Changeable Weather

The salmon were running at Bremer Bay, and I had to limit Jim to bringing back one per day.  They can be quite large.  We had quite a mix of weather from rain to sunshine.  We had taken the caravan park special of pay 3 stay 4 which would have had us leaving on the Monday.  But I  had checked the weather forecast and Monday sounded gloomy indeed.  The Sunday night had forecast gale force winds around 2.00 am.  We made sure everything was put away and the next morning as it was raining and still blowing hard we decided it was better to stay an extra day than travel in those conditions.

Between the squalls we drove out to Little Boat Harbour, the only beach we hadn't been to.  The car park for this is pretty much right on the beach, so I happily sat in the car while Jim donned his rain coat, and yes, caught another salmon.

Salmon between the showers

Tuesday morning the sun had come back out so we packed up and headed off.  This was a reasonably big day for us, as although our destination was only about 70 k's as the crow flies, by road it was around 300.  We stopped at Ravensthorpe for some supplies then turned off the highway and went through Hopetoun to the Fitzgerald River National Park.  This park has had around 40 million dollars spent on it.  There is a beautiful road going through it with spectacular views and scenery.  However, it is obvious that the planners at National Parks have absolutely no idea about modern campers and travellers.  There are two campgrounds and both have been recently upgraded.  The first one we had no hope of really fitting into, perhaps we could have got the van in but we would have had to park somewhere else.  There was no one else in the campground, which sort of says something.

So we headed to the next one, Hamersley Inlet, which is actually on council land in the middle of the National Park.  It has also had a lot of money spent on it, but I found it so disappointing.  I was expecting a nice bush camp but to me it really appeared like a bitumen carpark.  Nice facilities but I didn't like the layout of it at all.  Two other couples turned up, and as we were in the middle they had to camp either side of us.  They had come from Esperance and we discovered that one of them had his awning damaged on the Sunday night.  So glad I checked the weather forecasts, which he hadn't.

Campsite at Fitzgerald River

Jim tried fishing in the inlet with no luck.  The next morning was clear blue sky so before moving on we did the walk to the inlet mouth.  If the path had been put beside the inlet it would have been a flat 600 metres to the sea, but Parks have put the path in over and around the sand dunes so it was nearly 2 kilometres to get there.  It was a pretty walk and we enjoyed it.

The inlet

By the time we had got half way to Hopetoun it had started to cloud over and by the time we arrived it was raining.  We couldn't believe how it could change in such a short time.  Our destination was Starvation Harbour, only about forty minutes from Hopetoun, but half of this distance was dirt road.  The road surface was a white limestone and by the time we arrived the car and van (which we had washed on the Sunday!) were absolutely caked in this mud.  In fact we sacrificed half a bucket of our water to get the inch thick mud of the step so we could get into the van.

After a night at Starvation Harbour we did a beach camping hop, about 40 minutes each time, and stopped at Munglinup Beach then Stokes Inlet National Park, one of the nicest NP camp sites we have been into.  Lovely large private and sheltered sites and excellent new facilities.  There was another beach site we were planning on stopping at, but as it was now Saturday we decided the trip down the dirt road wasn't worth the risk of finding lots of Esperance locals there for the weekend.

So we made our way to Esperance and stopped two nights at an Olive Farm about 12 kilometres out of the town.  You have to be self contained to stop as there are no facilities, but that suited us fine.  As usual the weather kept changing from sunshine to showers.  We did manage to do the beach drive and at least see these beautiful beaches in a little better weather than last time. The Sunday was Mother's Day and we had a nice lunch at Dome Cafe.  My gift from the kids was return flights from Adelaide to Melbourne for a ten day family fix.  So now we have a time line to keep to as we need to be in Adelaide by the 30th May.

One of the secluded Esperance beaches, but we decided there were way too many stairs so gave that one a miss

Beautiful scenery

I'd decided that Monday would be a good day to go to Cape Le Grande as anyone there for the weekend would have left.  We had been initially going to stop at Lucky Bay, but a sign in the fishing tackle store said it was closed from the beginning of May to the end of the year for a complete makeover.  Because of this we headed to the Cape Le Grande campsite.  We discovered later that the dates for closure at Lucky Bay had been put back to June, but we were so glad we hadn't gone there.  It will be much nicer when it is redone, but the current site is like a car park with vans closer than in a caravan park.  The campsites at Cape Le Grande were really lovely, private individual sites with lots of bush to cut back the breezes.  They also had easy access to the beach.  There were camp hosts on site, a lovely couple that we talked to quite a bit.  Initially we were going to stop two nights but soon decided to make it four.  Coming on the Monday had been a good choice as the campground was not even half full.  Each day the number increased and by the Thursday the campground was completely full again.

