1 week of being on the road.
WOAH… when did that happen?? We left Perth 1 week ago and I find that mind boggling.
EDIT: it’s been 2 and a half weeks on the road now, BUT internet and charging access has been more than minimal…. I apologise for the loooooong post you are about to delve into. It will encompass all that was before the Nullarbor. The Nullarbor needs an entire post of its own.
So much has happened in such a small space of time, this post may take some time. For reference, I started writing this entry on Sunday 28th October at 16.15 whilst sat in a tiny little town north of Esperance called Salmon Gums.
So, where to begin? The last week has consisted of caves, pinnacles, a stardust experience (more of that later), off roading, tree climbing, elephant rocks, green pools, Esperance and plenty of tiny little, 1000 population, towns.
I shall start at the beginning.
We left Perth on Sunday 21st heading first towards Fremantle to sample their famous Sunday markets. For a Sunday, it was a vibrant and busy place full of so many beautiful clothes, ornaments and rugs all of which we really don’t need, being without a house to put such lovely things in, we settled for $11 worth of fruit and vegetable for our journey ahead. After a drive around the town, which taught us our Pam can not and does not fit in multi storey car parks (the resulting crash/noise left 2 tiny dogs shaking, their owners laughing and us, thankfully, not losing any of our belongings off the roof), we did one final big shop and headed for our first overnight adventure in Pam with the help of Wiki Camps.
Our first night was successful and we headed onwards towards Jurien Bay and the first official stop on our trip. Once there, we made ourselves acquainted with the locals and found out about a local cave system, not 20 minutes inland and accessible only via 4×4 track. Off we went to enjoy our first off-roading experience in Pam. We arrived unscathed only to be dive bombed by a million flies (the flies are something else – Persistent is the word.) as we took the 300m track, on foot, down to the caves entrance. If we thought the flies had been a horrible experience, the feral bees were bound to be even worse, but we were left well alone and thus were greeted with the most peaceful, cool and calm atmosphere. What we encountered was also the darkest 500m walk ever but filled with bats and some beautiful photos. Highly recommended, just DONT pay the $30 being charged by the local adventure group – it is so doable yourself, provided you have your own 4×4. We had the place to ourselves, on that quiet Monday afternoon and all for free. What a wonderful first experience of caving (minus said flies and feral bees…).
After an overnight stay next to a beautiful lake and one of the coldest showers ever, we headed slightly north to experience The Pinnacles. A desert experience, 10km inland, full of varying sizes of limestone pillars which continue to baffle many as to how they first came about as well as being largely hidden up until the last 400 years. After an hour of driving the dunes amidst the pillars, we settled for a decent coffee and a map of Australia in the gift shop before heading back to Jurien and enjoying lunch and a snooze on the beach.
Finally, we come to our stardust experience. When planning on visiting Australia, we couldn’t come all this way without heading to see my cousin Tristan and his wife, Shiner (and Mr Hobbs the dog too) as they built their earth ship – the only one of its kind in Western Australia. Neither Tris or Shiner nor Dave and I knew what to expect – Tristan is 12 years older than myself and apart from the odd family event, we haven’t spent any more than a few hours together so I was looking forward to seeing them both on their turf and in the comfort of The Crow Shed. What ensued was the loveliest 2 days filled with food, looonnnggg chats – the kind of chats where you gather in the kitchen for a coffee at 8.30am and find its suddenly half 1 – laughing, music and heading down memory lane. We took long walks around the perimeter of their 20 acres at sunset, with beers in hand. We went off roading through the dunes of Sandy Cape, searching for dead whale carcasses and a toilet (for me.. there wasn’t one, unfortunately.) followed by dog walks on the beach and the nicest pies from the local bakery. Our final night was spent around the table, sharing memories of our grandparents and growing up, listening and reminiscing about the music we loved and generally having a really wonderful time. Over 2 days, I went from knowing so very little of my cousin and his wife to realising how truly similar we all are. Shiner and Dave seem to have come from a similar era despite being years apart and could talk for hours about the most obscure music and Tristan – it was strange to see how like my father and our grandad he is. A real engineers brain, constantly working on something, never still. He may not have spent an awful lot of time with our grandad, but he certainly has a brain very much like his.. and that was lovely to witness.
