Australia here we come!

25/7/12

We left the caravan park and drove 16 kms south to the Nambung National Park which is the home of the real Pinnacles. We parked both caravans in the car park and took to the walking trail. At the lookout it is amazing to gaze in every direction and see lumps of limestone jutting out of the sand as far as the eye can see. We walked down and through the maze of limestone pillars and were surprised at how large some of them were, up to 5 metres in size. We ventured back along the walking trail and went to the Discovery Centre to find out how the pinnacles were formed. We were disappointed to learn that scientists don't know exactly how the pinnacles came to be. There are many theories but their real origin is still a mystery. That's probably not a bad thing.

We left the Pinnacles and drove north back along the coastal highway and turned right just past the Cervantes exit and headed towards the North West Coastal Highway. We drove through some wonderful country that in a month or so would be alive with wild flowers. Unfortunately we are too early.

At lunch time we stopped at the Hakea Nature Reserve and, while eating, we enjoyed the wonderful view. From the Reserve we could see the 46 large wind turbines of the Emu Downs Wind Farm. Our destination today is New Norcia and on the way we passed through the small towns of Dandaragan and Moora.

It was about 2pm when we arrived at New Norcia and we went straight to the Information Centre to find out about tours and accommodation. New Norcia is a Benedictine Monk community established in 1829 by two Spanish monks. Since then it has grown to a town with 68 buildings and 23 have been heritage listed. There are still monks residing in the monastery but it is no longer a self-sufficient community with schools.

We decided to ‘free’ camp for $7.00 a night on the oval opposite the Information Centre and Museum. It was too late for tours so we decided to come back tomorrow and take the guided tour of the town and pay to visit the museum and art gallery. We set up camp on the oval with a number of other caravans and settled in for a relaxing night.

At 6pm Mary-Anne wanted to attend vespers with the monks and I got the job of walking her to the monastery chapel with my beer secreted in my jumper pocket. At 7pm Karen and I walked to the chapel to escort Mary-Anne home. As we approached, the closed doors of the chapel suddenly flew open and about 20 monks came storming out and nearly ran us over. (Actually, there are only 10 monks residing in the monastery so that is an exaggeration!) We didn't know if we should speak to them or not so we just ran for our lives and I managed not to spill my beer. Mary-Anne saved us and escorted us both back to the caravan without further incident.