Onwards to Perth

Finally we are on the south coast at the town Esperance, we are staying for a couple of nights as they have some great beaches and National Parks to keep us busy. We decided to sleep in the van as it was pretty cold and very windy when we arrived. When we woke it was raining a bit so instead of going to the national park we did the tourist loop around the coast line. This circular route takes in some fantastic beaches, a wind farm and the pink lake. The lake is only sometimes pink due to the algae and bacteria that builds up in the lake. We walked around the town and stopped for a coffee after we did some food and beer shopping. We headed back to the site to relax and watch some programs we had downloaded from iTunes.
Still very windy and overcast in the morning but we still went to Cape Le Grand National Park.
On route there we saw the damage the bushfires had caused and how close to the town they had reached. This is a beautiful park with some stunning beaches, Lucky Bay is famous for the kangaroos sun bathing on the white sands. Hellfire beach is my favorite, a small cove with blinding white sand. Le Grand beach is a really long part of the coast and again has brilliant white sand.
Frenchman's Peak is a huge rock with a beak like summit, local folklore say it was a huge eagle that took children because they stole the Eagles eggs. You can climb this peak, it takes about 2hrs but it's very steep and not for the faint hearted. Once at the top the views are amazing and all that effort was worth while. Due to how long we stayed at the park we decided to stay another night in Esperance as it was a long drive to Hyden and we were both tired.
Up at 7am as we wanted to get driving early today but we still didn't hit the road until 8.45. The day was hot which makes the drive harder but we arrived at Hyden camp site at 1.30. All checked in so time for a cuppa and something to eat then we view the rock. The Wave Rock is part of a huge mass of granite that covers a massive area. The rock is 15 meters high and 110 meters long The town has a dam at the end of the rock and they have built a small wall at the base to collect the rain water and funnel it into the dam. The wave is a curve in the granite formed by the elements over the years, there are also lots of other Rock features here. They have the Hippo Yawn Rock which basically looks like a head of a hippo with its mouth open. There is also a rabbit proof state barrier fence which spans 1827km, built in 1901 to prevent the invasion of rabbits.
Woke early to lovely sunshine so we did the 3.6km rock walk before breakfast and my cup of tea, once back we had some breakfast and left for the long journey south. We drove a different route as we wanted to go to Tin Horse Highway which is a stretch of road just past Kulin. For about 20km there are objects made from tin cans, barrels and anything else that is tin, well worth the excursion.
Our camp for tonight is in the Porongurup Range where we are going to climb up to the granite skywalk. Amazing how cold it was last night and this morning had to put on trousers and a sweatshirt but weather report said its due to warm up and be 18 degrees today.
The Porongurup Range are the oldest granite mountain range in the world and the most famous in Australia. So after breakfast we head for the granite skywalk or Castle Rock, it's a 3km walk uphill and then a crawl through some large bounders then up a 7 meter ladder until you reach the platform. The views are amazing looking out 360 degrees across the area, the floor is a mesh so you can look through down to the rocks. Just before you reach the platform there is the Balancing Rock which is a huge rock that just balances on a ledge. This walk took us 2hrs to return to the car park, I found it a hard walk but the views are always worth that bit of effort.
The tea room in the village was highly recommended so we went and had a cream tea before we started the next walk/climb/trek. The walk starts with the Tree in the Rock which is a huge tree growing out of a granite bounder. This trek is a combination of huge bounders, thick forest and open ground that covers 5.5kms. The trek takes you to Mandy's peak, Hayward peak and Morgan's view all amazing view points. The walk took us 3.30hrs and I must admit I was shattered afterwards and my knees were hurting bad. A cup of tea and a hot shower and I felt much better. We went for a quick drive to the field opposite before the sunset to watch the kangaroos and there was lots of them. That night is was a clear night and bloody cold again so we slept in the van again.
So our next stop is Albany with its great beaches and military history. We drove to Emu Point where it was lovely and calm and the place where all the mums seem to meet up for a chat.
