Week 13, Monday 26 April – 2 May 2010

Here we go again, still playing catch-up...

Monday we left Cheyne beach (I should note that I saw a bandicoot at the camp-site there the night before – at least I think it was a bandicoot. Jen can't tell you, because she didn't see it...!) and did a little tour of the local coastline. Two Peoples Bay National Park was very pretty, in particular Little Beach.



We stopped off at Nanarup and watched the surf near the inlet for a little bit before heading up to the Porongurup National Park for lunch. We did a little circular walk through the karri trees (huge eucalypts) and saw the Tree-in-the-Rock, then continued further north to the Stirling Range National Park to camp at Moingup Springs Campground. This area is lauded for its wildflowers in springtime – we were 5 months too early! Linda and Brendan in the Bushcamper turned up here this evening as well. It seems we can't escape each other! With that in mind, we exchanged numbers and agreed to meet up to do a little off-roading together through the D'Entrecasteaux National Park.

On Tuesday, spurred on by the talk from our Welsh host at the campground, as well as the grey nomad determination to climb whatever is put in front of them, we made a fairly weak attempt at climbing Bluff Knoll. It was pretty steep, and we got some lovely views even part way up, but the fact is, we're lazy and just not fit enough to climb a real hill! Great spot though. (Kathryn and Katie, you'd have loved this section, and been terribly disappointed in us!) We later met a very capable pair of grey nomads, who I'd guess were in their mid to late 60s, who told us they had completed the Bluff Knoll return climb – they noted that the books said it took 2-3 hours and boasted it took them 7.5 hours! Fantastic effort!



We continued on around the Stirling National Park by our preferred mode of transport (who needs to walk when you have a Priscilla?!) getting some nice views on route. Then we headed south again through Mount Barker to Albany. We camped the night at Albany after stocking up on food in the local shopping centre.

On Wednesday we did the tourist drive around Torndirrup National Park (just south of Albany). Note the number of National Parks in WA – each one has an entry fee of $11 – unless you buy a 12 month pass for $80 as we have!) Torrndirrup is very pretty. We stopped at a great snorkeling location near Mistaken Island, then carried on round to Jimmy Newhills Harbour, where the steep cliffs drop into a small natural harbour (named after a fisherman or convict who saved himself there, depending on which story you believe).



We used the bbqs at Frenchman's Bay for snag lunch (finally found a good sausage – WA seems to do English and Irish style pork sausages, first time we've found a decent sausage in Australia!!) finishing up with the beautiful Gap Bridge. The Blowholes here were also impressive.



We ventured on around the coast hoping to free camp at Cosy Corner, but discovered it was full. So we were forced to carry on into West Cape Howe National Park, where we found a fantastic camp at Shelley Beach – my favourite yet. And free. Our neighbours were largely locals fishing for salmon (they caught a few too). We were as close as you can get to the most Southerly point in Western Australia. Great spot.



Oh, and we also had para-gliders landing on the beach just in front of us!



The next morning we decided (well, I decided!) that Priscilla was missing a little 4wd action. She's particularly fond of sand, and West Cape Howe's track to Dunsky Beach has plenty of that, so we dropped the tire pressures and set off. The track is lined with conveyor belt in places to make it easier across soft sand patches, but a lot of this has been torn up by other drivers, so it was frequently more of an obstacle! Priscilla (of course) performed perfectly – we were a little concerned when,not long after we'd set off, we came across a guy in an old Toyota Hilux who took three attempts to get up a bit of a sandy climb. We needn't have worried, for Priscilla it was a breeze (you can pretty much hear her sighing, “Really. Is that the best you can throw at me?”)


After our little off-road excursion, we carried on round to William Bay National Park and Greens Pool, which people rave about, but the weather wasn't really putting it in its best light when we were there. We camped that night at Parry Beach, $7 a night so pretty cheap, and we had our first fire in ages ($5 for a barrow load from the caretaker of the site).

I should note that Jennie lost our small wooden brush (known affectionately as Brushy Brush) in West Cape Howe. While I was using the compressor to inflate the tires after our trip to Dunsky Beach, she decided to brush out the sand from Priscilla's crooks and crevices. It seems she then left Brushy Brush on one of the side steps. Brushy Brush of course did not make it as far as Parry Beach. Jen was worryingly distressed by this, but I suppose she's given to odd attachments to brushes.

