I have been a bit slack with the blog as the last few weeks we have been pretty busy. Thinking back and looking at the photos we have taken, it is obvious how much we have actually done in the last 3 weeks. After getting our car fixed at the mechanic in Ceduna, we said goodbye for the final time and headed West. We started at Cheetima Beach, not far from Ceduna as it’s a beautiful spot. However, this time around the weather was bleak and rainy and once again through a whole night of rain our bedding got a bit wet and had to be hung out the next day. There weren’t many other people around at all and after 2 nights of not great weather we continued on. The next stint of the trip was the Nullarbor, notorious for being a stretch of boring, flat nothingness. In some aspects this is certainly true, however there is also quite a few things to discover within the Nullarbor. The word comes from 2 Latin words “Nullas” meaning “no” and “Arbor” meaning “trees”. Parts of it were very long and dreary. The highlights were the Bunda cliffs, stunning steep 70m high limestone cliffs along the coast, stretching as far as the eye could see. We also explored the Murrawajinie caves. You might never have known these were there and it took us at least half hour along a rough 4x4 track. They were made up of 3 large sinkhole caves that you could climb down and explore. We also drove along Australia’s longest stretch of straight road that went for 146.6km without a single bend. At one of the random one night camp stays we had along the Nullarbor we spotted a whole pack of dingos that had bred with wild dogs and ranged from the usual sandy color to black and white spots. In the same night we also spotted a very rare pair of Australian Bustards.
A this stage Jamie had been experiencing some stomach pain for a little while and decided it needed checking out so we drove the remaining 650kms to complete the Nullarbor and ended up in Norseman. There he was able to get a doctors appointment and some tests taken. The doctor advised it was probably an infection so put him on antibiotics. The town of Norseman is named after a horse that allegedly found gold in the 1800’s when it was tethered up and unearthed a nugget with its hooves. There is no more gold left but we were able to go to a public fossicking area for agate and opalite and found a few decent pieces. Unfortunately it is relatively worthless and therefore did not make us rich (once again). As the weather was forecast to be 35+ for the next few days we exchanged a trip up to Kalgoorlie for gold prospecting for a the much prettier and cooler Esperance. We stopped for a night on the way down and upon arrival there realised there really wasn’t any free camping within the township of Esperance. What it did have was an abundance of the most stunning blue water and over 100 small granite islands as well as more than enough to see around the area to last us a week. We headed out to a beautiful campsite called Membinup right in the sand dunes on the beach. I got to have a nice surf on some small waves, while Jamie ‘instructed’ me, just out the front of our camp. From there we left Pumba at camp and went to explore Cape Arid National park. It had some beautiful beaches with great views and also plenty of hiking onto granite formations. It was at the top of one of these hikes that an angry bee stung me right on my upper arm. There was a moment of panic as one was still buzzing in my hair and Jamie and I were running down the granite back to the car to avoid getting stung by anymore of the swarm. Luckily I didn’t have any kind of allergic reaction, however over the next few days it got very red and itchy and a little bit swollen.
The next day we went into Esperance as they have a market on Sundays. We checked that out in the morning but it was already a scorcher of a day so after getting a juice and an ice cream we decided it was time for the beach again. We had to leave Pumba at our new campsite (a free site 25kms out of town) so that we could go into the next national park – Cape Le Grande national park. On the way we stopped at Australia’s Stonehenge. It is a full size replica of what a fully constructed Stonehenge would have looked like 4500 years ago. It was made from local pink limestone and really quite mazing to see. Cape le Grande Ntl park really blew our minds. It was made up of granite outcrops forming perfect, protected bays that had such vivid blue water and the softest whitest sand. One of the beaches Lucky Bay, has been voted Australia’s whitest beach and the sand was so fine that it squeaked. I had to look up why the sand is so white and it is because it has a high amount of quartz. This same beach is also home to a heap of kangaroos which hop around from awning to awning, exploring curiously and hoping for a morsel of food. We watched 2 sets of mother and baby and fed them a bit of carrot and gave them a pat. It was really amazing seeing them on the beach. Leaving the kangaroos to relax on the beach, we went out for a snorkel and saw quite a few varieties of fish. Jamie even had time to surf further down the beach in the stunning clear blue water. It was the perfect weather and the perfect day.
The next day’s weather wasn’t nearly as good for the beach so we instead went to an animal park where we could pat and feed a heap of native animals and birds as well as farm animals such as goats, alpacas, ponies and sheep. The goats and the emus were definitely the greediest and we also met a Macaw called Zeus that seemed to love Jamie. It would follow him up and down the cage but wouldn’t do it for me. We also passed an arboretum forest called Helm’s Arboretum so decided to walk Pumba through there as well. Back at camp we had a haircut by a travelling hairdresser originally from the UK. Her and her family were our next-door camp neighbours and the kids loved Pumba. It certainly was a different experience getting my hair cut in a camp chair!
