Our First stop is the Pinnacles Desert!

Now the Desert covers 190 hectares, 60 meters above sea level, and contain thousands of limestone pinnacles, some up to 5 meters high. The Tamala limestones are a result of wind blown carbonate produced by the combination of wind, rain and cementing agent of calcium. All in all they are pretty spectacular and strange, they just keep going and going!Apparently the Pinnacles are best seen as the sun is rising or setting but we still have a bit of driving ahead of us so we don't Stick around as long as we would probably like and head for Kalbarri.

After a good night sleep and a big drive the day before we are ready to hit the dirt and go do some exploring. Situated in Kalbarri National Park, Natures window is a natural arch carved out of the red rock, perfectly framing the view of the Murchison River, followed by a 8k loop trail around the gorge. So off we go!

We must have been really enjoying ourselves because somehow along the path we took a bit of a detour, and quite a dangerous one at that. All of the sudden things started getting a bit tougher and we were climbing out on the ledges that did not feel quite so safe, but once we stared climbing on our hands and knees through tiny ledges over the River something just didn't seem right. I had just finished telling cam that i was surprised they didn't make us sign something before we started the hike and thinking we may have to turn back when all of the sudden we heard children's voices above us……ON THE PATH! Yes we had made our own adventure path that only a couple of nut jobs would do! Thankfully we survived with only a rather large bump on my head and a bit of nervous giggling! As you can imagine there are no photos from that part of our trek as we were to busy clinging to the rocks for dear life! After our big day we were ready for a shower and a good stiff drink! Tonight we had a couple good reasons for a wine or two… Bob and Denise were coming! The perfect end to the day!

Ok so i forgot a few things we did see in Kalbarri and Hutt River Province was one of them and this place is seriously….umm different! It was founded in 1970 by a farmer who was in a long running dispute with the government of Western Australia over the wheat quota. Eventually Casley resorted to a treason law from 1495 which allowed him to seceed and declare independence from the commonwealth of Australia. With this new success he decided to style himself as His Royal Highness Prince Leonard of Hutt. With his wife Princess Shirley there son Prince Ian and there 6 other children. Now really this man was quite smart to do what he did but talk about taking it to the extreme! Hutt river has its own currency, stamps, post office, Church and Passports. Despite it all Prince Leonard was the only person we saw in the Hutt River during our visit. Sadly princess Shirley had passed away a few years ago leaving Prince Leonard to run the show on his own. It was definitely worth going out for a look and quite a unique place with a very interesting and quirky Prince who doesn't ever have to pay taxes! Good on him!