We decided to stay on for a second night at Parry Beach, mainly because it was so cheap, but also because we could have another fire. And, I had a little surf – started very badly, but once I'd found a nice little left break, I was finally catching my first unbroken waves. Lots of fun. Linda and Brendan in the bushcamper arrived that evening as well, and joined us for dinner around the fire. It was less than successful for us though, as the rain started just when we put our food on the grill, so we had to finish it off on the stove under umbrellas! In the morning though, we were much more successful, and had a full mashings breakfast, cooked partly on the grill over the fire. Lovely.



On Saturday we drove around the Walpole wilderness area seeing lots of very tall karri trees (all very pretty). We then met up with Linda and Brendan at Shannon camp ground, from where we planned to set off for a little off-road trip together.



On Sunday we wound around the Shannon tourist drive around the forests with Linda and Brendan, then headed down to Windy Harbour and Salmon Beach. On route we tried rather unsuccessfully to find out more about the 4wd tracks in the D'Entrecasteaux National Park, which runs along the south-west corner of the south-west of WA. We visited the famous Pemberton trees, which have prongs hammered into them as a form of ladder, and used to be used as fire look-outs to spot bush-fires. I attempted to climb the Bicentennial tree, but found a sense of mortality has finally caught up with me, and only made it halfway!



We free-camped at Big Brook Arboretum that night with Linda and Brendan, planning on a little off-road trip to the D'Entrecasteaux National Park the next day.

Love to all, especially Big Al, get well soon Mr T.
Claire, of Jen and Claire Fame

Week 12, Monday 19 -25 April 2010

Bugger, we don't seem to be catching up on this at all! Going to try to get up to date with a few shorter blogs in quick succession. Here we go....

We booked in to the Esperance camp-site for an extra night, and spent Monday walking along the beach into town, noseying about, having a rare proper coffee and visited Sammy, the local sea-lion resident at the large pier. This is where we first met Brendan and Linda, who are are travelling around WA in a bushcamper (high top landcruiser with a bed inside – INSIDE! In this cold weather, how we long for an inside....!) That night more young European backpackers kept us up even later with their drinking games in the camp kitchen. Honestly, the young people of today...

On Tuesday we set off for Cape le Grande National Park, which is about 50km east of Esperance. We'd been told this was really beautiful, so we were looking forward to it. There are lots of brochures with pictures of kangaroos lazing on pristine white beaches next to turquoise clear waters. We headed first to the campground at Le Grande Beach which we'd been told was nicer than the campground at Lucky Bay as the sites are more secluded. We decided we liked the spot, but wanted to check out Lucky Bay first, so went over there to discover the car park that is Lucky Bay campground! And it was rammed. So we decided to head back to Le Grande Beach and stay for a couple of nights. The weather wasn't perfect, so we didn't see the best of these beaches, but it was still pretty nice. We set up the awning on the back of the tent for first time since we set off in January (3 months on the road now!) and played boggle that evening with the sound of the waves crashing nearby.





On Wednesday we had a lazy day at Le Grande Beach. I had a rather pathetic attempt at surfing – what can I say, not the right waves! More boggle that night in the annex after a Thai red chicken curry, nice.





The next day we toured the rest of the park, heading back to Lucky Bay to catch up with the kangaroos, but still no joy on that front. To be fair, it wasn't really sunbathing weather. Thistle Cove next to Lucky Bay is particularly lovely (although Jen spotted a dead Port Jackson shark). With the weather turning bad and rain promised, we headed back to Esperance and decided a night in a hotel was necessary. We got a deal and stayed at the Best Western Motel – have to say we wouldn't have been very happy if we'd paid full price, it was a bit of a 1970's throw-back room!

Thistle Cove


Port Jackson Shark


On Friday, we did the tourist drive out of Esperance around the headlands and beaches. It was a pretty wild day, so I wasn't getting in the water. Some lovely spots on route though.



To atone for our hotel spending sins, we drove into the Fitzgerald River National Park and camped at Hammersley Inlet for free. We had hoped to camp at Quoin Head, which the Dutch couple at Coffin Bay had told me was amazing, but despite the road being open, no camping was permitted. Hammersley Inlet was a nice little stop though, and we met up with Linda and Brendan in their Bushcamper again. They were travelling with Nic and Ina, a German couple in another Bushcamper. We had a drink with them that evening before an early bed and another cold night!



On Saturday we did a bit of a circuit of that area of the Fitzgerald River National Park, which was really lovely. We drove west on a dirt 2wd track, stopping at the exposed coastal beaches as we went. A large swell had come in, and the surf was huge, so I decided the board could rest easy in the comfort of its bag atop Priscilla. We watched a huge pod of dolphins at East Mylies Beach fishing in the surf while a sea eagle circled over our heads.