Cape Le Grande campground.  Our van is the furthest back. View from one of the beach walks we did.

There is some spectacular scenery in the park.  The beaches, in particular Lucky Bay, are quite breathtaking with their super white sandy beaches and gorgeous water colours.  There were some lovely walks we did.

Jim had to try fishing here, and liked the look of Hellfire Bay.  Sure enough, he came home with two salmon, one of them a monster at 80 cm and 9 kilos.

Monster salmon on the right

Cape Le Grande beach

Of course, our weather was again changeable, and we waited for a sunny afternoon to do the Frenchmans Peak walk.  Not so much a walk, as a climb the further up you got.  We were expecting a path, but discovered after we started climbing that there were just markings giving a rough idea of what route to take. The top part was bare rock and very steep in parts, quite confronting when you don't like heights.  But we made it to the top and then I just had to worry about how I was going to get down.  Thank goodness we had on excellent hiking shoes which made gripping the rock on the way down so much easier.  The views from the top were pretty spectacular.

Climbing up Frenchmans Peak

Worth it for the views at the top

Phone!!  Had to message my mother

Just look at those views

It was now time to consider crossing the Nullarbor to get ourselves into South Australia.  We left Cape Le Grande on the Friday morning, stopping in Esperance to resupply.  Our stop for the day was at Grass Patch, about 70 kilometres north of Esperance.  There is a community campground there and for a low cost we were able to recharge the batteries on power plus use the free washing machine that was supplied.  By this stage we had been off power for nearly two weeks, so quite a bit to catch up on.

Then Saturday morning was the start of our crossing.  We refuelled in Norseman, which was absolutely freezing and made us appreciate that although the weather had been unpredictable, it had at least been mild.  We made it to Baxter Rest Area by about four, which wasn't a bad day's driving. We had wood for a fire, but decided it was far too cold and windy to bother being outside.

We were up quite early to a very fresh morning, and out of the rest area by 7.30.  We were also aware that once we crossed the border we would lose an hour and a half.  We made our planned stop of anywhere past Eucla quite easily.  Firstly we pulled into one of areas overlooking the Bunda Cliffs.  Quite spectacular but we were a bit concerned as there was a little bit of wind which may have come up blowy as the evening came on.  So instead we went a further 50 k's up the road to a rest area that many had stated on Wikicamps as being quite sheltered from the wind.  It was a huge area with lots of bushes and trees and we found a great spot that was well sheltered.  We had a campfire that night and it was quite lovely until the plague of mice appeared.  Eventually they were so cheeky and annoyed us so much that we went inside.

Campfire on the Nullarbor with a beautiful sunset

Bunda Cliffs

On our way the next morning we stopped at the Head of the Bight.  We knew we were just a little early for the whale season, but had heard that the views were still worth the entry fee (reduced out of season).  Of course as we got to the viewing areas the rain again started, more of the changeable weather we had been getting the last few weeks.  But the views were good, to the west the edge of the Bunda Cliffs and to the east were endless sandhills.  We read that during August there can be up to 70 whales in this bay.  None for us this day.

Head of the Bight

Our stop for the next two days was Fowlers Bay, a place we had stayed on our previous crossing and we were hoping to find it with better weather than the previous time.  As it was now well into May and getting cool I didn't bother ringing to book, so was quite amazed when we got there mid afternoon to discover it was full.  The owners did fit us in by doubling us up in front of the on site helpers.  This was quite a good spot on the fence of the playground so we were quite happy to stop there rather than move the next morning.  We did enjoy much nicer weather than the first time, although Jim's fish score was the same - nil.

