This morning we followed the Great Ocean Drive, a 40km loop, which firstly takes you west around Pink Lake & then loops down to the ocean where we travelled east along the coast back to Esperance. This was our first real sighting of the crystal clear waters, white sand beaches, rocky headlands & hundreds of small islands around this area! The islands are all part of the Recherche Archipelago. Being a lovely sunny day the water was the most magical aqua colour in the shallower water graduating to deep blue in the deeper water! The drive takes you past Ten Mile Beach, Nine Mile Beach, Observatory Point, Twilight Beach, Fourth Beach. Salmon Beach, Blue Haven Beach & West Beach to the Rotary Lookout from where you get great views of the city & the off-shore islands. We stopped at many of the beaches & took way too many photos!! Arrived back at van in time for lunch as we were booked to have massages this afternoon. Unfortunately the massage lady phoned to say she had twisted her ankle & could we postpone till tomorrow! So we had a more leisurely lunch & I spent hours on blog, again! John read & bemoaned the fact that we don't have a second computer here!
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| Scenery along the Great Ocean Drive, Esperance - Aqua & Blue Ocean, Bays, Headlands, White Sand, & Rocky Islands |
Thursday, September 23, 2010
This morning we headed out to Cape le Grand National Park, a 45 min drive, 50 km south-east of Esperance. This is one of WA's most spectacular national parks with its 'wild coastal scenery, rugged granite peaks, sweeping sandplain heathlands & white sandy beaches & bays'. 'Massive rock outcrops form an impressive chain of peaks, the result of erosion & movement of the Earth's crust over the past 600 million years'. The sand plains support a variety of plant & animal life. We saw a lot of coastal scenery yesterday but the beaches & bays today were just 'jaw dropping'!! We had been told about Lucky Bay & it was just beautiful! The aqua & blue water colour, the white sand, the rocky headlands & the off-shore islands made you want to keep taking photos 'till you get it right!' The fact is that no photo can really do it justice & sometimes it is better to just look & soak up the atmosphere of the place! The colour of the water is influenced by three things, the sun, the clarity of the water & the underlying white sand. In 2006 the National Committee on Soil & Terrain carried out tests to find the whitest sand beach in Australia & Lucky Bay in Cape le Grand NP near Esperance was judged the whitest sand beach. In late 2008, Queensland challenged the decision with a sample submitted from Whitehaven Beach, Whitsunday but was unsuccessful! Of course we still took far too many photos, once again, one of the dangers of digital photography! As well as the magnificent costal scenery we took more flower & landscape photos in the heathlands, too. Back to town for massages in late afternoon, dinner & off to a concert!
Yes, a live performance at Esperance Civic Centre - Nick Parnell, one man fifty instruments! He is a world class Percussionist & has an incredible array of musical instruments from drums of all shapes & sizes to various whistles and a Vibraphone! He was accompanied on piano by a US pianist , whose name escapes me & I have thrown out the program! The whole evening was quite enjoyable & both performers were very clever.
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| Cape le Grand NP: Lucky Bay & Beach; Frenchmans Peak; Red Leschenaultia; White flower; Melalueuca Suberosa |
Friday, September 24, 2010
Very windy!! I am so glad we did not book boat trip for today!! However not much exciting news for the blog! We had an 'at home day' today. Did some catching up on chores, such as the blog - for Heather & fixing the new large stone guard mud flaps, called 'Rock Tamers', to the Landcruiser -for John. Drive into town in afternoon to gather a few supplies, including really nice meat from the local butcher. Cooked our favourite Pork Chops in Apple Sauce for dinner tonight!
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Beautiful sunny day & only light wind! Into the jetty by 8:45 this morning for a half day cruise on the 'MV Seabreeze IV' around a few of the many islands in the Recherche Archipelago. Now as some of you know boats & I are not altogether compatable, so I took my special anti sea-sick tablets before heading off, felt fine most of trip, just got a little uneasy at one point when looking down at photos on camera - so didn't do that again! We saw Australian Sea Lions & New Zealand Fur Seals lazing about in the sun on some of the rocky islands; a pair of beautiful White-breasted Sea Eagles; dolphins; Cape Barron Geese & various other sea birds. No whales to be seen today. After cruising around looking at all the wildlife we landed at Woody Island for morning tea & a bushwalk. Actually managed some in focus shots of small birds on the island. Sadly neither of us took any really good shots of the Sea Eagle - too much movement from the boat & the bird is so quick at grabbing the fish from the water! John did get one reasonably good in flight shot. Back in Esperance at 1 pm. Lunch in town then back to van, some washing, blogging, reading, resting & cooking for dinner.
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| Esperance Boat Cruise: White-bellied Sea Eagle, in flight & eating fish; View to Cape le Grand from Woody Is; Australian Sea Lions; MV Seabreeze IV at Woody Is Jetty; Sea Spray; New Zealand Fur Seal; Cormorant |
Last day of our week in Esperance! Checked out Esperance Market this morning. Lots of craft & secondhand stuff but no fresh fruit & veggies, sadly. Drove out to Lake Monjingup & walked the boardwalk loop. Very peaceful paperbark swamplands near lake. Lots of orchids at several spots along pathways away from lake edge. Could hear lots of birds but hard to see. 'Home' for lunch, then out to buy few bits of food & fuel redy for our departure in morning. Just have to give you some more Orchid photos, might not see any more! Sorry don't have proper names for the Banksias or yellow & blue orchids as book has been packed in car! Will correct later, if I remember!
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| Lake Monjingup, Esperance: Esperance King Spider Orchids; Blue Orchid; Banksia; Yellow Orchid; Banksia: a section of the Boardwalk Loop |
Well, I am finally up-to-date with the Blog again!
Now, I am not sure what our internet connection will be like as we head over the Nullarbor. You may not have any blog updates for about 5-6 days, which I guess is not much different to what I have been doing!
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