Then we headed back west, and took the 4wd track to Quoin Head, our first bit of off-road for a little while. The track was fine, a bit slow in parts, with a steep rocky final descent to the beach at Quoin Head. Quoin Head really was lovely as well. Shame there was no camping!



That night we pushed on to Bremmer Bay and camped there for the night. Absolutely freezing! We circled town beforehand in search of someone showing the football, but Foxtel apparently doesn't reach such remote parts.... Instead we sat in the tent and watched Priscilla (the filum!) on the laptop! That movie just gets better the more you watch it, especially when you can be saying “we've been there” “ooh, that's where we saw the storm” etc as you watch it and recognise the locations.

On Sunday we drove around Bremmer Bay headland to check out Little Boat Harbour (where there's a dive trail which we thought about dipping into, but decided it was a bit beyond our snorkelling skills) and around the little bays which frame the headland watching the fishermen on route. This is a really lovely area, and we decided that we'll have a our beach shack on the hill above Native Dog Beach where I almost went out for a surf, but eventually chickened out.



We carried on around the south coast, checking out Cape Riche on route., then headed into Waychinicup National Park (which is beautiful) where we hoped to camp for the night. We found a lovely spot which a fisherman was about to vacate, but as we waited, a large rental motor-home full of drunk blokes pulled up, presumably on a stag weekend. We decided they wouldn't make the best neighbours and headed back out of the park to Cheyne Beach and camped there instead.

Hope you're all well.

Lots of love,
Claire, of Jen and Claire Fame

Week 11, Monday 12 -18 April 2010

Ok, we're some way behind on the blogging, so going to try to keep this short and sweet (I can hear the deep sighs of relief from here)...

First thing on Monday, I called a tour operator and booked us on a sea-lion and dolphin tour at Baird Bay – extraordinarily exciting! Jen was a bit nervous about being in the water with them, so she was booked on as tour photographer for the day. We drove up the coast from Coffin Bay to Streaky Bay, stopping to look at the coast a few times on route.

Streaky Bay camp-site is the busiest camp-site we've seen – it was rammed. Luckily, they had some unpowered sites left. Once inside the camping area, a sign warned that there was a mouse infestation! We set up camp then went to the tiny camp kitchen and spent the evening there eating dinner, playing on the internet and talking to the other campers who came through. Fishing is the go on this coast, and pretty much everyone was there for that purpose. We met a nice family who were camped next to us, and let the young boys have a sneaky peak at the tent on the roof. The parents said they'd been kept awake all night the night before by the sounds of mice trying to get into their tent... It didn't bode well! They'd been out to buy mouse traps, and had (at the recommendation of the hardware store) bought traps which are basically sticky paper. Sounded pretty grim – once a mouse lands on the paper it gets trapped, and you have to bludgeon it to death! Once left alone in the camp kitchen, as we quietly researched on the web, the mice began to make themselves known. One even came out of the grill above the oven! They're actually quite cute, but I can't say I slept very well – everyone (including Jen) had wound me up by saying the little blighters would quite happily climb the ropes up to our tent on the roof!

We awoke on Tuesday early and found no mouse damage, but they had had a good go at our neighbouring campers. Three had made their way into their tent over-night, one under the parents' bed! Two were bludgeoned after being stuck on the sticky paper, not a pretty sight apparently! So we were fairly happy to leave Streaky Bay!

We headed down to Baird Bay for the sea-lion and dolphin tour. There were about 12 of us on the boat. I wasn't overly impressed with the people running the tour, although the boat itself was first class, but the time in the water with the sea-lions was amazing. They told us that the sea-lions would play with us for as long as we stayed in the water, and they weren't wrong. Unfortunately it was freezing, so I couldn't stay in as long as I would have liked, even with my wetsuit on. They warned us not to try to touch the sea-lions from above, or to dive down on them from above, but said if we put a hand out, they might well come and nuzzle us, and if we dived, the sea-lions would follow. All true, and it was amazing – Dad, all those hours swimming under water rather than on top finally had a purpose! The sea-lions are incredibly playful, and love to join in as you dive down, doing whatever you do with twice as much grace, and five times as many tricks! One of the younger ones was diving down and chasing me, then coming up to do spinning jumps out of the water! I think he thought it was a competition, and was very disappointed with my attempts to imitate him. Really wonderful experience. One the best things I've ever done.



