As I write this on Tuesday morning sitting in the Crow's Nest watching the Seattle Seahawks - Buffalo Bills Monday night football game, Seattle just scored to tie the game in the early going.
After docking in Fremantle around 8am, we met up with Dan & Barbara and Ann and John in the 6th floor atrium. Dan had organized a Tours By Locals shore excursion and I thought it was going to be a walking tour of Fremantle. But I was wrong and it turned out to be a full excursion in a nice VW van with eventual goal of visiting the Pinnacles which were some 200 plus kilometers or 120 miles away! Sergio, our driver and guide, met us promptly at 9am and we headed out with a scenic tour of Fremantle and Perth.
Eventually we ended up in the Swan Valley which is noted for its vineyards. We stopped at the Sandalford Wines vineyard and tasting room where we sampled a wide variety of their wines and settled on a sweet wine similar to the Muscato we have been enjoying on the Maasdam. Sandalford is a major venue for outdoor concerts the like of Santana or Harry Connick, Jr. or Michael Buble. From there we drove up the road to the Whistler's Chocolates Company where there was more sampling. I even bought some licorice. Just a bit further down the road, we stopped at Morish Nuts, and unfortunately the Mondo Nougat candy store was closed. Sergio told us we could see some kangaroos in the wild for free. We found them at the Pinaroo Valley Memorial Park which is a picturesque cemetery. There were several mother-joey pairs and they were cute to see once again in the wild. From there we headed towards Cervantes. We passed through 3 national parks and Ed saw our first Kangaroo and Emu roadkills.
We arrived in Cervantes at 3:30 at the Cervantes Bar and Grill where we enjoyed a terrific lunch. Cervantes was named after a shipwrecked American whaling ship from the mid 1800's. However, there is a cool sculpture outside of town that features Pancho, Don Xiote, and a replica of the ship. These items are all mounted on a tall pole as a weathervane. After lunch we backtracked about 6 miles to the Pinnacles which are located in the Nambung National Park.
The Pinnacles are a group of limestone rock formations that are each roughly 10 feet tall or shorter. The sheer number of them is very impressive. Afterwards we then drove back the 200 plus kilometers and arrived back at the ship at 8:30pm. Sergio drove us by his house near the port and our long but wonderful day was over. The Maasdam was brilliantly lit up and we were able to clear security and board the ship with our bottle of wine with no corkage charge.
We dropped our traveling gear off and went to the theatre to watch the movie, Tracks, about a gal who walked across Australia in the 1970's. we then ended the day with an 11pm pork satay very late dinner in the Lido.
Remember that while the destination is important, savor the journey.
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