After the long drive across the Nullarbor we were desperate to get off the highway. Rob remembered a 4WD track that headed south off the highway at Balladonia so we decided to take that (once we actually found it). The road was slow going and very wet in sections but it was a nice change from the very boring highway. We made it into Cape Arid National Park just on dark and camped at the base of Mount Ragged. In the morning we realised we were in the middle of wildflower country, something we hadn't been able to see in the dark of the night before. In our first few weeks in WA we have been lucky enough to catch the wildflower season, which WA is famous for, and have seen so many beautiful flowers along the coast around Esperance. However, seeing all of the amazing colours on that first day as we drove through Cape Arid NP was truly unforgettable.
We took a very rough, slow going track to the coast to a place called Israelite Bay, which is the most eastern point of WA before the great stretch of the Great Australian Bight. The drive was slow but beautiful so there was plenty to look at on the way. The coast was made up of earie salt lakes and rugged, windswept white beaches. There was an old shack with whale bones out the front, a telegraph station ruin and a couple of old pioneer graves, all very interesting but slightly creepy. There wasn't a person for miles and we felt very isolated. So after some lunch on the beach, we decided we would head a little closer to civilisation to spend the night. We ended up at a beach called Alexander's. It was, like all beaches around here, made up of white sand, turquoise waters and the horizon was scattered with islands (there are over 100 of them along this coast). And just in case we doubted we were in paradise, Rob cast his lure into a school of salmon and we had dinner sorted for us and the slightly odd guy back at the camp site.
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| Jarvis and Rob walking on the salt lake. |
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| Rob in Fishing Heaven. |
Due to the fact that you are not allowed to bring any fresh fruit or veges across the state border, we were now down to eating dried and canned goods along with anything we could pull out of the ocean (which tended to be salmon salmon and more salmon). So we decided it was time to replenish our fruit and vege supply and maybe even partake in some town activities (like coffee or maybe even a meal out), it had been a while. So we settled into the caravan park in Esperance for a week. Esperance is a lovely town and it services a large regional area so it has most shops and services of a big town. It is also surrounded by amazing beaches and national parks so we spent quite a bit of time exploring those. We also spent some lazy mornings drinking coffee with the locals by the jetty, rob did some fishing and supplied us with more squid (fast becoming Jarvis' favourite), we fed the local sea lion 'sammy' the off cuts of Rob's fishing successes and meandered around the shops and playgrounds. We found a great pub just out of town called The Soak. The pub is over 100 years old and used to serve not only as a pub but also as a source of water from the soak on which it is built. It has a fabulous beer garden under 100 year old Morton Bay Fig trees.
But after a week of this, we started to feel a little too settled with the grey nomads and crazy euro backpackers in the caravan park and were in danger of becoming trailer trash. So it was decidedly time to move on. The ultimate goal was Albany, where we hope to find some work and hang out till the end of the year. However, to delay the inevitable pause in our adventures, we headed to Bremer Bay for a couple of sneaky days on the boat fishing. The fishing was unsuccessful but we weren't fussed, it was great fun exploring the bay and just to make the day even sweeter, we scored a freebie bream from the local fisheries officer. We cooked him up on the BBQ in foil and it was a fabulous and easy change from salmon. The beaches of course were all perfect, the boating was fun and it felt like we were fortunate enough to come across a gorgeous secret part of the world which is about to become not so secret and boom with tourism. The recently upgraded streets and the property subdivisions about to start would indicate that the next time we pass through here it will not be the same.
We packed up and headed west to Albany, which may or may not become our temporary home until Christmas. We'll just wait and see, it will all be work dependant.
