In the words of Paul Mcartney. 24th Nov 2021

And in the End

 The love you take

 Is equal to the love you make   

Crossing the Border and the Great Australian Bight

It seems it is time to drive across this huge country and back to Victoria but not before we drive the state of South Australia which is enormous. 

The Nullabour Plain stretches from Norseman in WA to Ceduna in SA and is approx. 1000kms. This drive takes in the longest stretch in of straight Rd in Australia which is 90 miles (146kms) and guess what?? Its straight! 

Man it was hectic at the border. 

Going to South Australia, nothing just drive on through. Not so on the other side. Cars and trucks lined up waiting to get into WA with a huge police presence. Everyone wearing masks. 

What have we done! I wanted to turn around and go back. We have not seen a mask for about 4 months and have had no restrictions at all.  

Hwy 1 runs parallel to the Great Australian Bight. These sheer cliffs drop straight into the Southern Ocean. We have been looking forward to seeing this. I have seen it from the air, but to stand on top of the cliffs and look along the edge of the country is again, amazing.

We were going to camp on the cliffs but it was windy and we wanted to get some more distance behind us so we found this old stone hut about another 80kms down the road that you can camp at.

 We had it all to ourselves.

 Check it out.

 

We have managed to stay at free camps the whole way across SA but did have to stop for a shower at a roadhouse as we stunk after going days with out. $4 a pop bliss.

Tomorrow we cross into Victoria. We will take the route less travelled of course hanging on till the last minute of our 

"Travel on the gravel" 

Feature Creature 

Iveco the barking Gecko

Esperance / Merivale and Cape Le Grand 17th to 20th

The drive from Hyden to Esperance is through wheat country and it is harvest time so the paddocks were busy. 

The place to stay at Esperance is Cape Le Grand National Park however it was booked solid.  What to do??? Ever intrepid we found a great place called Dunn's Eco park. It joins onto the back of Cape Le Grand and is tucked in the bush on a working cattle farm. The vibe is camp anywhere in the camp ground which is in a stand of Blue gums. There are composting toilets a grand camp kitchen all on solar.  No showers except for a bush one with only cold water. We stayed three nights here and really enjoyed it. While here we spent one day just hanging around camp as the weather was drizzling on and off. There was a rope swing that kids enjoyed.

Bush shower (too cold for this)

Art work on BBQ area

Epic camp kitchen in back ground

 The next day we did the  'Great Ocean drive' which takes in the coast line around Esperance. Which is to die for.  It is a 40km drive that takes in all the bays and beaches on the west side of town. It was great day to do this drive as the weather was still cold but the rain held off. 

                                                         OMG check out these beaches

Beach number 1: West beach

Beach number 2: Blue Haven Beach

Beach number 3: Salmon Beach

Beach number 4:  Is actually called 4th Beach (LOL)

This is as close to surfing as we got.

Beach number 5:Twilight beach. 

This beach had the softest sand I have ever felt. It is even softer than Shelly beach (Portsea)

The water and rocks are picture perfect. It was actually hard to take it all in when your sensors are on overload. Outstanding.

Beach 6: Observatory beach

Beach 7: Ten mile? (We think). 

We saw so many beautiful beaches and each one was different 

A great afternoon.

But for me the real highlight was Cape Le Grand National Park. 

This part of the coast is undeveloped just how nature intended. Its beauty is absolutely jaw dropping. 

Hell fire bay not another soul.

We topped the night off with a visit to Hell fire and Lucky bay in Cape Le Grand National Park. 

The sand on Lucky bay was as white as snow and sounded like snow crushing under the car tyres as we drove along. 

What a fabulous place. It really reminds me of Wilsons Prom in Victoria (which is my favourite place in the world) and I always measure things by the beauty of the Prom and this is the only place that comes close if fact nearly on a par. 

We only had limited time on the South West coast as we stayed up North in the warmth for as long as we could. But this part of the WA coast is a trip within itself. I think we will be back.

Sadly we also organised our SA boarder passes while here and are pointing the car towards home.