Esperance to.....

The most common sight in Australia; a ute with a dog!

Jan 18: Our first evening in Esperance we walked down to the docks to see huge tankers loading up with grain. This part of the country is a major producer of grain for export.

A man and his son met us as we walked to the water and he told us to have a look for a large sea lion that was grazing along the shore. We found him and watched him play with his dinner; a huge fish that looked like a salmon. Bob was attempting to get some shots of him and he played coy until he finally surfaced and gave us a big grin. Then off he went, continuing to toss his dinner in the air.







The next day we drove the Twilight Beach scenic road out of Esperance, past multi-million $$ homes nestled in sand dunes. The beaches are pure white sand and the ocean a colour that is beyond fabulous. We stopped by Pink Lake which has a pale pink cast to it due to an algae in the salt water. It produces carotin which gives it the colour. The carotin is harvested for Vitamin A supplements.








Photo's: Pink Lake; southern shore of West Australia on Twilight Beach

We had a huge laugh before we left Esperance to drive to Hyden (almost due north). We grocery shopped at a large Woolworth's in town to replenish the stock we'd eaten or lost at the border. It was a beautiful store with everything we wanted or needed. As I entered the store, I held the door for a beautifully groomed elderly couple. We smiled and greeted and off we went to the veggie section. Bob joined me a few minutes later and was picking up some items from another bin when the woman approached me, put her hand on my arm and asked "Has anyone ever told you that you look like Olivia Newton-John?" I smiled and said "No, actually...I never have..." She said "Well you do! We only saw her this morning on a talk show and that is why the resemblance struck us!" I thought I'd better be a bit cautious and asked "So! How is Olivia looking these days???" She replied: "Oh! She's a beautiful as ever!!!" THEN I felt flattered and Bob and I had our morning smile. I didn't detect a white cane anywhere however I'll bet it was there somewhere !!!

Darla and Peter, we are certain you are going to eat your hearts out when you see the following pics. We drove 500 km round trip to ride the big wave. Never having surfed before this, we were excited and wanted to try out some "hang 10" routines we'd seen on tele. As it happened, we were able to accomplish surfing fully dressed and without boards! We even managed to stay dry and undamaged. Our style sucked a bit but you must admit, with waves like these, you have to be a bit envious that the old "wrinklies" did so well.








Photo's: Surfin' fools!


This wonderful sculpture is a natural rock formation called "Wave Rock". It is 15 metres high and 110 metres long and is granite. People will drive 800 km round trip in a day to "hang 10" on her. We stayed in the shadow of the rock at a campsite and returned to the southern shores. It was quite a trek, even in two days but was worth the drive.

Jan 19: We awakened as the sky was only beginning to lighten, to what sounded like monkey's in the trees around our van. It was the galah's (cockee's) and this is the noise they make only at very early light and just after dusk. So strange and a sound they do not make throughout the day.

We left early to drive to Albany and had been told by the camp manager to have lunch at a restaurant called "The Lily". After hours of driving we arrived and knew why it was so highly recommended.

In 1980, Pleun and Hennie arrived with their three daughters from Holland. Pleun was a musician in Holland and had two dreams; one was to create music in Australia. His other dream was to build a replica 16th century Dutch windmill. Within 8 years the windmill was built and opened as a restaurant. In 1994 they bought a heritage train station and moved it to the property and after refurbishing it piece by piece (entirely on their own), opened the windmill as an old fashioned working flour mill. The flour is used at the restaurant and sold around south-western Australia. As we were late arriving, all other customers had left when we'd finished our delicious lunch and Hennie told us their story of hopes and dreams accomplished. There is one tragic sidebar. Their youngest daughter Debby was killed in a car accident a few years ago. The tears welled in her eyes as she quietly told us this and our hearts broke for them. This place in the foothills of the mountains was so comfortable we could have stayed on. They have created an oasis for travellers that is incredibly unique.


The Lily

Pleun wanted to find other musicians to record a cd and failing at that, he used a synthesizer for backup while he played his sax and recorded his dream cd in his own studio. It is a beautiful cd and we favour it above any others as we drive along.

Reluctantly we drove away and were suddenly assailed with giant bugs, smacking against the windshield and leaving streaks of liquid all over the glass. We were "ewww"ing and "yuckkkk"ing for what seemed like hundreds of km's and once we stopped we saw that they were like giant shadflies. Sudden death at 110 km/hr!!

Jan 20: Albany is a pretty village on the ocean. We found our camp and went downtown to the farmer's market, a craft market and a mixed media art show. We also watched a protest against the Iraq situation in the central square while we sipped moccachino and ate sticky pudding (DON'T EVEN THINK OF ASKING!!!) at a cafe nearby.

Jan 21 We drove to Northcliffe via the Torndirrup National Park on the peninsula south of Albany. Here we saw a natural granite bridge and a huge cliff called The Gap...a place where the smooth rock face drops 150 metres to the sea. Amazingly, rock formations on the Australian southern coast can be matched up with formations on Antarctica's northern coast before they broke away millions of years ago when the land mass separated. Believe it or not, Australia is moving at a rate of 5 cm per year!

Photo's: The Natural Bridge; The Gap


Heading toward Northcliffe we stopped at the Valley of the Giants where we climbed to a walkway in the tops of Tingle trees (eucalyptus) that are 400 years old.



Photo's: Canopy walk; trunk of a tingle tree that has been burned out or eaten by insects yet continues to live

We had read in the Lonely Planet Guide of a farm near Northcliffe where the owners take in campers, backpackers and B&B'ers. They adopt baby orphaned roo's and also raise alpaca's and horses in the Karri forest. This place is definitely rustic however the charm is in the animals that roam around the camp sites. We met "Vicky" (see photo) and "Gloria" and other lovely creatures. No need to set an alarm clock; the rooster was crowing away before dawn and the galah's were doing their routine to ensure we were awake by 5:30 a.m.


Photo's: "Vicky" the orphan roo; Galah's (we refer to as "monkey-birds")


Today (22nd) we drove to Augusta on the southern coast and on the way stopped at Pemberton to climb the Gloucester Tree in the forest. This is 60 metres and 153 rungs high and was originally used as a lookout to watch for forest fires back in the 1960's. The fire duty person would climb up every morning, stay all day and climb back down before dusk. It was quite the climb and a beautiful view at the top. Once back on the ground we fed the beautiful parrots that live in the park.


Photo's: View from the bottom; view part way up; view from the top; wild yet friendly parrots on the ground

Our camp ground in Augusta is on the Blackwood River which opens to the Southern Ocean and Indian Ocean at the point where they meet. It is very beautiful and the landscape is green and lush with most income derived from vineyards. Such a contrast to the places we visited in eastern and central Australia.

Jan 23: We were startled last evening when we read the newspaper and saw that north Sydney (where Merryne and Dave live) was threatened with fire. Bob emailed them to determine if they were affected and Merryne replied that they were away for the weekend and their car broke down so they weren't home when the excitement happened. The fire reached the boundary of their neighbours property and when Dave and Merryne arrived home they found fire trucks filling the streets. Their neighbour graciously hosed down their house but their home smells of smoke....very unsettling. We are grateful they are ok.

We also read that the gorge we drove through in the Flinders Ranges and the town we stayed in was completely flooded with intense rain storms. The dam in the village of Hawker (where we camped) burst and flooded the entire area. Aren't we the fortunate ones? Shocking when we saw the photo's and read the articles in the paper.


Love to all.
Sharon
P.S. We have driven approximately 15,000 km since we began our journey in New Zealand. It's been a treat....well perhaps with the exception of the Nullarbor!!!
xoxo