WA - The Great South (Bremer Bay)

We didn't want to drive very far from Esperance so we covered about 80 klms to get us to the Stokes NP where we camped in the NP campground at Stokes Inlet

Lovely park with individual sites for people separated by trees and quite a reasonable distance. No power or water of course, but clean toilets and bins etc that made it a pleasure to stay there, along with the incredibly friendly and helpful camp hosts.

The first afternoon we took the 2.5 klm (each way) walk to the Inlet itself. A pleasant walk that went up across the escarpment top and allowed us to surprise a couple of 'roos along the way. We were glad that the weather has cooled off somewhat, but with sun beaming down and the track being built from decomposed white limestone we worked up a sweat anyway.

That afternoon I left Karen with her book and I drove back to the inlet with my fishing rod in hand. The only bait I had was a slice or two of bread, but I thought I would give it a go. The bread only attracted tiny fish, but as I have half of our food supplies in the car fridge/freezer I thought I'd have a look to see what I could find.

Hmmm - lamb stir fry strips. I wonder . . . . . .  Well, that was the key and (once defrosted) I was pulling in black bream virtually every cast. Only one was of a size worth taking, but I released it anyway. It was a lovely afternoon and the fact that I had to take a 4WD track out to the sand bar across the inlet to go fishing made it even more fun. It seems I have to do most of the 4WD stints alone as Karen gets all worried about damaging the (new) car and her constant worried words take all the fun out of it. 

Perhaps one day when the car is a bit older.

That late afternoon we had a storm blow through that dropped a huge amount of water in just a few seconds. In fact, the water that was dropped on the awning didn't even have time to drain off before we were looking at a completely collapsing awning. I ended up standing outside, holding the awning up myself so it wouldn't rip off the side of the 'van.

I love a sunburned country, but we certainly had a drop of the flooding rains that evening!

Oddly enough, we didn't take any photos that day, so nothing to show for it.

We drove on from the NP and headed towards Raventhorpe, calling into Fitzy's Bush Camp for a night. What a jewel of a place this is - a new venture run by some very friendly people who charge very little for a lovely place to stay.  They even have a resident emu (Milo) who struts about the place looking for someone to cadge food from.  

They have some expansion plans for the future and want to add a licensed bar to the lovely little BBQ spot. This turned out to be  place where we retreated to get away from the wind and where we met out neighbours - two caravans. 

One couple, Tom and Georgie were particularly engaging and may turn out to be long term friends once we finish travelling. We'll see, but we'll definitely keep in touch.

No photos of this place either!

On the afternoon we arrived there we decided to take a trip down into Hopetoun and see what that place looks like. A lovely little town and we checked out the port area and then (shock, horror) the Port Hotel where we had a pleasant little drink and checked out their collection of shark jaws and pictures of sharks that had been caught and landed there. Some of them were huge!

(pic of the pub from phone to be inserted)

After a pleasant night at Fitzy's we headed off to spend some time in the Fitzgerald NP and we drove  to the Hamersley Inlet camp site. 

This cost us just $10 per night, and the facilities were pretty damned good. All new and clean and working smoothly. 

We took a walk to the inlet itself and promised ourselves that we'd do the major walk across to the surf beach and along that to some rocky areas that sounded interesting, but before we went back for the night we thought we'd take a drive to Cave Point where we took in the view and watched a pod of dolphins with some of them (the young ones) leaping completely clear of the water. I love watching dolphins play like that!

These are the views when you first enter the NP.

As you walk out to Cave Point you get the following little bay on your right

Cave Point, so called because there is a cave right underneath the viewing platform, provides a stunning vista of coastline and the endless southern ocean.

We continued on to Miley's Beach and found that access to it was through a channel that the sea must sometimes flood. We ended up on a deserted beach with the wind in our hair and sun on our faces. 

Magic.

Once we returned to the camp site we found Tom and Georgie looking for a spot to stay as well and they pulled in next to us. It was a pleasant evening's conversation. What a shame they are heading east while we go west.

The next morning we found it was raining steadily so we abandoned our walk to the surf beach and  decided to leave. Tom and Georgie had left somewhat earlier than us so we trundled back towards Hopetoun where we stopped by to wash the van and then have a coffee. 

We kept meeting people that we had met along the road here. Strange that they all decided to call in to Hopetoun at the same time!

Anyway, we headed west and back into that strong Westerly breeze and aimed our bonnet at Bremer Bay where we stopped in a van park that was full of Peppermint trees, but which seemed a comfortable place. 

