What a surprise we had in store for us when we reached the coastline of the Southern Ocean!  It’s dotted with National Parks that have delighted us in different ways.  We started at a seaside town called Esperance which is over 400 miles from Perth and at population 14,000 it’s the largest town for a long way.  We were really impressed with the new esplanade so we figured that pride of ownership in the community might extend to the restaurants and we had our first meal out since we left Perth, a good decision.

We left after one day since we were eager to experience Cape Arid, the easternmost point we planned to travel. Most roads in the park are 4WD  but one unsealed road supposedly suitable for 2WD lead to a campground we felt we could make. We had to crawl along as it was terribly corrugated for 8kms but it was worth it because we were one of only 4 campers in a small loop of sites and had a little view of the sea.  Without access to water, power and heat we felt like we were roughing it even though we had lights.The hiking was incredible along the coast – a lot of azure water, gentle wave action and fine white sand.  Next was Cape LeGrand NP and we had to endure a few rain showers which limited our hiking opportunities since those with a lot of granite were closed.

LeGrand is best known for Lucky Bay with white sand and kangaroos that sunbathe on the beach. However, we never caught this phenomena even though we were there at both dusk and dawn. There are a lot of small islands off the coast here that add to the scenic quality as did the wild seas from the front that brought the wind and rain.

After another day in Esperance to provision, wash the van and clothing,and take the famous coast drive just outside of town.  Pounding surf and rainbows made for even more great photo ops. Today we made a lunch stop at Stokes NP and walked along a calm estuary for an hour till we reached the sea. The stark contrast was another WOW event for us. Now we are camped at Fitzgerald NP and can hear the surf from our campsite. It’s getting a bit chilly without heat but it seems the weather is supposed to improve the rest of the week.

 

Thanks to those of you who have responded to our posts. We’ve been reading them aloud as we drive along and then we get to talk about you.

I better finish this while my computer still has power.