinnacles. You have to drive about 30 kilometres from Cervantes to get to the Pinnacles National Park region. Last time I did the trip the last few k-s were still unsealed & it proved a bit of a bumpy ride in a normal sedan. Hopefully that last unsealed section is now sealed. Okay, what are these pinnacle thingies? View these photos before reading further as a picture is worth a thousand words. Have a look, then please wander back here, as I have some interesting personal info to improve your trip to the Pinnacles. Hi, welcome back. Well, aren-t they the strangest rock formations? However, the photos can never replace the excitement of viewing these formations up close & personal. Firstly, be aware that at last count the cost of entry into the Pinnacles was $10 per car. A fair enough fee as the council has to maintain the roads, etc; plus keep rangers in the area to keep the crazy folk out who would love nothing better than to attack these wondrous rock formations with a jack hammer or similar. Defacing the country appears to be alive & well! Thank goodness for the Rangers! Secondly, you should know that the tracks through & around the vast region of the Pinnacles are just that. Sand tracks; which are easy to drive on if you have your own car or a hire car. (Make sure your hire car company allows you to drive off road before you leave the bitumen!!). When I arrived on our last visit I remained fascinated at the sight of the aloof appearances of these tall, needle like rock formations. I could really picture many of them as maybe being the result of people being turned into limestone rocks in a myriad shades of whites through to stained yellows & browns. Many of the formations have amazing shapes. One of the great aspects of a personal visit is to make sure you get a friend, or someone, to take your photo alongside many of the more spectacular pinnacles. The best way to enjoy these wonders, I think, is to park your car & walk around the region. Driving through without getting out to wander on foot for an hour or so will not do your visit justice. Walking around the Pinnacles, particularly during very early sunrise or at sunset is an amazing, even a bit scary experience. For that reason try & target your visit to conincide with very early morning or late afternoon as the silhouettes of the formations & shadows in the changing light are amazing. Your photos will be spectacular"¦. certainly they will remain excellent memories of your visit to the Pinnacles. And make sure you provide a couple of hours for your tour"¦you will NOT be disappointed!