The Pinnacles

Only about 2.5 hours north drive of Perth, I had yet to experience this attraction that so many visit my home state for.

As most of my family had a few days off around the festive season we decided to spend a day driving up to Jurien Bay, via Cervantes and Lancelin, making a stop into the famed Pinnacle desert.

Essentially a lot of sporadically placed and shaped rocks, the national park is quite interesting to behold in person.

You can choose to walk around it or drive through, as we did. This can be a good way to go since it is often either extremely hot, windy or both here.

Having never road tripped north (only south of Perth), I was immediately impressed by the scenery I witnessed while I drove.

To the left was the beautiful Indian Ocean, and to the right at periods would be massive pure white sand dunes that appeared out of nowhere. They actually look like they could almost be snow covered mountains from a far – not something you’d expect in Western Australia, that’s for sure.

Despite most of our day trip spent on the road, we had a fantastic time with a picnic lunch up at Jurien Bay. It was a little chilly due to some heavy winds but on a perfect day this section of the coast would be wonderful to swim around in.

Jurien Bay is also well known for its sky dive centre, which is something else the adventurous folk can do here.

While there are surely many day trips available from Perth to The Pinnacles, driving yourself is a great option too. Entry fee is $12 for the car, meaning you can split the cost amongst passengers. Self drive allows you the opportunity to stop off in a couple towns or photo spots here and there too, should you wish.

Carcassonne

The highlight of this area in France is certainly the UNESCO heritage listed Cité de Carcassonne fortress.

Its outer walls extend around for more than 1000 metres making it a pretty impressive site!

The best way to get an appreciation of how well protected this fortress was made is by walking the perimeter and then later appreciating its size from a far too.

After seeing the inside the Gothic styled Basilica of Saint-Nazaire, I rather just enjoyed my time here meandering through the small streets taking in the charming exteriors.

Since pre-Roman times a settlement has existed at the site estimated from around 6th century BC.

From the 13th century the town has had more of the fortified appearance we see today although its undergone various restorations since then of course particularly by Viollet-le-Duc, a French architect well known for his restorations of medieval and Gothic buildings.

There’s many stores inside the fortress catering for tourism and most enticing were the works of art made from sugar and chocolate goodness.

I instead opted for a good old fashioned crepe stop for my afternoon fix (which I might’ve done almost every day for two weeks, but who’s counting right).

Although the fortress may be what Carcassonne is best recognised for, this part of the country also makes fantastic wine so definitely try a glass while you’re here!

After exploring Carcassonne for the better part of the day my group checked into our beautiful WW1 era hotel called Hotel du Soleil Le Terminus.

Apparently it was once a theatre and although it’s a little worn it’s easy to see the grandeur which it once held. There’s also a modern pool and spa area worth taking advantage.

The hotel lobby

My room actually had a view of the Carcassonne fortress too! It wasn’t exactly close by as you can see, but that little area centre left in the picture means it’s still in sight and pretty easy to get to via public transport.

The hotel was also a very short walk to the main part of town with plenty of options for dining and shopping available.

A macaron break in old town Carcassonne

Dublin

I’m not too sure what it says about me when 90% of my photos from Dublin are actually of the Guinness Storehouse..

View from the top of Guinness Storehouse

However, having never tried the brew before it was definitely a must do while in the city it was created and it turned out to be a great experience!

My group went on a tour of the Storehouse, which is extremely state of the art.

There’s information on Guinness’ history and how it’s made but the real treat is a little class you can take on the ‘proper’ way to drink it.

Learning how to pour the perfect pint

Afterwards you have the chance to be your own bartender and learn the art of pouring one too.

The best part is of course drinking your efforts, which my group opted to enjoy from the top level of the Storehouse where you’ll find some fantastic views of Dublin.

Many people don’t like Guinness since it’s a pretty thick beverage but I rather enjoyed it. I since tried one back in Australia and I do have to agree with the general sentiment that it tastes much better in Ireland!

Moving on from my surprising appreciation for Guinness, another highlight of my couple days in Dublin was the Belvedere Hotel’s Irish Night.

As we were staying at the Belvedere it wasn’t much of an effort to attend but while I had prepared myself for a bitterly over touristy event it was actually very well done.

A couple friends participating in Irish Night

While there was of course traditional dancing, my favourite part was the focus on Irish folk songs which the band did a great job of delivering.

There was a decent amount of audience participation too and watching your friends attempt to Irish dance makes for quality entertainment.

After Irish Night we continued the evening festivities at Temple Bar, which is the name given to the major night life area in town but also an actual bar.

This part of Dublin after dark has a great atmosphere as you hear live music drifting out of many establishments when you walk past.

It is heavily catered to tourists though so expect the prices for drinks to be high, around 10 euro for a standard spirit and mixer.

Temple Bar itself was probably the worst culprit but it is a rather cool place, I’ll give it that.

Having mentioned Temple’s name so much, it’s only fitting Trinity College gets a shout out right afterwards as he was heavily involved with the university.

Today you can check out the grounds yourself and have a look at their impressive library, one of the most well known and admired in the world.

As the temperature was dropping at this point in my travels I headed to Grafton Street in search of Penney’s (the Primark of Ireland) to score some budget friendly warm clothing.

Buildings from a walk around Dublin

The major shopping street of town is charming and there was some fresh fruit and veggie stalls on one of its side streets. The buildings are rather pleasant to look at and a stroll down here was certainly a good decision.

I didn’t make it to St. Stephen’s Green but a friend of mine did and said it was a beautiful park so if the weather agrees this would also be a cool place to check out for a relaxing afternoon!

O’Connell Street Monument

Dublin felt like a laid back capital city and while my first impression of it was that it was rather grey (probably not helped by the weather), there’s definitely some interesting sites to discover under its surface.