PINNICALES MAGIC TOUR – 3rd MARCH 2017
With a start at an early 7 AM I began making my way to YHA in the city, where the tour bus promptly picked us up. We all got on and had a 10-minute talk exchanging names and discussing what we knew and we were from, discovering we had a diverse crowd we were excited to learn more about one another. What fascinated me was the fact that as soon as the bus started Richard, our amazing tour guide, started already with facts and news about Perth and when it formed, which most other tour guides wouldn’t do, and so we started our journey up towards the lush Yanchep National Park.
We turned into the long road of the National Park and again, Richard described the growth of Grass Trees and the history of the park. As the group followed Richard down the path, hundreds of kangaroos were surrounding the whole park, and what a sight it was. He then explained the what seemed like hundreds of species that the park contains, from the kangaroos to the black cockatoos. It also got explained that there were over 900 species of Eucalyptus trees on the park grounds. As we continued through the crisp 8 AM morning, we got to see the Koalas in their natural habitat, sleeping on what looked like twigs, once we counted all of them Richard took us to Wangi Mia, a meeting place for the Aboriginals.
Again, Richard blew everyone away with his extensive knowledge and we all left Wangi Mia we a little more knowledge and how at the end of this trip we would all be a big dot on the painting. After a little stroll through the National Park, Richard left us to prepare an extraordinary breakfast with a wide range of jams, breads, cheeses and even some smoked kangaroo, which is definitely worth a try. We discussed more and more about ourselves and all helped clean up after breakfast to reach our next destination, the little town of Lancelin.
We arrived at the town crying from laughter as jokes and facts went around the bus, we drove through to reach the most beautiful sand dunes I have ever seen, these looked massive and we were all excited to wax our sand boards up and make the climb to the top. What a view from the top of the sand dunes, you could see all of Lancelin and the beach the town sits on, and so much more. After heaps of times running up and down the dunes Richard could see everyone was ready for lunch. After a short timed drive, Richard explained that we should all look at the beach, so we all walked down together while he prepared out lunch. The beach was breathtaking and you could see the scattered boats and islands.
As couples decided to walk up and down the white beach some decided to stay and dip their feet in the water, soon later we all travelled back for lunch to see an array for different choices for food. We all departed from the sun-soaked Lancelin and made our way to the one and only Pinnacles, we were all excited as Richard had hyped us up to see the main star of the day.
From Lancelin to the Pinnacles was the most awesome view as you could see the mass amount of grass trees and the forever stretching farm land, the massive wind turbines were something you must see at some point as even at the distance we were away from them they still looked massive. We finally got to the Pinnacles and the true blue sky was amazing, we walked along the footpath and occasionally on the path there were some tracks, suddenly Richard would jump to the floor and ask everyone what the print was and what animal it came from, he was so enthusiastic about such a small part yet he made it even better.
We got to the main platform and you could finally see the rocks. As everyone was in awe Richard started to explain the meaning the rocks mean to the Aboriginals and explained this story that you have to hear for yourself, he goes so in depth he can make anything interesting. The contrast of the bright yellow sand and the fantastic blue sky is truly and sight to see, we also all decided to do the walk around which took around 30 minutes while Richard went to go and get some afternoon snacks going. It’s quite an amazing walk and would recommend everyone to do it, you can’t get lost.
We all were able to go to the gift shop and little sight museum full of information that isn’t that well known, everyone got something and then we all departed to have some tea and biscuits. After settling down we decided it was time to go, we got into the van and we were off. One last pit stop we make was back at Yanchep National Park, to see the last of the kangaroos, after that, we headed back into the city and he dropped us off at YHA, waiting for us to make sure we were all getting home safely, Richard departed from the drop off with a smile from ear to ear.
The Pinnacles Magic Tour was absolutely the best tour I have been on, everything from the bus rides to Richard himself, he was so enthusiastic the whole trip and with his experience and knowledge, you’ll learn so much more that you did at the start of the trip. I would recommend this trip to anyone that likes adventure and wants a laugh on the way, this tour is definitely different and has helped me understand Aboriginal Culture and the land.