The next beach is Middleton Beach but it was so windy we couldn't stay there so just went for a walk along the boardwalk. During WW1 it was the safe waters of Albany that all the ships anchored and got ready to depart for war. There is the Anzac Memorial on Mt.Clarence and the National Anzac Centre on Mt.Adelaide both are very moving places.
Time for the weekly shop and fuel tank to refill then it's off to Denmark.
Denmark is another small coastal town with a few tourist highlights mainly beaches. The camp we choose was near the coast and full of kangaroos just wandering around caravans and tents. It was a nice camp because of that reason but we are learning that site owners don't cater well for campers and we always seem to have rubbish facilities. We sat for a while and watched the surfers on the Ocean Road beach before heading into town for a coffee and a walk along the river. The weather turned so we decided we would not spend the day at the beach instead we headed for Walpole, another small coastal town.
On route you past the Green Pool which is a part of the coast that has a lot of bounders in the water so it creates warmest calm pools of water. It was a lovely place and great to swim in but it was too cold for us. Another place we called in was the toffee and cider factory, toffee was mouth watering but the cider was disgusting. So after tasting quite a few samples of toffee we had to buy some.
We arrived at Walpole late afternoon and picked another campsite on the coast, the weather had warmed up so we pitched our tent for the two nights we were staying here. This site also has kangaroos wandering around but also a lot of loud birds. Early hours of the morning it started raining heavy but our tent survived yet another storm. That morning we were booked on the WOW cruise around the coast line and into some inlets. The guy who runs it is Gary and he is such a character and so knowledgable it seems about everything. We learnt about how the continents were formed and the history of Walpole. It lasted 2.30hrs so afterwards as it was still quite early we went to the Giant Tingle Tree which is in the forest full of huge tingle trees but this one is hollow and you can get a car through it. From there we went to the Circular Pond, had no choice really as it was a one way road in the forest. Not much to say about it apart it is circular and has a river running into.
Back at camp for some lunch and some laundry needs doing so hope the rain holds off while it dries. Not a good night as it rained most of it but luckily the washing got dry earlier in the day but table and tent fly sheet are soaked. Drove most of the day with the rain, it seems to follow us but we made it to Margaret River and our camp site for the night. It's a working sheep farm so very rustic but although it's cheaper its a bit far out of town so will look for another one.
Once again we woke to drizzle so headed south to Hamelin Bay where the string rays swim in the wake and around your feet if you go in. As we were so close we went down to Augusta to see what was there but nothing so brought a pie for lunch and turned around.
This area of WA has a huge amount of caves so we decided to visit the Jewel Cave which is the largest in WA and quite impressive.
So Margaret River has the largest concentration of wineries in a area of 25km in the world. So it would be rude not to visit a few of the 128 of them, we booked a tour with Maggie's Tour which takes you to 3 wineries, 2 breweries, a cheese factory and a chocolate factory. For the whole day it cost $80 and you get a really nice lunch, it was a good day and well worth doing.
Stayed in a site by the river for our last night in town which was ok and nice walks along the river. Popped into Woolworths to replenish our fridge before we left but we also headed for the towns fudge shop and we couldn't leave without purchasing some. We stopped at Cowaramup where they are famous for their full size cows along the road side, this comes from their name also being a farming area. Heading north and towards the coast we came to the Canal Rocks, which are rocks that are just off the coast but have the ocean rushing in between them. We read about a pub in Yallingup so we headed there for a massive bowl of wedges and a beer, very nice. Moving further around the coast we come to stop at a camp site on the beach in between Dunsborough and Busselton called Siesta Park, where we are going to stay for 2 nights.
2 nights became 3 as it was such a nice place and the beaches were beautiful with crystal clear water but bloody cold. Dunsborough is a small coastal town with lots of coffee and surf shops, what else do you expect here. Busselton is a larger town that holds an Iron Man contest every year and guys come from all over Australia to compete, we missed watching it by one day. It also has a jetty that is 1.8km long with an underwater observation room that for $32 you can go down and look, we didn't go as think it's a rip off.
