Western Australia 2023

 It’s quite cool this morning and a bit of a breeze. Up early we head to the beach for some yoga (me) and skipping and stretching (S) before breakfast. We’re packed up and on the road via Woolworths for a few fresh bits and pieces by 9am. 4.5 hours on the road today and I’m afraid Simon drives it all. He’s got used to the beast and I think worries about me driving it! The roads are empty and so straight. Barely a turn to be seen. Reasonably scenic if you like trees and plains of wheat fields and salt flats. We stop for a coffee brew and visit a shop in the back of beyond where we buy a cleaning cloth , ginger beer and a crunchie! We arrive at Wave Rock Hyden at about 2pm. It’s much hotter here, about 30C and there are a few flies about. After lunch we head off to the rock. An impressive lump of red granite with a lipped wave formation and fine views of the surrounding outback. Salmon pink trunked Eucalyptus trees in the bush and a hippo yawning too! We do it again at sunset with a ...

 Up around. 6 again , seems to be our usual time now.  We are in no hurry today so we head off to the beach for yoga, stretching and skipping. Stunning views of the Southern Ocean, islands of the Recherche Archipelago oh yes and some tankers waiting to  enter the commercial harbour down at the bottom of the town.  We refill the gas bottle on the way to Esperance windscreen and crash repairs. Kelly drops us into town whilst they replace the cracked windscreen. We have iced latte by the newly constructed tanker jetty, walk down it and then mooch around town. Fortunately the museum is closed on Mondays. I buy a nice t shirt with a print of Frenchman Peak ( no apostrophe apparently) on the back.  After lunch we are reunited with the van and head off to complete a tour of the Great Ocean road. A wild and rugged route past innumerable white sandy beaches. Pink lake on the return is no longer pink because its salt levels have dropped.  BBQ sausages planned for ton...

 After breakfast we head east to the Cape le Grand National Park. About 50 minutes along empty roads we enter the park and manage to find space in the small car park to climb Frenchman’s Peak. A large mound of rock towers above us but a well marked trail guides us to the summit in less than an hour. We’ve beaten the crowds and the views are impressive although it’s still a bit cloudy. Again we’re pleased we brought our walking poles. Onward to Lucky Bay allegedly the number one beach in Australia. It is certainly spectacular. A vast crescent of squeaky white quartz sand with clear turquoise water. And even kangaroos on the beach! The idyll is somewhat spoiled by the large number of 4WD vehicles that drive along and park on the beach. Very Aussie! We walk right to the end and take numerous photos. It is so photogenic. Back for a swim and some relaxation. Coffee in the van, picnic and beer and more relaxing before we head off to Le Grand beach. From here you could drive your 4WD 12 m...

 We wake pretty early and are on the road by 8 o’clock. We’re pleased to hear that the South Coast Highway has reopened following the recent bush fires. The roads are straight and virtually deserted apart from the odd Road Train and Grey Nomad. Tree lined with arid plains stretching into the distance. We pass the remnants of the bush fire where the smell of smoke lingers and it is sobering and sad to see the charcoaled devastation. We stop at Ravensthorpe to refuel. An old mining town. Not much to it and the supermarket rather too basic to refuel our human needs! No cafe so we brew a coffee by the side of the road arriving in Esperance after about 4 hours. The Woolworths supermarket is massive and better stocked than anywhere since Perth although we feel a bit overwhelmed and it’s hard to plan what we’ll need. Our campsite is called Bather’s Paradise but on first look seems to be set within a housing estate! Not the most picturesque but small and close to the sea. We have learned t...

 Alarm at 6:15 though we are awake before then. Sunny and bright. No one else stirs in the campsite. We drive down to the quay and board the Whale Watching WA catamaran. Off we roar in heaving 3m swells. Quite early on a few people are poleaxed by sea sickness. Fortunately we seem fine.  After 3 hours we still haven’t seen any orcas. But then we do. Two pods. Adults and youngsters playing. They swim upside down showing their white underbellies right underneath the boat and jump and splash. We are so close we can hear them whistling and clicking to one another   We track the orca pods for a couple of hours and then make our way back via Glasse Island where we see some sea lions.  We return to the quay after about 7 hours at sea. An amazing close encounter in the deep Southern Ocean with these beautiful creatures. 

 There’s a bit of rain overnight! The first we’ve had and it’s quite cool in the morning. There’s quite a wind as well and I’m relieved we’ve postponed our Orca Whale trip until tomorrow. We have a quiet day driving the van to Bremer town beach and walking up the Welstead River estuary and back and then to the lookout on the headland. Despite dark clouds the colours are stunning. The sand is white and so fine like icing sugar. It crunches under foot when we walk on it. We have a picnic lunch on a bench then manage a bit reading in the patches of sunshine. Back at base we relax, do a bit of laundry and enjoy a cool evening. I’ll be dosing up with Kwells for our boat trip tomorrow and keeping my fingers crossed that it won’t be as bad as I fear! It would be amazing to see an Orca whale in the wild…

 We spend a couple of hours on  Cheynes beach doing yoga, stretching and skipping with no one around before we head off to Bremer Bay.  As we join the South Coast highway there’s a rather vague and worrying sign saying that the highway is closed because of a bush fire. As it continues for hundreds of miles we don’t know if the bush fire is before or after our turn off. Turns out to be after and there’s a helpful app to consult for future trips.  We stop to brew up coffee near some really isolated farmsteads.  We arrive at our camp site at Bremer Bay, a nice pitch under the peppermint trees.  We walk along a track from the site to a rather wild beach with dangerous surf with an abalone farm behind it. Rosé from Ironwood  vineyard as a preprandial.