It only takes one look at the town to realise that fishing is the go here. Everything is focused on the angler, but that's OK if you like it and we do.  The only other thing of note is the Bremer Bay Resort which is the town's pub. We decided to have dinner there and we both had a burger with a decent WA chardonnay (for Kazza) and a Fat Yak pale ale for me.

Next day we went to explore the peninsula and check out the beaches and boy are they pretty.

Bremer Bay is so pretty we decided to hang around for a little longer than the two nights we had originally thought we'd do. There is quite a lot to do and see here.

So, on day three we reckoned we had done enough touring around and, despite there being lots to do, we had a quiet day instead with only visits to the museum and the pub to break things up.

One of the things for sale at the museum was a selection of home made conserves including one made (obviously) just for me!



On day 4 here we aimed the Pajero at the western end of the Fitzgerald NP and headed in - what a disaster of a road! The corrugations were shaking the car to pieces and when I looked across at Karen she was bouncing in the seat and almost hitting the roof.

There were some compensations in the form of groves of these weird plants:


We persisted, but instead of getting better they got worse.

So we checked the map and found a 4WD track that would take us out of the place and avoid the drive back on those awful corrugations. This track was rough and, at times, tough, but nothing the Pajero couldn't handle so despite the deep mud filled ruts and water crossings we drove on through and found ourselves at the eastern end of the sand bar that blocks the Bremer Bay inlet.

I was worried about this as the sand in the area is talcum powder fine and I expected to be digging and using the Maxtrax to get across, but it turned out to be hard packed sand (whiter than white) that was so solid under the wheels we barely left a track.

Home to the van and happy, but it was a muddy Pajero we parked on the grass.

Day 5 and we had a lie in. Once we managed to get vertical and breakfasted we thought wed do a little fishing down at the boat ramp.

Fishing there was turning up lots of fish, but they were all tiddlers like this one and I was just throwing them all back.

Then Karen spotted a shoal of small fish all leaping out of the water so I dropped the paternoster rig and tied on a barra lure. I chucked it out and it was hit immediately by an Australian salmon. Of course, as I was using just three kilo line it tugged for a few seconds and then bit through it and ran off with my lure.

I changed reels for one with stronger line and tied on a popper (surface lure) and flicked it out and there were immediately a number of salmon chasing it and one bit it and took off.

The reel was screaming and I then lifted and wound to get the line back.

Eventually, after about a ten minute fight with the fish leaping out of the water and going on strong runs, I pulled it onto the deck. About 80cm in length it was a good fish.

We filleted it on the spot (well, some kind young bloke offered to do it for me so I accepted) and it is going to be dinner.

I know that these fish are not prized table fish, but we'll give it a go.

WA - The Great South (Esperance)

Gods' teeth, I love WA!

It is such a distinctive state and it just feels so good to be back here.

OK - personal bias declared, I should jot a few notes about the place.

We entered WA at the WA/SA Border Village and underwent the usual almost strip search by the quarantine people looking for fresh fruit and veggies (and honey and walnuts etc) as they seek to protect WA from the various nasties to be found elsewhere. 

No complaints from us. It was done courteously and it is a job worth doing so good on 'em.

As we left the Nullarbor behind we gradually saw an increase in the size of the trees along the road, but one thing that didn't vary was the fact that they were salmon gums. Now, I have declared a love of WA and these trees typify htat - they are beautiful with their smooth russet toned trunks and branches and their almost impossibly green foliage. Much greener than other gums, and the way that they sway in the breeze! Just so elegant and beautiful. There were whole forests of these trees and I loved seeing them.

We trundled on and stopped for our night's rest at a free campng area called Newman's Rocks. A lovely place to stop. The rocks are an exposed outcrop of (I think) granite and water collects in one of the hollows on the rock. This water is important for the wildlife and (to judge by the volume of cow shit around) for the cattle in the area. In times past the grazier has built a low wall to help contain the water and make it last longer as well as some low walls to guide water falling on the rock to add to the water in the hollow and not just run off the side.

These works are in some disrepair (see the photos) but are still an important bit of history.

We camped away from this water hole (and the flies feeding on all that shit) up in the woods where we met a Dutch couple who were doing the same thing. A very pleasant evening followed and we went to bed feeling happy and calmed by the peace of this beautiful place.

We left the rocks and headed off towards Norseman. The town was named afterthe horse that the original founder was riding . Apparently the horse kicked over a rock and the rider saw that it was a gold nugget and so a gold rush was born and the town created.

These days it is a dying little place. The mines have closed down as have half the shops. The sole supermarket was tatty and run down and the only real sign of life was in the group of indigenous people gathered outside the only pub in town, yelling and shouting their day away.

We won't be going back I reckon.

