Day 18: 11th Sept 2014

We’d come across the native Ring Necked Parrots back in Perth, and again at Yallingup, but the locals here were very cheeky and friendly, mobbing anyone offering them food, much like the Rainbow Lorikeets at Currumbin Qld. Laura had some apple that she’d cut up hoping to coax one onto her arm to feed, but it didn’t take long before four of them were perched on her head, arms and shoulders.

Later in the morning we drove out to the Yeagarup Sand Dunes. There’s an easy 4wd track that has to be negotiated before hitting the dunes, which we’re told are the largest land-locked dunes in the Southern Hemisphere. After letting the tyre pressures down to the recommended 15p.s.i. , Laura didn’t hesitate when I asked if she wanted to drive to the dunes. She giggled like a school girl as we accelerated up and onto the sand, squirming and drifting all the way until we hit the firmer sand up on top.

There are white posts marking the areas to stick to and the path across the dunes is about 3kms long at this point, exiting the southern side onto another track that meandered through the bush. Eventually, the track ended at the base of a large sand hill, at which point I exited the Prado so that I could climb to the top and see what was on the other side before we committed to barrelling up and over.

The view from the top was spectacular and I took the opportunity to fire up the video camera to capture some footage of the vehicles cresting the dune and driving down the long, steep slope on the seaward side.  

As none of us were aware of the tide times, it was decided not to continue further to drive onto the beach. I took over driving and turned us back the way we’d come. It was quite a thrill gunning the Prado to get the momentum to climb up the slope and break out over the top whilst Dave and Laura snapped the action from the other side.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We made our way back to the start of the dune track where we stopped for some lunch at the sheltered picnic area and took the opportunity to inflate our tyre pressures back up normal.

After airing up again we moved on to the 12-kilometre Heartbreak Trail that winds down into the Warren River Valley. There are some great bush camping sites along the river, nestled in amongst the big karri trees, but unfortunately due to some steep declines, caravans are banned. Oh well, maybe another time when we’ve got the tent.