9TH APRIL 2013 - ESPERANCE, WESTERN AUSTRALIA

 

 

Made sure we got an early start today & at 8.30am the temperature is 27 deg. Along the route to Esperance we follow the railway line & spotted two trains which would have been two kms long. They both had two engines in the front, but two in the middle as well. Not sure just what it was carrying but probably something from the mines. Quite mind boggling after the pitiful little trains we see in NZ. Also along this highway are many little salt lakes sparkling in the morning sun. And then surprise, surprise – some green fields at last, & the greenest since we left QLD. Funnily enough the area is called ‘Grass Patch’ – there is a lot of grain storage again as we are passing through the wheat belt. Signs tell us of many historic school sites along the way so it must have been quite well populated once upon a time. No evidence of this now though, no towns at all, just areas with names about 25km apart. A lot of the names seem to end in ‘up’ which in the local aboriginal language means ‘meeting of the waters’. Funny names for the day – ‘Speedingup’ & ‘ Doodoodropin’.

Arriving in Esperance, the only large town along this magnificent coastline of many National Parks, we head for the Info centre to find out all the local attractions. As the Le Grande National Park has been highly recommended by everyone, that is where we intended to stay. Bad news – there are no sites left for caravans. It is a huge National Park & lots of areas for tenting but very few suitable for caravans. It is suggested that we go out very early next morning & take a chance that there are vans leaving, but we decide to book into a caravan park in Esperance itself for a couple of nights & do a day trip out there (60kms). Financially a dearer option but it did enable me to catch up on laundry etc as the NP has no power. In the afternoon we took a drive around the town & surrounding beaches. It was 36deg & we didn’t have our swimming gear with us & the water here is so amazing in it’s colour & so, so enticing. And of course it was another ‘CLOUDLESS BLUE SKY’. I think it would probably be a wonderful place to live with it’s wonderful climate, azure blue seas & white sandy beaches, not to forget the National Parks on it’s doorstep all along the coast. The town has obviously doubled or tripled it’s size in recent years, evidenced by hundreds of new homes, though the town centre itself was quite disorganised & hard to find things. The population is currently 14,500. It’s such a change to see nicely tended lawns & gardens after all the dry areas we have been through. I would imagine there are lots of retired people here, & it’s biggest disadvantage I see is the distance away from everywhere else.

Lucky Bay Cape Le Grande National Park 

Roos on the beach

 

8.15am next morning we set off before the day’s heat for Cape Le Grande National Park, so named by the French who discovered the area in the late 1700’s.

En route we pass through lovely lifestyle blocks & farms. The Esperance plains have long been a place of heartbreak & struggle on backward farms but is now one of Australia’s most efficient areas for the production of beef, wool, fat lambs, oats & other crops. It was all made possible by the perseverance of the farmers & the patience of the scientists who eventually hit on the vital answer that the land was deficient in elements. It was certainly evident on our drive through to the NP. The stock we saw were quite different than any others we had seen so far, all really healthy & clean. There were also an abundance of ‘tree farms’ – couldn’t identify the variety though. As we got closer to the NP there were huge rock formations, one called Frenchman’s Peak which we climbed later in the morning,& though not a stroll in the park, we made it to the top to witness fabulous views of the whole coastline & a huge cave with it’s own ‘window’ out to the view. It must have been a great home for the local indigenous tribe. Travelling on further we came to ‘Lucky Beach’ the most popular for camping though very small sites for vans. Again huge rock formations both on land & in the water. A walk along the beach gave us a chance to meet a couple of locals, a mother roo & her youngster relaxing in the shade on the sand. Apparently it’s not uncommon to see them playing in the surf but we were not so lucky. There are bay after bay stretching along the whole coastline, not all accessible by vehicle, & some by 4WD only. They are allowed to drive along the beaches & at Lucky Bay in particular the sand was packed down hard like a road because of all the traffic of fishermen etc. Thistle Bay was truly beautiful as well. After our climb up the peak we headed for ‘Hellfire Bay’ which we thought was the best of all with a lovely picnic area & marvellous swimming beach. By then we were badly in need of cooling off so we took the plunge literally. One has to remember that this water comes in from the Southern Ocean so it was quite ‘refreshing’! By then the temperature was 36deg so once in it was great, with families having great fun with their boogie boards etc. It was so relaxing to sit & eat our picnic lunch & watch those aquamarine waves washing ashore over huge rocks at the ends of the beach. My camera was clicking furiously for the whole day.

 

Hell Fire Bay

Cattle cooling down
 

 





 

 

 

 

 

View from top of Frenchmen Peak