We left Norseman with a sense of relief and covered the 200 odd klms to Esperance fairly quickly. The forests of salmon gums eventually gave way to open grain paddocks, but the regular appearance of salt crsts in any low lying land gives the story of how saline these lands are becoming. Looks like a problem that won't go away.

But Esperance itself is a diamond although I think they have overdone the whole Douglas fir tree thing. They have planted a row of these trees along almost every street (sometimes on both sides) and while that may have been pretty when they first did it I have to say that now that a lot of these trees are seven or eight times as tall as most of the buildings and the trunks are up to 3 or 4 metres across, they just dwarf the town and look weird.

Looking weird is not what you'd say of the Cape Le Grand NP though. It is a beauty of a place although the absolute best bits are the beaches which are whiter than you'd believe and this leads to water that is bluer than you'd see outside of a TV commercial for a Bounty bar.

Lucky Bay is the main beach in this NP and you can see how gorgeous it is from the pics below. In person, it is even better. You can drive down the beach and the talcum powder fine sand is compacted hard under your wheels so driving down it holds no problems. It holds one surprise though - the beach has a caravan towed onto it each day and they sell some fine coffee (and  ice creams and snacks etc) from it. Strange isn't it? To get onto a beach in a remote national park and find someone selling coffee!

The picture below is of your first sight of Lucky Bay and you can see the coffee cart caravan parked on it.

Have you ever seen water so blue?

Yep - this is the Pajero parked on the beach. Had to be done eh? The sand is so firm you barely leave any tyre tracks.

The next beach we visited was Hellfire Bay. NFI where it gets the name from, but it is much closer to heaven than hell I can tell you!

Karen and I donned the togs and went for a swim here - cool water, but just stunning.

We visited the Le Grande beach and drove along it, and like all the others it is just a perfect experience.

Home to the van after that day, but there is so much more to explore around here!

The next day was a bit overcast (well, it is autumn down here) but we toddle off on the beaches loop to take a look around the eastern end of Esperance;s beaches as they loop around to the Pink Lake area.

What a difference a little sun makes! The place looks lovely still, but just not quite as close to perfection as it did yesterday.

Still - what do you think?

Some of the beaches have these stairs constructed to help you get down onto the sand.

Soon enough we left the beaches and drove inland to loop back towards town. This road took us past a salt lake known as the Pink Lake. The salt lake turns pink in the summer when the algae in it blooms, but this time of year it is just a white salt crust with some VERY salty water in places.

Esperance - a beautiful town, but we are off now to Bremer Bay to check out that place.

The Nullarbor

We left Ceduna at just before 10am. The van park we used (Shelly Beach) is one to be recommended - nice sites, sheltered by trees and separated from the others by some reasonable distance and foliage.

It is a 3 klm drive into the town though, but that's no great hardship. 

We were happily content that we had left our indigenous cousins behind, but Ceduna has its share of people conducting loud conversations across the street (or park) and otherwise lounging around when everybody else is working.

Still, that's life and we have to take the rough with the smooth. 

There is not a lot to say about getting from there onto the Nullarbor - it just sort of evolves from the treed areas into the un-treed areas. 

We visited the Head of the Bight (paying $7 each admission for stuff all really) and checked out the views. This time of year there are no whales around, but it is still a spectacular place. Can you believe that water colours like these exist for real?

The cliffs (the Bunda Cliffs) stretch off towards the west for a few hundred klms and they are magic.

While we were out on the walk we spotted a shark cruising around, just looking lazy and graceful. The photo is not very good, but you can see him if you look closely. It isn't a big shark, maybe two metres, but it is big enough to demand some respect.

And just to prove that we were there . . . . 

We stopped for the night at the free camp area just outside the gates.

The feeling of being out there on the treeless plain with no human support around you was unspeakably wonderful. And then another caravan pulled in and set up. This comforted Karen as she perceives it as security, but I'd rather not have anyone else around at all.

We took a look at the night sky, expecting it to be a blaze of stars (there were no clouds), but there was a full and very bright moon and this put most of the stars back in their box. Still, it was a beautiful sight.

We left the Head of the Bight and drove westwards, stoping at the various points where the road gets close enough to the cliffs to get a photo or two (see those following this paragraph) and headed across the plain until we reaced the WA border where a very efficient search for vegetable contraband was carried out. 

You can see where we parked on the top of the cliff opposite.

Lonely looking place isn't it?

Further on the cliffs drop away, but the water is still that same wonderful blue.

Tonight we spend at the lookout at the Madura Pass. The pic below shows the view out over the plains from where we slept.

No story about crossing the Nullarbor would be complete without a picture of the start of the longest straight bit of road in Australia.

Tonight we stop in the Newman Rocks area - free camp stuff again.