Mr Sandman…give me a : )

Nevertheless… time was coming to an end, and our final day had actually arrived. As incredible as the trip had been, and our disbelief that it would be finished all too soon, there was also a general feeling of absolute fatigue throughout the group. 21 jam-packed days, travelling thousands of kilometres along some straight, and some decidedly hazardous terrain, the lack of sleep beginning to take its toll, and a yearning beginning to set in for the sight of civilisation once again.

In addition to this, I was getting far too comfortable with, and responsive to the nickname ‘halfpint’…

Leaving Kalbarri behind, our first stop was the chance to try sandboarding on an area of dunes along the road. Rather like a surfboard, but shaped like a skateboard, the skill, ideally, is to get from the top of the dune, down the slope to the bottom without falling off, and balanced perfectly and graciously on two legs as you do. In reality, it was so much more fun, and significantly easier, to lie on the board and let gravity do its worst!

Even this I couldn’t seem to do on my first attempt, and I got stuck at the top, completely immovable and in hysterics until I finally made that big push. Once the fun part of flying down the dune was over, there was the much less exhiliarating climb back up to the top again, a much more difficult and draining task than any of us thought it would be.

When the sand boards had been packed away and we had all tried as best we could to unearth some of the sand that had got absolutely anywhere and everywhere… we were back on the road again, this time making speed for our final destination before Perth that evening, the Pinnacles desert. A fairly bizarre spot, and a natural phenomenon which appears to you as towers of rock dotted around a huge landscape spanning across the horizon.

These formations are made from limestone, have been moulded by rain cementing the harder limestone to the pinnacle, and washing away the softer grain. The structures themselves are still evolving, and vary in size and height from something not much higher than my ankle to monstrous mounds you had to climb into.

I have seen standing stones in Orkney before, but these were definitely something else. Much less misty, mysterious and foreboding, these sand statues shone in the midday heat and carried on far into the distance. As we were wandering through the area, we couldn’t resist taking some comic pinnacle pictures. Once again, its amazing how much amusement can be found in a few mounds of limestone.. : )

And before we knew it we were nearing civilisation (i.e. phone reception), and everyones’ mobiles started beeping away with missed calls and backed up text messages. From dirt tracks and roads, we drove onto the motorway, and saw commuting traffic driving alongside us and all around, not the token one or two we had gotten used to on our journey. I can hardly explain the excitement I felt on catching sight of the city skyline in the distance. It may only resemble a small selection of high rise buildings, but it was the most prolific city I had seen since Adelaide 6 or 7 weeks earlier!

I hear first impressions are important, and seeing as Perth was going to be my base for a good 3 months, It looked like I was off to a good start, as I fidgeted in my seat, listened to my voicemail and ogled at the passing cars (and people!), with one thought going through my head:

“I think I’m going to like this place.”