To Perth, via the Pinnacles

It was hosing down as we were trying to pack up in Green Head. That was a new experience - and not a fun one! The rain forced us to cancel our planned Wildflower Loop Drive but we did persevere and drove in to the Pinnacles. We had morning tea in the Blunderbuss waiting for the rain to clear and dashed across to the Interpretive Centre when it didn't. We enjoyed the information as we dripped our way around the displays. The Pinnacles are a very recent geological formation - about 6000 years old - and no-one really knows how they formed. The two main formation theories proposed are both controversial,  the kids were interested to discover.

Ninjas in the Pinnacles

The rain stopped after we unhitched the caravan to drive the narrow track through the Pinnacles. The golden rocks and surrounding sand were an extreme colour change from the red landscape we have become used to. The wet sand of course was tracked through the Blunderbuss as well, so all our gear was suddenly, grittily, golden. We returned to the carpark where the Jayco was faithfully waiting for our return, after joking about arriving in Perth without it!

"Don't forget the caravan, Dad!"

Who ate all the pies?

We were all cold so we bought our first pies for lunch and the boys were very excited to try Pie Sandwiches, a la Masterchef Gonz. Even without Tomato Sauce, they thought it was not bad! Ella decided that a sausage roll sandwich wouldn't really be the same!

Black Boys everywhere!

Travelling the rest of the Indian Ocean Drive towards Joondalup, we were amazed to see thousands of black boys in flower.

It was a very stressful drive into Perth and Fremantle without a map. We got off the Freeway too early and ended up ensnared in central Fremantle, where one turn led us into a dead end with no room to turn. With Jackson giving his excellent reversing directions to Dave as he wended back onto the main road, I found myself directing heavy Fremantle traffic to stop and wait for us! I can report that although the woman in the front car was quite accommodating (and rather startled!), road rage in the backed up cars was alive and well! The Queen was arriving at the Perth airport at the same time as we were changing Fremantle's traffic arrangements. We could have done with one of the police escorts!

Eventually we found our caravan park and set up quickly as a storm was threatening. It was raining during the evening, but there was a huge thunderstorm during the night, with one clap of thunder directly above us and loud enough to scare the bejesus out of us all!

So, we have arrived in Perth (or Fremantle, to be accurate) and we'd better hit the op shops for some crazy outfits so we fit in with all the CHOGM delegates. Marcus figures he'll pick up some leadership tips for his School Captain application, but the Queen hasn't replied to his email!

Stay tuned ...