Yanchep National Park is just 40 minutes from where we are staying but arriving at this lovely place feels almost like you have driven hundreds of kilometres to the middle of Western Australia. The scenery has changed very dramatically from the urban to the bush. It was a little hard to get out of my snug bed this morning with the temperature dipping to just six degrees but we had a tour booked for 10am so we had to keep moving.
After a light breakfast we hit the highway and once again commented on how well the traffic flows throughout Perth with lots of freeways and easy exits. Once we were on Highway 2 we followed it until we reached the West Coast Drive that we are by now very familiar with. It was only a few kilometres along the drive before we arrived at the turnoff to Yanchep National Park.
We drove straight to the information centre to pick up a map of the various walks throughout the park and also to check in for our tour of Crystal Caves. Of course I had booked in for the wrong day - tomorrow - but the kind lady at the information centre quickly rectified my mistake and directed us to the road that leads us to Crystal Caves.
You may recall that we visited Cuta Cuta Caves in Katherine way back in April and we loved the experience so we were expecting the same. Wrong. Although both caves have Stalactites and Stalagmites that is where the difference ends. Cuta Cuta Caves are a lot more natural with a single return walk to a depth of 15 metres, whereas Crystal Caves are deeper at 18 metres (and a lot less humid) and the walk takes us in a big loop through the cave. I loved it. In fact I love caves fullstop. I find them fascinating and the length of time that it takes to form the stalagmites and stalactites is simply mind blowing and hard for me to fathom. Our tour guide was very interesting and the kids on the tour just loved the way he had a description for the different shapes. "Can you see the Quoll" or "Can you see the Octopus" or "Can you see the Nativity Scene". The adults seemed to enjoy it also. The tour took around 45 minutes and was fantastic.
After our cave tour we decided to leave the car where it was and walk a couple of the bush trails. Interestingly Yanchep National Park trails are all less than 5 km and if you cannot manage the 5 kilometres there are numerous carparks to stop at and enjoy much shorter walks. Our walk took us along a well defined but narrow path through bushland with loads of wildflowers and native shrubs that have become very familiar. It is also getting easier to spot the wildflowers now the we know what we are looking for.
Once we had completed the circuit it was time for lunch and the Yanchep Inn was our destination. What a great choice. This place is lovely and the food is delicious. I ordered the Duck Breast on a bed of Mushroom and Feta Risotto and Philip chose the Seafood Basket. He told me he had serious food envy! Can't say the same for his choice as my readers would know that I have great difficulty eating fried foods.
After this delicious meal we needed to walk off our food so we chose the 3 kilometre lake walk. It was a little disappointing as we only caught a glimpse of the lake that we circumnavigated. We understand from our cave tour guide that there has been a lack of rain at Yanchep that we found hard to believe, but looking at the level of the lake, it has to be believed.
After the lake circuit we walked through the Koala enclosure where we spotted three Koalas sleeping high up in the trees. Of course we know they are nocturnal but I would love to have seen one of them move just a little 😩.
It really was a lovely day and we both enjoyed getting out again into the "bush". We now have a much greater appreciation of National Parks and intend visiting a lot more of them over the coming years. We enjoy the bush walking that is never fast but rather taking our time and really looking around at our truly wonderful surroundings.
No comments:
Post a Comment