Esperance to Perth
Well, I think we can honestly say that the journey so far has been incredible and for the most part better than what we had expected!! I think that says a lot, as most of you will probably remember how excited we were counting down the days toward the end of 2016.
Without further ado, let's get stuck in to our tales from "The Great South West."
Esperance
The current leader in the "Our Favourite Place" category, Esperance had some serious wow factor. Obviously the beaches here are the main draw card, with the sand whiter than white and the ocean a staggering turquoise blue. Photos that we had seen previously didn't quite do this place justice as the water appeared unnaturally blue; and we tried our best with the photos below, but let me say, these beaches literally have to be seen to be believed!
We struck some good weather and apparently "the best day all summer" according to some friendly locals we met at one of the bars in town. This bar, Taylor's, not only had a great assortment from the locally produced Lucky Bay Brewery, they also played some of our favourite music over the course of the afternoon; a winning combo!
-> Lucky Bay, Cape Le Grand NP, Esperance
-> West Beach, Esperance
Fitzgerald River National Park
Heading west, we camped at Hamersley's Inlet in the N.P and met a great couple from Northern Ireland, whom we shared the first 2 of 5 miserable weather days with. Plenty of goon (cask wine for you oldies!) was consumed and some unbelievable laughs were had; although for the most part Maddy and I had no idea what Craig and Nadine were actually saying!!
Bremer Bay
Fortunately, we left Hamersley's early enough, as over the course of the next 3 days, all the roads inside the N.P were washed away. We decided to head to Bremer for some warm showers, camp kitchen and general shelter. Even though we initially hadn't planned to stay here, it will be a decision that we will be thankful for, for many years to come...
"The Search for the Oceans Super Predator" is a documentary we watched in 2015 about a Great White that was killed and is subsequently uncovered as the workings of Orca's in a Killer Whale Nursery just off the coast of WA. Only once we were here did we remember that the breeding ground is actually located just off Bremer Bay and so some enquiries were made and (despite the heavy price tag!) we were in the boat the following day to witness these incredible animals in the wild for our own eyes.
It was truly staggering seeing them so close and the white on their bellies almost glowing in the water. We saw a bull male while we were out there and his size, estimated at 9 tonne, really put some perspective on our insignificance.
-> Juvenile Killer Whale
-> Bull Male
Albany
After the 200mls of rain we copped over 5 days, we were glad to get out of Bremer alive and head for Two Peoples Bay just east of Albany. This was a magical free campground right on the white sand beach which treated us to sun (finally!) and waking up to the sight of pod of at least 40 dolphins frolicking in the waves just in front of us.
With some free hot showers on our way through town, we headed to another free beachside campground, this time Cosy Corner which is just west of Albany, near West Cape Howe N.P. We saw our first ever bandicoot here and hung out with a couple of lovely Spanish girls who we also met at Two Peoples Bay.
-> Two Peoples Bay
-> Southern Brown Bandicoot
-> Albany Harbour
Parry's Beach
Unfortunately for the towns of Denmark and Walpole, the calling of Margaret River ensued we didn't stick around this area for too long. We stayed at Parry's Beach which allowed us to check out the Valley of the Giants Tree Top Walk, climb Mount Frankland and visit the much hyped Greens Pool beach area. For some reason, we were slightly underwhelmed, but that's okay, the going had been pretty good so far!!
On our way out of the area, we spent a night at "Sid's Place" - $5 a night for a hot shower and camping on this blokes ramshackle property; what an experience! Unfortunately, my first mechanical maintenance of Clancy took place at Sid's and a tale ensued involving two old men, an exchange of cigarettes, cordless drills, screws and some bizarre conversation. Oh, and no I haven't taken up smoking!!
-> Greens Pool, Denmark
-> Valley of The Giants
Margaret River
And suddenly, just like that, we have two contenders for the "Our Favourite Place" category. How good are moments when expectations meet reality!
Incredible beaches with world class surf breaks littered along the coastline, millions of wineries down every road you turn and breweries everywhere. Not to mention the great townships nestled amongst the amazing, seemingly endless, native forests ... the recent years of listening to my botanist sister Chloe are paying off!
I could go on, but here are the things you want to hear:
- Best Surf Spot: Yallingup
- Best Beach: Castle Rock, Dunsbourough
- Best wine we had: Vasse Felix 2013 Reserve Shiraz.
- Best winery for lunch: Leeuwin Estate, we shared a lamb shoulder. Quite possibly the best piece of meat either of us have ever eaten!
- Best brewery: The Beer Farm
-> Pretty Flowers, Pretty Girl!
-> Vasse Felix Winery
-> Castle Rock
-> Windy Day @ Yallingup
-> Margaret River Main Break
Busselton and Harvey Dicksons Country Music Centre
With heavy hearts, we departed Margs and headed to Busselton. Our one night stay here was great, with most of our time spent at the picturesque main beach. The Jetty is obviously the towns main attraction but our fun was had underneath the jetty as we spent an entire morning snorkelling here which was awesome.
-> Busselton Jetty
We headed inland for Harvey Dicksons Country Music Centre, near Boyup Brook; "The Country Music Capital of WA". After reading about this place only on WikiCamps (our camping app), we didn't know what to expect, but wow did we uncover a serious gem! In the middle of a family owned farm, a bloke (Harvey!) has stockpiled a collection of 55 years worth of country music memorabilia and relics, and built a purpose built arena for an annual rodeo and multiple stages for the Boyup Brook Country Music Festival, both of which attract 3,000 attendees.
An entire afternoon was spent here wandering round in awe trying to justify what exactly we were witnessing. I think the photos below will give you a slight appreciation of this place .... And for the record, we'll be willing guests if anyone wants to head there for the Country Music Festival!
Bunbury
After Harvey's, a couple of low key days were had camping by the Collie River, catching Redfin, Yabbies and Freshwater Crayfish (Marron as the locals call them). We then headed in to Bunbury for a night to catch up with a mate (and his now family of four!) whom moved here at the end of year 12 and we had such a good night catching up and talking rubbish with them!!
-> Black Diamond Lake (near Collie)
Onwards we travelled to Perth and here we are now!
Hope everyone is well back home.
Maddy and Luke
(Chapter 3 written by Luke)