I even managed a few underwater shots with the disposable waterproof camera we bought.



After the sea-lions, we had a fairly rushed swim with the dolphins. The dolphins are more aloof and we were warned that they may stay for an hour, or disappear within minutes. By the time we found them I was shaking uncontrollably with cold, but forced myself in and waited as a large pod of dolphins circled around us. The boat immediately shot off, and a teenager was understandably quite concerned about being left in the deep water without an immediate escape route - the water where we met the dolphins was much deeper, and more likely to be inhabited by sharks as well as dolphins. Two of the tour operators came into the water with us this time, both wearing long cords from their ankles. These emit a pulse to try to repel sharks. The boat circled around to effectively corral the dolphins around us. All in all, it was all a little discomforting. The dolphins swam through though, and I had my brief encounter with them in the wild. They're nowhere near as fun as sea-lions (at least not in this environment, they were probably too worried about the sharks as well!), but they were beautiful nonetheless.



And as we left, one put on a little display of tail flapping for Jen.



That night we camped a spot in the sand dunes near Point Brown, as recommended to us by the Dutch couple in Coffin Bay. Really beautiful spot, only locals tend to go there as its completely unmarked, but a little windy for us on the coast. And, would you believe it, there were more mice! Luckily again, none made it into the tent, but there were a hell of a lot of little footprints around the car in the morning!



Wednesday we awoke early to start the long drive across the Nullabor. We filled up with fuel and water at Ceduna,then set off onto the “treeless plain”. We detoured on route to go to the coast to watch the surfers at Cactus Beach, a famous break here in Australia.



We camped that night at 157k Peg Rest Area (which I later realised was numbered 666 in the Camps Guide, number of the beast!)

Great sunset that night.



Presumably in an attempt to break the monotony of the Nullabor crossing, someone has constructed the Nullabor Links – the World's Longest Golf Course! The 18 holes stretch between Ceduna and Kalgoorlie, par 72, and 1365km! We didn't partake.



On Thursday we set off quite early again, stopping for views over the Nullabor Bunda Cliffs, before crossing the border to Western Australia. The border crossing was uneventful, the lady asked if we had any fruit or veg, had a quick look in the foot wells and the fridge, then let us through. The drive along the Nullabor itself was fine, a lot more trees than we thought (Jen spent quite a few minutes shouting “there's a tree”, “there's another tree” etc....) Then we drove along Australia's longest straight road – 141kms. That night we camped at another rest area, Woolbra Homestead, and woke up on Friday morning in a rain cloud, which was a bit bizarre.



Friday we made it to Norseman,the official end of the Nullabor, and decided to head up to Kalgoorlie, so Jen could once again try to hunt for gold...!

On Saturday we went a-gold-digging (well, detecting) on a tour with a group called “Finders Keepers”. They drove us out to a pastoral lease where they have permission to fossick, playing some pretty awful gold-digger music on route (not the Kanye West kind), then sent each pair out with a metal detector and a pick to find their fortunes. One of the four couples did find a small nugget of gold (about the size of a small marble), but unfortunately it wasn't us. Boo hiss! We spent about two and half hours searching through the scrub in the heat, and found zilch. Not even an old bullet. Perhaps Jen's not destined to find us our fortune out here after all... Hmpf.



That night we headed into town and watched United play City – not a great game, but what a finish, one minute to go and the glorious Paul Scholes breaks the sky blues' hearts – He scores goals m'lord, He scores goals.

On Sunday we visited the Super Pit Lookout. The Super Pit is a huge hole in the ground, carved out by giant machinery which is made to look like a tonker toy when seen climbing the contours of the pit from above. And its full of gold. Some stats they give you at the lookout – 800,000 ounces of gold are excavated each year, the pit works 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, its approximately 3.5 kilometres long, 1.5 kilometres wide and 360 metres deep. Its a staggering sight.





Then we made our way back down to Esperance on the coast and camped in town at Bathers Paradise, the cheapest camp-site we could find. It was fine, save for some noisy French backpackers who were up late playing drinking games in the camp kitchen next to our camp. We restrained ourselves from telling them the joke about the difference between Thierry Henry and Lenny Henry (Thierry Henry's still BEEPing French)....

On which note, we'll sign off and try to catch up (as I write this, I'm sat on a beach just south of Freemantle, three weeks ahead of the time of this blog). Sorry its not quite as short as I'd hoped!

Love to all,
Claire, of Jen and Claire Fame