12TH APRIL 2013 – BREMER BAY, SOUTH WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Not much to tell about yesterday, as we left Esperance with absolutely no idea how far we would go & where we would end up. There were lots of trucks on this stretch of the South Coast Highway, lovely rolling country & very, very large green farms. Stu actually had to change down a gear for some hills, something we haven’t had since we left the Adelaide Hills. We have had enough of driving all day so settled for a large freebie at about 2.30pm with only one other van who appeared later – all very quiet. Spent the evening to-ing & fro-ing about where we would stay for the next few days. We were hoping to stay in National Parks & rest up for a while, but it seems that none of them are suitable for caravans (long dirt roads which usually turn out to be real bone shakers). All the caravan parks are very expensive now, but we just have to bite the bullet & accept it. Much harder than it was on our last trip. Final decision made, we headed for Bremer Bay which had been recommended. We were there by morning tea time. Found a caravan park with lovely grassed areas (yes I did say grass), & large sites. We would have had a non powered site but they are ALL powered at $34 per night. Not at all busy which is good from our point of view. We are not far from the beach but unfortunately it is a rather dingy overcast day – only 18deg first thing this morning. Personally I am not complaining because we have had such lovely weather & its nice to have a little respite from the heat – it just doesn’t entice us to go swimming in the same way. There was plenty to explore, firstly by walking, then in the afternoon by car from which we found some lovely views from several lookouts. It is a lovely area covered in native bush, little WA wattles just beginning to flower, plus a few other plants like banksias with huge flowers & a few red flowered bushes which I don’t recognise. We discovered another very large caravan park some way from the beaches, with lovely shady trees so much needed here in the summer.


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Bremer  Bay Rest Area

 

Bremer Bay

 

Banksia Flowers

 

he little village has obviously been here a long time plus some of the houses, most of which I think are seasonal residences. In very recent times there have been huge changes with lots of new housing, right in the village plus hiding in all the bush areas. Obviously some developer has attempted to make a lot of money & been stymied by the change in the economy as there are many plots of land for sale. All the development has been done very well, with footpaths & landscaping etc, all totally unexpected in an area such as this. It seems remote to us (about 180 kms from Albany which is the nearest large town ), but I guess to Aussies that is no distance at all. There are so many beaches as the area has a number of peninsulas – there would never be a problem finding one out of the wind. Commercial fishing takes place in a small way from their own marina here as well as being a very popular recreational fishing spot.