Around Oz the First Time - Chapter 71 - Geraldton to Perth

The phone has been sitting in a rice bowl all night, in an attempt to dry it out, but to no avail, the error suggesting the phone dock is wet and will not charge. Robyn’s phone though, has charged using the same charger, so the issue seems to be with my phone. We will have to be careful with the usage today, so we, when we get to Perth, will still have some charge when we take it to be repaired.

First point of order is to return the charger we purchased last night, as it does not have the right end to it. Back to Woolworths, there is a mobile phone, pop up shop in the foyer of the supermarket which might be able to help. Unfortunately, the proprietors are not on site when we arrive and one of the adjacent shop assistants suggest they do not tend to arrive early.

The others were not ready to leave when we headed out and we will catch up with them out on the road, after Forbsy fills up, and we finish our business.

Woolworths have no issue with the return, as we have not destroyed the box at all, given I was very careful when I opened it. Once this is done, we now need to find a fuel stop. The Caltex, near to the Woolworths is a tight fit, and because the tanker is on, this is not an option for us, so we look for an alternative. Robyn sources a service station close and we head towards it.

As we finalise the filling the phone rings, with Silver Leader telling us of a change in plans. We will now meet further out of town. It’s a bit frustrating because we had already started to head to the original meeting point. No worries we will just follow the GPS and we will run into them eventually.

Once there, we fill once a pump on our side of the Cruiser is vacated. The pump is slow compared to the Hi Flow pumps we are used to so far on the trip, when we have used truck stops.

Today is lobster day. Everything is centred around the Lobster Shack at Cervantes. Firstly, it is about halfway, and secondly the Lobster Shack has a huge reputation for the food they serve. It has been on our list right from the start.

The traffic is the heaviest we have encountered on the trip so far, and the weather the worst. There are dark looking clouds in our path, and there is a threat of rain in Perth today, which is our final destination. The Lobster Shack is a little over 200 kilometres from Geraldton and then about the same to Perth.

We continue along the wheat belt, as we did yesterday. The crops are still poor but some are green, and then there are bales of hay from time to time, where crops have been converted to fodder, rather than stripped for grain.

With the traffic on the road and the winding of it, passing is a little difficult. We help as many as we can to get past us, but many hold back, either not knowing the protocols of the road, or simply not trusting what we are trying to do. At one-point Silver Leader, pulls out to overtake a slower caravaner. The vehicle behind thinks he is letting him by and starts to change lanes as well. Once he works out Silver Leader is going himself, he takes his place behind the slower van.

Silver Leader has misjudged the distance and the time he has available and gets into all sorts of trouble, almost colliding with the oncoming vehicle. Thankfully all finishes rights, but the oncoming vehicle is well and truly off the road, and the slow van has hit the anchors to make space, nearly having the other vehicle run into him. Like I said, all finished happily but I bet some heart beats may well have been racing while it unfolded.

Finally, we get to the Lobster Shack. The designated parking for “long” vehicles is full of cars and utes (thankyou very much), and we need to find another area to pull up with the vans. Forbsy has found a suitable place near the jetty, with space for three vans side by side, which is only a short walk to the Shack. Its lovely and pleasant in the sun, but a jumper might be the go, but we go against that thought.

I suppose with a name like the Lobster Shack, you don’t expect the most salubrious of establishments and this is an “adventure”. Having said that, a “shack” might not be any more than what is here. It seems to be a little more than a shanty attached to a co-op, but except for the prices. Being lobster oriented the prices are significantly more than what a “fish and chips” shop would have on offer.

The lobster platter is $100, coming with an “A” sized lobster, which at Seal Rocks we would have to throw back as being too small, but you can upgrade to an “F” size lobster for a miserly $120. The F size lobster is about an average Seal Rocks sized lobster. The platter has 2 pieces of fish and some lovely pepper calamari and chips with salad.

Robyn jokes if she is still hungry at the end of the platter, she might just have another half. Forbsy has a garlic version of the lobster and we sit, eat and enjoy the view. I exchange pictures with a friend on tour in Italy, my lobster pictures versus his Sistine Chapel, hmmm, a Shack against an artefact of historical and cultural significance. Both meaning much to those who took the pictures.

Lunch done, I leave the others to go and call the Missing link, to see how he is going. They all arrive back as the call is completed. Now its time to check out the Pinnacles.