After leaving this area which we really liked our next stop was Bunbury. We booked into a site outside of town for 3 nights, we were the only campers there but again a lot of permanent residents. Bunbury is famous for Koombana Beach and it's visiting dolphins but the three days we were there none, even the locals thought it strange. We were told of a nice 5km walk around the mangroves where we might see string rays but we didn't but we did see a flock of rare black Cockatoos. After the walk we came to a park with an outside gym where you use your own body weight on the machines, good fun but hard work.
Our site was opposite the race course and they had a trotting night on so the lady in the info center gave us some free tickets and off we went. Good night but didn't win anything.
When we can we find the local swimming pools and Bunbury had a great center and for £2.50 we had an 50m pool, sauna, steam room and jacuzzi. That afternoon Bunbury had its Christmas parade and carol service, while we were there we were interviewed by the local paper and our photo taken and then we met the deputy major of Bunbury. The next morning I was folding the metal table up to leave and I dropped it on my leg which gave me a 2 inch cut on my shin, bloody painful for days.
Leaving Bunbury we took the inland route so we could visit some small towns on the way. First stop was Harvey and their cheese factory where we sampled and brought some specialized cheeses, also had a coffee and cake. During WW2 Harvey had an internment camp where there is a shine to the POWs and the Italians the camp housed during the war. Harvey also has its own dam and amphitheater by the side of the dam, again a very nice area.
Just before you get to Waroona there is Drakesbrook Weir which is a lovely peaceful lake where we had some lunch and a paddle in the cool waters. This area has a few lakes so we decided to stay at a bush camp by Lake Navarino, the lake is beautiful but the camp is awful. That morning while have breakfast a kangaroo and her Joey jumped right by us, stopped and checked us out then hopped away, magical.
We left the camp quite early for another short drive to Pinjarra, on route we stopped at all the little villages as they all seem to have something to offer the travelers who are passing through. Pinjarra is a small expanding town with a new shopping centre, so we had all the shops we needed. The camp site is within a farm of horses and cows, it was basic but had some really nice people on the site. Another English couple from Brighton came the second day and we got on really well and it was Glen's 60th in a few days, so 1 day camp became 4 days in Pinjarra. They are also traveling around but in the opposite direction to us.
We drove to Dwellingup which is in a National Park and had some lovely walks with pools to swim in, very warm so only walked for a couple of hours. A short drive away is Mandurah which is a costal town with lots of water inlets, I loved this place and we spent all day there. They have lots of new areas around the water which are being developed and you get a place for your cruiser on the waters edge too. Decided to spend another day at the camp as it was Glen's 60th and he asked us to stay so we could help him celebrate. So with Anne, Owen and us spent the evening playing cards, eating and drinking.
So moving on from Pinjarra we headed only a short way to Rockingham where we are staying a couple of days as there is a few things to do there. We are staying in a camp besides two big lakes that they do water skiing on, so entertaining to watch. Went to the headland point where we had lovely views of the coast line as well as Penguin and Seal Island.
Took an early ferry across to the island which only takes 5 minutes and in fact a lot of people walk across the sandbar even though they are warned not too. The island is very small and we walked around and across it within an hour. It's home to a lot of breeding birds and has a pelican rookery.
We paid and took the Seal Island cruise which lasted 45 minutes and take you around both islands where we saw a pod of about 6 dolphins, a huge string ray and just 4 sea lions on the beach.
After our little cruise we headed to the north side to do some snorkeling and try out our new wetsuits as the water so far has been too cold for us. Also used my GoPro and got some good video of the fish and an octopus. Although the island has a large population of the little blue penguins it also has 10 orphan or injured penguins that cannot be release back into the wild so they are kept and looked after by the staff on the island. The last ferry back was at 4pm so we headed back to the jetty and still people are walking back across the sandbar, apart from the strong current there is also the warning of sharks.
Christmas shopping day, a budget of $20 to spend in the shopping mall, difficult task this will be.
Once shopping is complete we head to Fremantle to sort out our accommodation for the next 3 days and after phoning 3 campsites we decided to book into the YHA at the prison, so now we are here for 5 days until Boxing Day.
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