Jurien Bay

We arrived in Jurien Bay on Friday and decided to stay here for 4 nights. The weather is cooler down here but the wind doesn't seem to be as strong as it was in Geraldton. On the way here we stopped at a couple of nice spots. One was called Big Freshwater Point and it looked as if it is used as a refuelling point for the crayfish boats as there was a big marine refuelling tank right on the beach. The rocks were alive with roosting cormorants.

There are fishermans shacks on the beach for about 40km along the coast.

Jurien Bay is a very pretty place. There is a wonderful brick wall surrounded by wildflowers which welcomes you to the town.

 Like most seaside towns in this area it has a large crayfish fishing fleet which operates from November until May. It also has a lot of Perth people who come here for weekends as it is only 220km from Perth.

The next day, Saturday, we headed back out of Jurien Bay and went north to a village called Greenhead just to have a look around. On the way into Greenhead we turned off towards Milligan Island, but before we got there we followed a sign to Point Louise Lookout. It was very pretty with views looking over a bay towards Greenhead.

Next stop was a bay called Billy Goat Bay where we watched a large flock of crested terns fighting over rock space.

Then we finally fund Milligans Island. It was very close to the shore and looked as if it was a nesting spot for sea birds.

Then we drove out to a scenic lookout (no name) and took some more pictures.

The west coast certainly has a spectacular coastline. Lovely white sand beaches and beautiful turquoise water.

We finally got to Greenhead which is really a small fishing village with lots of holiday homes and a small crayfish fleet.

After leaving we stopped at another lookout, Grigsons Lookout, which gave a much better view of the whole area.

The next day, Sunday we decided to go to Cervantes and then down to The Pinnacles, then cut back inland and up the Brand Highway and back across to Jurien Bay again.
On the way to Cervantes we stopped at Molar Hill Lookout which looks out over the coast between Jurien Bay and Cervantes.

We then went into Cervantes which is another small fishing village with a lot of huge WA mansions on the outskirts. I reckon some might be holiday homes. They are pretty big.
We went to yet another lookout, this one called Hansen Bay Lookout. We had to climb a fair few steps but the view from the top was worth it.

Looking back down to the truck from Hansens Lookout

Next stop, The Nambung National Park and The Pinnacles. First we walked up to a viewing area which looked out over part of the Pinnacles and then we drove around the Park. It is only 4km but it took us well over an hour. The Pinnacles are limestone pillars which were created from ancient shells. Over the years natural processes have combined to remove surrounding material to result in the limestone pinnacles jutting out of the sand. They range in size from a few centimetres up to over 3 metres high. They look like an ancient village. Parts look like Stonehenge and tombstones.

Ray thought this pinnacle looked like a ghost



This looked like Pinnacle headstones


Then we drove inland to a place called Badgingarra, saw some more wildflowers and drove back to Jurien Bay.

Acorn Banksia

We are having a quiet day today, Monday, and are heading south to Ledge Point tomorrow. Ledge Point is only about 130km north of Perth. We will be in Perth on Thursday.