I saw the sign in the Lobster Shack directing people to the Pinnacles, but I have no idea what or where they are. I plug it into the GPS and find it is only about 20 kilometres away and on the left of the road, not the right or the ocean side. A short drive and we head off the highway onto another road. 

This is a national park and it will cost us to attend. The normal cost is $15, and as we pay we are told we will have to unhitch at least one van if we want to drive around. Silver Leader thinks he is going to walk, but he is “dreaming” to paraphrase the Corrigan’s. The easiest van to unhitch is ours, and this we do momentarily. 

The weather is closing in, but we will be OK. The road immediately becomes hard sand. The Pinnacles are rocks sticking out of the sand up to four metres. They appear to be sandstone and according to the paperwork “grow”. I think more like the sand erodes away leaving the rocks sticking up, as there are pox of sand blasted holes in the rocks.

The first car stop is full of cars, their occupants walking amongst the rocks. Some are taking photos of others who have climbed up them, which is expressly forbidden according to the signs around the place. Not only can some people not read but cannot interpret pictures either. We wont discuss the fact most of the people here are of Asian descent.

We leave them and drive on. There is a fork in the road, we can continue on the loop or we can head on the “Northern Spur”. The coin falls in favour of the Northern Spur and we continue into the desert. At the end of the road we stop and alight to investigate the whole effect. The sand is hard but still soft enough to be comfortable. The dunes are very difficult to climb, but I manage to get a fair way up and slide down on my backside to the hysterical joy of the crowd. So much so I am up further the second attempt and there are videos of the slide down.

At the end of that I am buggered and fall back on the sand, almost performing an angel in the sand. I am out of breath and Robyn is laughing about my antics.

Once I get my breath back, I am looking around for set shots to take. I get Robyn to take a shot of me looking over a “V” in a rock and then, the maniac in me takes over. I summon Forbsy across to lay down behind a rather phallic looking one, in the appropriate place to make it look pornographic. Later Forbsy makes sure I am not going to post such a shot on Facebook, which I wont, in deference to his wishes.

Everyone back in the Cruiser he retrack back to the fork where the coin was tossed and continue on the loop. Its about 5 kilometres all the way around and there are lots of little parking areas, where you can get out and investigate. But now it has started to rain, the temperature has dropped from 25 degrees to 18 in an instant and there is a wind propelling the water in one side of the Cruiser. There is no fear of getting bogged, the sand seem quite porous and bright yellow.

On return to the parking area we recouple the van, in the rain, and head out back on our original track. The traffic has not subsided at all, and at one stage there is a long queue of vehicles behind us, including several with boats, which need to travel the same speed as us, making those at the end frustrated they cannot get around all the slower moving vehicles in front of them.

Rain continues for quite some time, then it stops, and the temperature rises marginally. The closer we get to Perth the warmer it gets. Into Perth and the GPS becomes useless as it does not recognise a freeway that, in all honesty, hasn’t been recently built. This is one of the few disappointments of this vehicle that the GPS is not as current as perhaps it should.

When we get to the van park, we have arrived the same time as others, meaning I have the tail o the van still on the street. Traffic has to slow and manoeuvre around me until a van further up has completed check in and moved. No one seems too worried about it, the traffic goes around OK. Some cars coming into the park are able to go around and negotiate the book gate without impediment, so all is OK.

Check in is quick and we are told someone will be in the area near the lake to assist us in selecting our spot and getting us set. At this spot we see three adjacent sites and stick ourselves in them. They are tight again and I don’t worry too much about being able to deploy the awning, finishing in the middle of the concrete site.

Not long after we are set in, another van owner comes up and introduces himself and is another JB Caravan owner. They have a Dirt Roader Triple Bunk and evidently haven’t been far from us in recent times. His descriptions of what they did around places like El Questro give us ideas of what we might attempt to do when we return.

Forbsy suggests he has an interim solution for my phone. The vehicle charger he has, also has a lay on charging point for phones. This works, as long as the phone does not has its cover to stop the signal.

The rain comes back. The sound on the roof might just make for a pleasant sleep. Tomorrow we are all splitting up and doing our own thing. We have friends from Smiths Lake here we would like to catch up with as well as sorting out the issues with the phone, so we have plenty to do.