We cryovacced the last of our potatoes and onions and headed out Wednesday morning to Ceduna and through the quarantine border.  Of course this then meant a stop in Ceduna to restock the fruit and vegies as well as a water topup.  We didn't plan on stopping in Ceduna and continued on to Smoky Bay for lunch.  After a lunch overlooking the wharf we had to go around to the oyster sheds where Jim got two dozen at a very good price.  Our plan now was to stop at some of the freedom camping areas on the coast.  Our first one was at Haslam where we got a nice spot sheltered from the southerly winds by an old large shed.  There were about six other campers there and with the jetty so close, $5 a night was a bargain.  And best of all there were no mice as some had claimed only a few days before.  Our next stop was going to be at Perlubie Beach, but although a pretty place, it was quite shallow and really no good for fishing without a boat.  So we continued on through Streaky Bay and out to a spot called Speeds Point.  There are no facilities here at all, but when we got there we had it to ourselves and picked a prime spot right on the edge near the water.  Jim could throw his rod in and sit at the van, just the type of fishing he loves.  Later in the afternoon a camper trailer turned up but went up the other end, so we were still quite secluded.

What a spot at Speeds Point

The next morning we ventured further south to Walkers Rocks Campground, about ten kilometres north of Elliston.  Being a Friday I was a bit concerned how busy it would be, but in the end the place remained very quiet. We managed to get what was the pick of the sites as someone had left that morning.  It was separate to the other areas, a large space, but not large enough to fit anyone else, but was also the closest spot to the water.  A short walk over the dunes brought us to a rocky beach or another short walk to the car park and a sandy beach.  We liked it here so much that we ended up stopping two days.  The Saturday morning was the coldest we have had.  The weather app said 2.6 but feels like .6 and inside the van was only 7.  Jim had been thinking about getting up at sunrise to fish, but changed his mind.  After finally giving up the warm doonah, we drove into Elliston, doing the lovely cliff top drive again and then seeing if the town had changed very much and stopping for a nice coffee at the cafe.

Our secluded spot at Walkers Rocks

Sunday we hooked up again.  As we were heading out, we changed our minds as to our destination.  Originally I was going to cut across to Arno Bay, but at the last minute we decided to go further south to Tumby Bay instead.  The weather had been overcast and the solar wasn't doing a lot, so some time on power was going to be handy.  The CWA has a very small caravan park (4 sites), directly opposite the beach and only $20 a night with a free washing machine.  This was very handy as we had some smoky clothes as we'd been able to have a campfire most nights.  In a short time we had decided two nights would be good.  It is a lovely friendly little town and it would have been easy to stay here for a while.  We were also blessed with some blue sky.  In the morning we drove out to the Red Cliffs area and looked at some of the camp spots out there.  Tumby Bay is a very RV friendly town and there are quite a number of cheap alternative places to camp, including some in the town itself as long as you are self contained.

Back on the Road

The heat of Thailand is now just a memory as we contend with mid Autumn in Southern Western Australia.

Our last few days in Khao Lak were very restful and relaxing which was then negated by the overnight flight home on the 30th March where it was impossible to get much sleep.  After arriving at 6.00 am we took the free airport bus back to the carpark to discover to our delight that the car started first go.  I guess the new batteries only a few weeks earlier would have helped.

It was a three hour drive to Bridgetown where we had left the van, and due to the lack of sleep we found we needed to pull over twice for a nap.  At least we didn't have a large time zone to contend with as there is only an hour difference.

Arriving back only a couple of days before Easter meant that it would be impossible to head off straight away, way too busy everywhere.  So we decided to leave just after Easter.  But we were foiled by the weather which decided to rain, rain and more rain.  At least staying put meant we were in a house rather than crammed into the caravan.

Eventually the weather changed, and on Tuesday 14th April we finally got underway to lovely blue skies.  Our first stop half an hour later and the clouds were moving in.  By the time we got out of the supermarket it was raining, and this continued until we reached Denmark.  We made two other stops on the way, Walpole for lunch where we huddled in the van, and a toffee factory just outside of Denmark.  This was a very enjoyable little stop.  Expensive, but they had lots of things for tasting.  If we had known about it before and realised it had a lovely cafe, we may have waited for lunch.

On arriving at Denmark we firstly went down to the Ocean Beach park but discovered it wasn't really on the ocean and with the weather we felt we were better near the town.  We ended up at the Rivermouth park, where we just about had our pick of sites even though it was school holidays.  Talking to the people in the office, it seemed they had an avalanche of cancellations because of the wet weather.  So we ended up with a huge site right on the water and great views.  Plus as the next day was Wednesday, we also got their free inlet cruise.

