If you feel like a different adventure then pack yourself an awesome food basket with all the treats your heart desires and a cooler bag with lots to drink and plan a trip very early in the morning to Cervantes for the most awe inspiring experience of a lifetime. It's a fairly long trip of just over 200kms but well worth the journey. You can take a slow ride down and enjoy the northern roads and when the hunger pangs start pull over and raid your food and treat basket. When you eventually get to Cervantes you travel towards the Nambung National Park and head to its heart as there right in the middle are the Pinnacles.
They seem to rise out of the yellow barren sand in eerie silence. The whole area feels mystical and it's a perfect setting to soul search as there is something clarifying about these extraordinary natural structures. You can almost hear the hushed whispers that reverberate through the secret calm into your very being and into your inner most soul.
These astonishing monumental limestone formations rise as much as three and a half metres tall and in many ways resemble ancient weathered tombstones. They all have their own characters, some jagged, others sharp-edged, some smooth, whilst rising to a peak. You gaze at them in sheer bewilderment and awe as they are quite unique and awe inspiring and there are thousands of them scattered all over the area in varying sizes, shapes and distortions.
It is believed that the raw materials for these Pinnacles manifested from seashells from an earlier era that was rich in marine life. The shells were eventually broken down into lime rich sand and through a series of stages and phases evolved into these phenomena and formed these high pinnacles. It is undoubtedly one of the most captivating and unique places in Australia.
The formation of the Pinnacles is believed to have taken thousands of years. However it is suggested that the Pinnacles were exposed about 6,000 years ago as Aboriginal artifacts were found but no recent evidence of occupation, which further suggest they were covered by shifting sand before being exposed a few hundred years ago. This has been made apparent by southerly winds uncovering Pinnacles in the northern part of the Pinnacle Desert but covering those in the South.
These pinnacle limestone formations are located in the Nambung National Park and are situated three kilometres out of Cervantes, which is just over 200kms from Perth and can easily be accomplished in a day. It's best to leave early in the morning so you can take a relaxing and enjoyable trip. It's truly well worth the day journey and you can even sleep over in Cervantes and turn it into an adventurous weekend as there is a great deal to see in the area.
PINACLES DESERT DISCOVERYThe 'Pinnacles Desert Discovery' opened in October 2008 and gives visitors a new vision as the 'visitor facility' displays insights into the possible natural processes that formed this phenomenon.
Visitors also have access to information on:
The biodiversity of the park
General information about other national parks and nature reserves
And a retail gallery.
It's a sustainable site and environmentally friendly using solar power, eco friendly wastewater treatment, rainwater tanks and passable solar designed buildings.
There is also:
• A sealed pathway to the Pinnacles View lookout
• 1.2 km walk to a lookout over the Pinnacles desert area
• Increased car and bus parking bays
• New ablution facilities
The Pinnacles are open from 9.30am to 4.30pm everyday except Christmas Days.
National park fees apply.
Take the Mitchell Freeway towards Joondalup (23.7km) then take Hodges Drive towards Joondalup and turn right and stay on Hodges Drive, then turn left onto Joondalup, go through 1 roundabout and turn left onto Wanneroo and drive for 50.4 km and then turn onto Lancelin and continue for another 38.7km. Continue on to Indian Ocean Drive and continue for 68.4km then turn left onto Seville and left to Hansen Bay and then left to Pinnacle Drive, Cervantes 6511.