We decided to stay the next 2 nights at a farm we had found on wiki camps. The owner Tom is an absolute legend and greeted us like old friends before inviting us to have some of his homebrew on the deck. How can you refuse an offer like that? It’s also there that we met a lovely English couple, Ashley and Dan. We offered to take them into Cape Le Grande Ntl Park with us the next day, as we loved it so much we wanted to go back. So the four of us went in while Pumba stayed behind, getting fed bones from Tom. The Kangaroos weren’t at Lucky Bay this time and it was a bit windier than last time, but still beautiful. Jamie and I went out for a surf but I didn’t manage to catch many waves so came in and let Dan have a go on my board. Driving off the beach we passed a new looking X-Trail that was completely bogged in the sand and the tide was coming in so we stopped to help. Using the Max-Trax we eventually got him out before the water came in. He was an Irishman on holiday with a rental car so it was certainly good we saved him. He was so grateful that when we stopped at the Lucky Bean café cart, he bought us all a “Kangachino” (they’re specialty cappuccino). We then decided to do the very steep climb up to Frenchman’s peak, which is a granite hill with a cave garden at the top, offering stunning 360 degree views of the beaches and the national park. It was super windy up there, and quite a hard walk but well worth it.
Finishing the day, Jamie gave a surf lesson for Ashley and Dan and got them all standing up. Needless to say we were all fairly exhausted when we got back to the farm. Tom had collected the yabby nets we had put out the night before and we had only caught 5 so we had a small taste of the yabbies each before collapsing into bed completely worn out.
We had decided to meet up with Ashley and Dan at the next campsite too, however on our way we discovered the rear diff on the car was leaking oil. Jamie explained to me that this was a definite potential crisis and after a few calls to his mechanic mate josh and the RAA, he inspected it a little more closely to find it was just some bolts that had loosened themselves and were therefore leaking. This was the best possible news, though we had Ashley and Dan pick up some diff oil for us just in case anyway. We stayed the next 2 nights at a nice spot called Starvation Bay, which had a nice little beach that was protected from any wind. The next day was my birthday, so Jamie made a delicious breakfast of Turkish bread toast with Jarlsberg cheese, avocado and bacon. We followed that by all having a piece of $4 caramel sponge cake from woollies. Since we couldn’t finish the whole thing even between the 4 of us, Pumba ended up getting 2 bits and got cream all over his face!! He must’ve thought it was his birthday, especially since Ashley had bought him a new rope toy! We spent the day on the beach, relaxing and drinking beer and playing with Pumba. Jamie had also bought me a fresh coconut, which is my favorite. With the clear blue water, I felt as if I was celebrating on a tropical island somewhere. As Ashley and I relaxed on the beach reading, the boys went kayak fishing and ended up catching 10 fish including sand whiting, tommys and a flathead. We filleted and lightly battered them and had fish burgers. We then went over to our camp neighbours, that Ashley and Dan had met a week previously, for a campfire and a beer/sparkling moscato.
It was nice to have met a couple that is our age instead of the usual grey nomads we see most of the time. It was an added bonus that Ashley absolutely loves Pumba. They mentioned how much they loved our set up with the camper trailer and how much stuff we had compared to their car that had all their stuff including their bed. I suppose there are upsides and downsides to both types of set ups.
We parted ways the next day with Ashley and Dan and drove to a campsite near another ntl park we wanted to explore. All the campsites near there ended up being completely full so we were forced to drive along a 4x4 trak to find somewhere to camp. It ended up being a pretty nice spot with a great view over ‘Two Peoples Bay’, and no one else around so it wasn’t so bad. After that we headed into Albany which is a pretty big town and is known for it’s whaling and ANZAC history. We completely lucked out and found a free camp that allows us to stay for up to 7 nights. It is amongst a whole heap of trees with a path right onto the pretty beach so its perfect. I sit writing this now in my hammock among the trees listening to the waves crashing and thinking that I really am quite lucky!! We met a young couple from Italy at camp and chatted with them for a bit.
From this campsite we have been out to explore quite a few national parks. Porongurup ntl park had a walk up to Castle Rock; a purpose built walkway out over the tall granite rocks with a ladder to get to the top. It was a very cool walk with some really speccy views. We also went to another national park to see the Gap and Natural Bridge, which was another purpose built walkway on the granite, this time out over the ocean. We watched the waves crashing against the sides of the granite and surging with an unfathomable power.
We tried to go kayak fishing but the wind and current was too strong and we just drifted around way too fast and didn’t catch anything (unless you count Jamie catching 2 rock cod). We did find a cool walk along our campground beach to a freshwater stream where we found the cutest little green frog with gold eyes. Since we were paying too much attention to the frog, Pumba started to get boisterous and run amok around the pond and then he just leapt into the pond. Little did he know he had jumped into a really deep part of the pond and he went completely under and disappeared for a second before surfacing and scrambling out of the pond. He promptly hacked up some water and then threw up. Jamie and I didn’t know whether to laugh or be concerned but Pumba acted as if nothing had happened, as if it was just too embarrassing to dwell on. We later found another 10 frogs in this same pond. They were so cute!
We have decided to stay in this campsite another few nights and go into Albany for Australia Day celebrations and then continue along the coast. So until the next blog… Sayonara!!
