Flying kangaroos.

In the Merry Old Land of OZ
Western Australia, Day 4
Sunday, August 31

On Sunday, after packing up and checking out of the hotel, we headed for Nambung National Park, a short drive from Cervantes and the real reason for coming up north for the weekend. Nambung is home to The Pinnacles – a patch of dessert where bits of hard limestone jut up out of the ground like thousands of bony fingers. The Pinnacles promo brochure describes it as such: “Rising mysteriously from the dune sands are thousands of limestone pillars, a landscape in eerie contrast to the surrounding heath.” I find it quite melodramatic myself, but I suppose it works.

The narrow, winding road leading into Nambung was rife with signs warning drivers to watch out for kangaroos and emu. Lindy said the last time they’d been up this way, Hannah had spotted a group of kangaroos hopping through the bush. She had just wondered aloud if we’d see any this time around when, what else bounded onto the road directly in front of us but a little brown kangaroo! Uncle Jerry slammed on the break, but it wasn’t fast enough. The kangaroo made contact with the side of the hood, and went flying at least two meters into the air.

I can say I saw a very rare breed of kangaroo while in Australia – the kind that fies.

The kangaroo, after its short flight, hopped off again. I’m going to tell myself that that means it was okay. End of story.

The Pinnacles area consists of a few hiking tracks, and one lone one-way dirt road that makes a 4 kilometer loop through the park. We took the loop.

We stopped multiple times along the drive, clambering out of the (now slightly dented) car to roam around the strange rock formations. It’s hard to explain in words, but it really is quite a sight. The color contrasts – the yellow-orange sand and white pillars were set on a backdrop of blue-gray clouds – were what struck me the most. There’s not much green in that place, but, for once, I didn’t really mind.

Aedan was in his glory, having both sand AND rocks at his disposal. Even though we were told not to touch or climb on any of the Pinnacles, Aedan chose not to heed this rule. I guess I can’t blame him though – if I were 21 months old, incapable of speech and harboring a slight rock fetish, I would have been all over those things, too.

We spent roughly an hour in the park, padding through the packed sand, me taking a good number of photos along the way. It was strange, though, because I was the only true tourist in the group. Jerry and Lindy hadn’t even brought a camera since they’d been to see the Pinnacles before. But it was too good a sight to resist, and I had already resigned myself to be the camera-toting American in the group.

On the drive out of Nambung, we saw some wild emu alongside the road. It was quite surreal to see the big feathery things lumbering along without any fences to hem them in. Don’t worry though – we didn’t hit any!

We stopped at Hangover Bay briefly. It was yet another beautiful, secluded white-sand beach. I have a feeling Australia boasts a whole lot of those. I told Uncle Jerry that I didn’t think I’d been to so many beaches in one week in my entire life. But I wasn’t really complaining.

We drove out to Jurion Bay for a lunch of fish and chips (and yet another beach) before turning the car back in the direction of Perth. The ride home was slightly taxing, as Aedan had already had his nap for the day. He cried for about the last hour, and I have to admit that I eventually tried to drown him out with my iPod. It’s not that I didn’t like the little guy; I just don’t do well with little screaming children.

Arriving back in Fremantle around dinnertime, we headed for Clancy’s Fish Pub, a Sunday evening favorite for all the local families. Clancy’s has a huge enclosed yard at its rear, where all the kids run around and play together, giving their parents a break. Aedan and Hannah did just this.

Lindy and Jerry’s friend David met us for dinner, as did Hannah’s friend Finn and his mom Sarah. We had a nice dinner and conversation, everyone taking turns keeping an eye on Aedan. David is especially fond of both Aedan and Hannah, and was really talented at keeping them amused.

After our adventurous day, I don’t think I’d be alone in saying that I was relieved to crawl into bed that evening.