The room was very chilly overnight, probably due to the rising wind whipping around three exposed sides of the studio we were in. We both resorted to extra blankets to keep us warmer, but I barely got any sleep. Used the aircon unit to warm the room up at least three times during the night.

Breakfasted (just the two of us) in the restaurant and decided to try to walk to a local attraction called Lake Thetis. Details at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Thetis. This is interesting because of the presence of stromatolites, again explained in the above article.

However, it became apparent that it was going to be too ambitious as it was hot, windy and fly-ridden. We gave up, returned to the resort and drove there.

Once there, pictures were taken (of course) as we perambulated around the lake. 

We then drove down to a viewpoint at Hansen Bay. This was beautiful:

Then off to the Pinnacles Desert, which is what this area is probably best known for, in the middle of the evocatively named Nambung National Park. Having paid our A$13 dues again (no mention of old fart’s cards this time), we took a drive around.

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much, but this is a weird and fascinating place.

Nobody really knows how these limestone pinnacles actually formed, but the consensus of expert opinion puts them as relatively recent geological phenomena. There are over 150,000 of them. A visitor centre provided some well-crafted information about the whole region. Good old Wikipedia comes up trumps again:

We also saw a small parrot called a pink and grey galah:

From here, we returned to the resort via a couple of nice beach viewpoints to sample a well-earned beer at a bar in this tiny town.

Why is it called Cervantes? It was named after a ship called Cervantes that was wrecked nearby. This ship was itself named after Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote, and all the streets are named after Spanish towns or areas.

Dinner tonight in the resort again (not many options here and it was very nice again).

A short drive back to Perth tomorrow awaits.