Date 26th June - 30th June
Esperance, Western Australia
Weather - 7c to 17c & clear
Total Distance Travelled - 7,300 km
Staying 2 Nights, RAC CP, Castletown
So we came to an intersection - a rather important intersection. Whilst we were travelling everyone kept on telling us on our trip so far not to miss Esperance and Denmark, we had planned on going to Kalgoorlie. We had seen mines in Broken Hill so we decided to turn left and head for Esperance.
Up early Sunday morning, temperature was only 2C, and we farewelled Norseman. Not a highlight of the trip, but a struggling small town on the intersection of 2 major roads. The drive to Esperance was just over 2 hours, not much to see on the way. We set up camp at RAC caravan park, Castletown. Not brand new, but taken over & re-vamped about 6 months ago - amazing camp kitchen & rec. room.
Armed with a local guide map, we decided to do the "Great Ocean Drive" and visit some of the beaches & other features. First stop was West Beach, followed by Blue Haven & Twilight Cove.
We drove to the Pink Lake, but it has faded over recent years, so not so pink anymore.
Drove to the local Lucky Bay Brewery, where we sampled the local amber liquid. Went back to RAC CP & watched the NRL SOO game 2 on the big screen - first TV we have watched in 3 weeks, as didn't bring ours - joining fellow NewSouth Welshmen and Queenslanders (that didn't stay to the end - wonder why?).
Next day we headed for Lucky Bay in the Cape Le Grand National Park. Lucky Bay was named by Capain Matthew Flinders after his ship HMS Investigator took shelter in a storm in 1802. Michelle had been looking forward to this place, with its amazing white quartz sand, and crystal-clear turquoise water (So tempting to go in, but too cold at the moment)!
Top photo is by camera and bottom is obviously via drone. At first with the drone I thought I hadn't captured Lucky Bay that's why I did the camera shot, but this is actually showing the shape, islands and ocean out the back.
After a drive to Cape Le Grand itself (bit disappointing), we headed for Thistle Cove and Hellfire Bay, where Michelle had the drone up and we decided to go for a walk and have a picnic. This place is seriously eye-candy - just about every corner and coast has amazing scenery It would be a surfer's paradise if they didn't have Great White sharks in the water. Still it's a fantastic spot, can only imagine how busy it would be in summer for the adventures.
The top photo is Thistle Cove and Hellfire Bay below.
Denmark, Western Australia
Weather - 2c to 17c & overcast, few showers
Total Distance Travelled - 8,500 km (in less than 1 month 😳)
Staying 2 Nights, RAC CP, Castletown
Sadly we had to pack up after just 2 nights in Esperance, could have stayed a week (but is a bit cold still). Next port of call - we decided after talking to a fellow camper in Esperance - was Denmark, a lovely small, sleepy town in the South-West. It was a long-haul drive, about 550km or 6 hours to get there. Stopped on the highway next to the canola fields for lunch, drove past some "massive" farms, paddocks as far as you could see.
Our fellow residents at the park - kangaroos outnumber the guests at the CP we are staying at.
Next morning (Wednesday) was a chance to explore the local area. We started at a chocolate & port wine farm. Great way to start the day with a tasting paddle! Made some purchases.
We continued driving west to the "Valley of the Giants", where the famous Tingle Trees exist. These trees (the red tingle grows up to 80m tall) are a relic from Gondwanan times - similar trees existed 50 million years ago. These trees can live for up to 400-500 years.
We purchased tickets for the treetop walk, on lightweight bridge spans, up to a height of 40 metres. These spans sway slightly as you cross them, which Michelle was not too pleased about, but did pretty well.
Thursday we had a sleep-in, but were woken by cows in a nearby paddock🐄. Had a chill day, where we drove a short distance down to Elephant Rocks and Greens Pool (cue the drone). Apparently, the former was named due to its resemblance to a herd of elephants in the water. But can you see in two different photos the foot & the hand? The water was amazingly clear, as it is along this whole south-west coast of WA.
On the way back to Denmark, we stopped at Ducketts Mill Wines & Denmark Farmhouse Cheese, where we sampled some of their cheeses. Our favourite was the cumin-infused gouda, an unlikely pairing, which tasted fantastic. So we bought some for our travels.
Denmark has a beautiful river going through it - the water looks like black tea due to the tannins from the plants, but it gives the best reflections of the surrounding vegetation.
Just down from the road from the caravan park is a beach called appropriately Ocean Beach - a stunning beach and coast line with an inlet joining it. The roars from the surf can be heard clear as day in the camper-trailer at night, like it was crashing through the camper.
What a fantastic area of Western Australia and we have only seen a small part - which means next time we come here we have plenty more to see.
We decided to do an update of our map so far on where we have decided to stay (all the purple dots are actual stays). We haven't put all locations that we have visited, just stays - I don't think you would be able to read the map if we did!
The map (which is on the itinerary link) has changed a bit, as we are staying longer in places trying at least 2 to 3 days. We have also changed locations as mentioned above, so it will be interesting by the end how much it would have changed.
I can't believe it but we have almost driven with all the side trips 10,000km's and we have only just touched a small part of Australia. This photo is all too common for us, with high fuel consumption due to towing, and with the crazy diesel prices we are just ploughing along ignoring the cost - we can't change it, and we're having a fantastic time.
Well this part of WA has finished but we are off to Perth - see you there.
Cheers,
Mike & Michelle
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