View from our dining window

So Wednesday morning we were down before nine to board the cruise.  This was a great freebie, supposed to be $30 each.  It lasted about an hour and a half and we got a different perspective of the inlet.  Afterwards we took one of the walking tracks along the river into the town where we looked through the shops and had lunch at one of the bakeries.

The park from the water.  Van is there somewhere

The sun came out in the afternoon and we went exploring some of the nearby beaches including Lights Beach.  Thursday morning we continued our explorations going to Greens Beach, Elephant Rock, Waterfall Beach and Madfish Bay.  All lovely spots and Jim tried fishing unsuccessfully.

Surfers at Ocean Beach

Elephant Rock

It was back to the van for lunch and Jim was still keen to catch a fish.  He headed back to Lights Beach and was rewarded with a lovely 49cm flathead.  Fish for dinner that night.

Friday morning was a leisurely packup and we headed out just before ten.  We were heading to Albany, but decided to stop and have a look at a free camp we had heard about at Cosy Corner.  Still being school holidays, we didn't expect to find a spot, so were very surprised when a perfect spot for us had just been vacated.  Our van was booked in to have the air conditioner fixed on Tuesday, so still plenty of time to chill out at this lovely little spot.  Despite the fact it was salmon season, Jim didn't have any luck.  He tried the beach at the camp, then the next day after it rained all night, we drove to Shelley Beach.  This was quite a spectacular spot, and although others were bringing some in, he had no luck.  It wasn't his favourite type of place as the waves were quite big and fierce, and he ended up quite wet.

Looking down on rugged Shelley Beach and the keen salmon fisherman.

Our van tucked into Cosy Corner

Saturday afternoon we drove to Torbay Inlet, another free camp, and he tried his luck there, hoping for a bream or two.  No such luck, probably because of all the recent rain putting too much freshwater in.

4WD drive track out to Torbay Inlet.

After the overcast Saturday, it was wonderful to get up to blue skies and warm sunshine.  This called for a long walk along the beach before Jim tried some more unsuccessful fishing.  In the afternoon we were happy to just enjoy the warmth and the sunshine before another walk to the beach.  But once we got there we saw that the tide was out and the waves more gentle and quite a few people were in the water.  So Jim headed back for his boogie board.

Boogie board time

By Monday it was time to move on to Albany as we needed to be there as the van was booked into have the air conditioner fixed first thing on Tuesday.  Our original plan was to stop two nights, but in the end we stopped for seven.

Apart from the great range of shops, there is quite a lot to see in Albany.  We spent the afternoon while the van was being fixed at the National ANZAC Centre.  In the end we were sorry we didn't have a lot more time for this excellent new facility.  It has been built to take advantage of the magnificent sweeping views of the bay, the last place in Australia that the soldiers saw when heading to Gallipoli.  We got there at 1.30 so only had half an hour before the free tour of the outside buildings.  This took a good hour and a half which didn't leave much time to go through the centre before having to be back to pick the van up before 4.30.  We saw all the exhibits, but you are issued with sound pens that you run across an icon and you get an audio soundtrack.  There were lots of these, but no time to listen to them.  Apparently a lot of them are from actual letters that were written back to home.

On another day we went back and did the other part of the park taking the many, many steps to the War Memorial and Light Horse Memorial.  Beautiful views from up there.

Sculpture at the ANZAC Centre

Great view

While we were there we could see them setting up for the ANZAC Day dawn service.  Albany claims to be the home of the first dawn service, so being 100 years there were a lot of people in town.  The area is not very big and certainly very limited parking there.  We opted not to attend the dawn service as people had to be bused up there from a couple of points in town, and that meant 3.30 am start.

However, on ANZAC Day we did go into the town and saw the end of the service and march.  There were huge crowds around.  We also drove back up to the ANZAC Centre and did some of the walks around there that we had missed the previous times.

Anzac Day crowds

Fly over

During our week we also drove out to the Frenchmans Bay area where the scenery is spectacular.  One of the places we drove into was Salmon Rocks, where two fisherman had drowned only the previous weekend.   This certainly wasn't the type of place where Jim likes to fish and those that fish here must be very keen indeed.  I believe 11 people have now been lost fishing from this spot.

