Saturday 12 August 2017

The turquoise coast

In the tourist brochures it's called the Turquoise Coast but it was grey when we visited. The weather was a bit ordinary for tourists but this year in the west has been very dry so the farmers are happy and raintanks will fill up.

The first coastal town we visited was Leeman. It has an attractive harbour with a small offshore island. that provide shelter for terns and cormorants. Because of recent storms the beach (and the pier) was covered in seaweed and we watched four pied oystercatchers fossicking for their lunch while we ate our lunch. I was also delighted to see an osprey nest on a tall pole nearby (complete with bird) and there appears to be manmade wire frame supporting the nest.

Oystercatchers feeding on the storm-washed beach at Leeman

Osprey nest, Leeman

Osprey on nest
We moved on further south to Green Head. It too promised white sandy beaches but the storms had washed up piles of seaweed and the wind was blowing strongly when we were there so we didn't do the Three Bays Walkway that looked interesting. Maybe I'm getting soft. Or older. Or lazy.

Green Head

Green Head
On to Jurien Bay. On a good day we might have been tempted by one of the walks along the coast or a boat trip to see the resident Sea Lions but not this time.

Cervantes is a lovely little town with a very pricey caravan park (that we didn't stay in), pricey because it's a base to see the Pinnacles Desert just to the south. We had intended going to the Pinnacles because we'd been there before and it is an amazing park that we would have liked to see again but it was raining buckets so we went to Lake Thetis instead. There's a walkway there and information boards about the thrombolites and stromatolites in the lake.

Stomatolites, Lake Thetis
The boardwalk at Lake Thetis, Cervantes

Resident insect, Lake Thetis


* It's been drawn to my attention that the comment box at the end of each blogpost does not appear if you access the blog from an email notification. To find the comment tab you'll need to click on the individual post header to refresh the link and then it will appear. I think. I welcome comments.
** You can click on each image to see a larger version.

2 comments:

macmsue said...

You were right about the comment box not appearing. I've enjoyed your posts before but not been able to let you know. Because of car problems we spent a while at Cervantes and Jurien Bay in 2011. When we were at Jurien Bay our camper ended up with a paddling pool at one end because of a terrible storm. Your posts are bringing back memories for me.

bottletree said...

I was just 'rambling' through your posts (I've only just learnt how to access them!!!!!) and realised that I could go to Western Australia to relive the amazing spectacle that I witnessed in dear old Geelong yesterday.The sea was an unbelievably beautiful turquoise - intensely so at the horizon shading to a paler version at the beach. This was beautifully contrasted by a very dark grey/mauve sky. Loving your photos and hearing about your experiences too!!!
19.8.17