Cervantes

My first stop on the west coast was Cervantes. Mmmh, you may say, this name rings a Spanish bell! It does indeed, my friends. No, Don Quixote didn't build windmills in Western Australia. Actually, a ship ran aground on this stretch of the Aussie coast a long time ago and it happened to be called "Cervantes". So the locals agreed that the town would take the name of the unlucky boat. But they went a little bit further and gave Spanish names to the streets too. So there's Seville Road, Leon Street etc... Funny people, these Western Australians.


In Cervantes, I discovered the west coast: pristine beaches, turquoise sea, emptiness.

In Cervantes, I witnessed my first sunset on the west coast, thus on the sea. It was simply magnificent...

I also went to see the stromatolites. Stromatolites are the first form of life that ever existed on earth. The ones in Cervantes, around Lake Thetis, are "only" 2000 years old, but those in Shark Bay (near Denham and Monkey Mia) are millions of years old. It felt strange to be facing the origin of life. Stromatolites increased the level of oxygen on the planet to such a level that other forms of life could exist. Think about it for a second. We're all here thanks to these non-descript creatures. Living stromatolites can only be found in a few spots around the planet. The Australian west coast is one of them, lucky me. For more info, read the final chapter of Bill Bryson's book Down Under, he gives a great explanation of how it all happened.