A Day at the Dunes.

Another touristy day. Another place to cross off on the been-there done-that list of Western Australia. This day's off excursion required a bit more effort to get to than some of the sites around Perth. The small fishing town of Lancelin, known for its sand dunes, is located about an hour and a half north of Perth along the coast. I'm not really sure why these two kilometres of sand dunes have been left untouched; they look like they appear out of nowhere according to Google Earth, but they offer tremendous amount of fun for anyone who has a motor bike, a 4WD, a dune buggy, a board, or even a box. At first, we didn't have any of the aforementioned, but we took our shoes off and climbed up the path dug into the sand dune by previous visitors. Huffing and puffing, more likely! Falling over in a heap of laughter at the ridiculousness only proved to be a brief excuse for a break. I could tell immediately I wouldn't be sliding down too many times to have to make the trek back up again.

There are some quite amusing Profile Pic-worthy photos of me climbing up the sand-cascading 45 degree hill, but luckily, they have been temporarily "captured' within an old phone which has since changed service providers.

Looking up

Looking down

When we reached the top and caught our breath, we had surrounding views of the afternoon gleaming upon the Indian Ocean in front of us ....

....and the criss-crossed tire tracks painting endless paths of adventure across the sand dunes behind us. 

The sand was flour-y soft yet surprisingly cold. It was "nice" to enjoy the view of the slowing dipping sun, but it was can we say, to no offence to each other, a bit boring. We watched the other motors rage across the sand leaving billows of dust in their wake and families and visitors of all ages scream as they slid and tumbled down the dunes. We longed to borrow a board, just for the sneer of it, as we couldn't very well justify traveling all that way not to experience Lancelin to it's fullest. And we knew very well that despite what we might say, that we most likely would not be back here again. 

After all, Google Images promised us this: 

...and this...

(Actually, there was a guy who would do a running front-flip feet-first onto his board, which usually ended up with him on his face, still on the top of the sand dune, board slowly slithering down without him.)

But instead, without any board, we got this:

Bahahahhahah

The cheapest, most innocent fun, ever. 

Ok, it got better with a board:

Looking back on it, there really should have been no question as to whether or not we should rent a board. Luckily, we decided to drive back into town and take advantage of our Lancelin trip before the winter sun and it's daytime warmth left for the night. Unfortunately, there were no rental boards to be found in the small town, so Ted decided it was worth it to buy one. I'm not sure if buying a board was the best investment, but it definitely made the day.

LOOK AT THAT FALL!!!! i mean, wait for it. wait for it. LOOK AT THAT SPEED!

Even though it may have seemed boring at first, with a rating only slightly higher than the aquarium, after we got a board, the rating rose to receive such reviews as "would come again," and "would definitely recommend it to my friends." So, if you do end up at the sand dunes in Lancelin, don't forget a board (I'm not sure how those ambitious youngsters with cardboard boxes and plastic bags panned out) and don't forget that you will, most definitely, have sand absolutely everywhere. And you will still find it most likely after you shower and even the next day. I said everywhere, right?