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.
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