ESPERANCE AND CAPE LE GRANDE NP 4.12.12

We left our campsite at a record breaking time of of 7.30 this morning and arrived in the lovely town of Esperance. After attending to some shopping we went to the Information Centre to find out about the local area. We met a fascinating man in the carpark, a German immigrant about our age, church goer, youth worker, farmer. He was a delightful man full of energy and enthusiasm who told us about camping areas in Germany where you pay a minimum few Euros to camp and then extra for all the other things like showers, dump points, power, washing machines etc. With so many vans totally self- sufficient, even to the point of carrying their own grey water, it makes a lot of sense. It would be a great thing for Australia where, at present, you pay a flat rate whether you use the facilities or not.

On advice from the woman at the centre we drove the 40 km Great Ocean Drive loop road which took us along a scenic route past stunning beaches. We stopped at every opportunity to look and photograph the magnificent coastline. The colours were amazing. Pure white beaches fringed water of clear blue.

 

After re-fuelling, we left Esperance and headed for Cape Le Grande NP which we'd heard so much about.

We camped at Le Grande campground, one of two in the NP as it was the most sheltered from the cold, SE wind. The sites are hunkered down behind the dunes and the low coastal scrub, and separated by vegetation so each one is private. The facilities include a good camp kitchen, hot showers and flush toilets.. all for $6 each. We explored our immediate area and took a long walk along the beach after we arrived mid-afternoon.

Next day we started out with a swim .. our first in the Southern Ocean. Interestingly, Australia is the only nation to recognise The Southern Ocean - to most of the world it is just part of the Indian Ocean. We didn't stay in for long but enjoyed the invigorating, crispness of the water!! On the way down we saw a small snake on the sandy track. It was a grey-green and had black running stitch lines along the length of itsbody, except for the tail which was slate grey. It tolerated our cautious inspection before sliding into the low coastal scrub. We spent the day driving though the park and stopping at all the places of interest. There are fabulous walks from our beach along the 15km coastal track to Hellfire Bay which has sand like icing sugar, to Thistle Cove, Lucky Bay and Rossiter Bay.

Thistle Cove

We also went to Frenchman's Peak which has extensive views over the park. While we were at Lucky Bay we watched the kangaroos lazing on the beach and had a mother and joey come close to us. We did a bit of bird spotting and watched four Japanese divers with SCUBA gear and very impressive underwater cameras as they entered the water.

In the afternoon the rain came down and we bolted for the comfort of our van. While we were in the camp kitchen cooking dinner we met a Danish woman and then a Frenchman who accepted our offer of pumpkin and cabbage to fatten out his meal of noodles.

We only skimmed the surface of this amazing place and plan to return.