Looking across to Discovery Bay (previously known as Whale World)

Salmon Rocks

Jimmy Newell's Harbour

We also did a day trip out to the Porongurup National Park.  One of the highlights is the Granite Sky Walk.  It was a very steep 2.2 kilometre walk up to it, and we kept hoping it was worth it.  Fortunately it really was.  Don't know who would think to put something like that up  there.  Apparently it all had to be flown in by helicopter.  But the views from the top are 360 degrees of magic.  Unfortunately the weather was just starting to close in, but we did make it back down before any rain.

The Sky Walk

The final part a was climb over large rocks then up a ladder

View from the top

Balancing Rock

The Sky Walk from the road.  It's on that high piece of granite in the middle

Another reason we had been happy stopping longer in Albany was the place we were staying at.  It is on a property about twelve k's from town and you have to be fully self sufficient.  Roy's Place was only $5 a night and we loved it there.  Every night they light fires and wood heaters and there is a happy hour where we met lots of other travellers.  Many people that stop there are like us and arrive for a couple of days and leave a week later.  One couple in a bus arrived New Year's Day and have been there ever since.  They have had some major repair issues and are getting in parts etc.  Meanwhile they are acting as camp hosts for Roy which works out very well all round.  Jim had been talking to Ian, the bus owner, admiring the heater he had made from a gas cylinder (very flash, even had glass windows).  Jim told  him he had been wanting to get an old gas bottle to cut down as a fire pit.  The next day when we got back Ian had found an old one of Roy's and then proceeded to help Jim cut it down and reassemble.  It's great and fits into the milk crates on the car roof.  I'm sure we are going to need it in the coming weeks, especially when we cross the Nullabor.

By Monday of the long weekend it was time to farewell our new friends, and we  headed out to restock food, fuel and water.  My plan was to go to Norman's Beach, a free camp only about forty minutes drive away.  I wasn't overly hopeful of getting a spot as it was a beautiful day and I expected many to still be there.  We arrived in time for lunch and I was amazed to find we had it almost to ourselves.  I's a very pretty spot on a freshwater inlet, but about 350 metre walk over sand dunes and down steep steps to the beach.  This wasn't easy with fishing gear, and as Jim didn't catch anything, we opted to move on to our next destination of Cheynes Beach.  Again this was only about a forty minute drive and it is such a pretty place.  We are now starting to get into the areas that have the most magnificent coloured seas.  Although the park isn't on the water you are able to drive along the beautiful white sandy beach.  Unfortunately it is also the place that a 17 year old was taken by a shark just before Christmas.

Nice camp spot at Normans Beach

On Normans Beach

The weather was still lovely and as we had arrived before 10 am, I immediately starting catching up on two weeks of washing.  Two loads in their machine and two in mine and the line was full and the wash basket empty.  We drove out to Waychinacup Inlet, another very pretty spot in a National Park.

Waychinacup Inlet

Huge site at Cheyenes Beach

Cheynes Beach - the photo doesn't do justice to the colour of the water.

But no fish for Jim here either, and as it is a fairly pricey park we opted to head out the next morning, aiming for Bremer Bay.  Two thirds of the way there, about 100 kilometres, we decided to detour six k's off the road and have a look at a basic camp at Millers Point Reserve.  We liked this place so much that we immediately set up camp at a great spot right on the water and with water views on both sides of us.   And we could even have fire with wood supplied.  The day was a bit of an Indian Summer with the temperature around 27.  We walked to the lookout and took in beautiful views to the inlet mouth.  It was a beautiful evening and we were still in t shirts until quite late.  Dinner that night was cooked in the camp oven over the fire.  Yum.

The next morning, early, Jim was delighted to catch a good size bream but then nothing.  The ranger came around mid morning and after paying for the one night, we chatted to him about whether to move on or not.  The weather although still warm was starting to change and getting very overcast with the wind now coming up.  He told us that the salmon were running well at Bremer Bay and where was the best place to fish.  So in a very short time we were back on the road and set up at Bremer Bay for lunch.  During the afternoon we drove out to a number of the beaches and Jim agreed with the ranger's choice of beach.  Needless to say he was up very early the next morning determined to finally catch a salmon.  And while he was there, the ranger turned up to see if he had taken his advice and to see how he was getting on.  In the end he caught two huge salmon with three getting away.  I've now just got to work out what to do with so much of them.  We had some for lunch and I believe they make lovely fish cakes.  I'll have to keep scouring for more recipes.