We must admit, we felt a little guilty that we had dragged them away from their busy schedule and their earth ship with our visiting, but sometimes you need a little rest, recuperation, laughter and good sleep. I think it did us all the world of good.
On leaving, we were all a little gutted we couldn’t have had anymore time to chill together but Shiner explained the 2 days perfectly when she called it a Stardust experience – you leave a little of yourself with the people you meet. I don’t think I could have said it any better myself. Thank you for a wonderful few days and we look forward to seeing the earth ship finished when we come back in 6 months! Or at least with a roof on it… We can hope.
Our next adventure, after arriving at a campsite in the dead of night (it was only 7pm but pitch black) and cooking our evening meal in the dark, we headed to a tiny little place called Pemberton to climb the worlds tallest climbable tree on the recommendations of Shiner who last climbed it in 1988! We were not disappointed. Despite me having a slight panic attack a mere 10 feet off the floor (I know, pathetic) we climbed the 65m up tiny metal pegs that had been hammered into the side of the tree (with zero safety net to break our fall, I might add) and were greeted with the most spectacular view. The tree was originally used to identify forest fires in the local vicinity and we can certainly see why – you can see for miles. Despite my little panic, Im so pleased I pushed through the nerves and shaky legs to be able to appreciate the view. Unfortunately, the only way to get down was the way in which we had scaled the tree – down the metal pegs, which was easier than originally anticipated. The only thing it left me with, was jelly legs and feeling like I’d done a million squats for days afterwards but it was well worth it.
Whilst in Australia, we’ve stayed at some nice campsites and some not so nice places but our home for the next night was an absolute JOY! The reviews and comments were glowing and the promise of a hot shower for $5 each couldn’t keep us away! We arrived at Sids campsite mid afternoon and headed straight for the showers, which did not disappoint. After an afternoon of washing clothes and eating dinner, we joined everyone around the campfire, so helpfully started by Mick the campsite keeper and his son John (alongside his collie, Max… If I could write a blog post on all the dogs I have met along the way, I would. Maybe I should?? Thoughts?). What ensued was a few hours of endless chat, meeting a young woman from Ashurst, near the New Forest (Small, small world!) travelling with her Australian boyfriend, families who had sold everything they owned to spend a year travelling their country as well as families who were coming towards the end of a 10 week adventure themselves. We compared all sorts from the price of beans, which are crazy expensive over here by the way, to greetings – “Hey, yah..” Apparently means, How is it going? – to the fact that no one, not even our own government, has any idea what Brexit is, or what’s going on. For someone normally so shy and not always keen to socialise with people I don’t know, it was a wonderful evening sat admiring the night sky and swapping recommendations for the journey ahead.
Which takes us onto our next adventure, further south, towards Esperance via Elephant Rocks and Greens Pool. We picked the most beautiful day to explore the spectacular rock formations that appear to be shaped like Elephants bathing in the sea by the shore. The equally beautiful Greens Pool, just a few hundred metres away, was the perfect location to enjoy a homemade ham salad sandwich and shared bag of crisps on the sand.
Our rest stop for the night, however, had started to resemble Wales by the time we set up camp – rainy, windy and cold. The only saving grace was that the site was beautifully named Betty’s Beach after, Id like to believe, our families much beloved first collie. We bunkered down for the night and took off early the following day heading for the much anticipated Esperance Beach and its instagram worthy Kangaroos.
Now, being on the road often means we have no idea what day, date or time it is and this day was no exception. We made the mistake of hitting the road at 07:00am with the promise of a coffee and a pastry on the road. 3 HOURS later we realised our mistake – it was Sunday, therefore nothing was open. We eventually found a town called Ravensthorpe where we discovered the bird we had hit on the road, had taken the 250km journey with us, asleep on the front of our car – we named him Gordon. RIP Gordon.
We did, however, find coffee, lunch and a ‘free’ hot shower. We had every intention of paying until we could find no one and Sally who had left her contact details at the front desk was no where to be found, nor was she answering her phone so… free shower it was before we again, hit the road.
We had heard a lot about Esperance, from the lovely people around the campsite a few nights before to the lady who helped us set up our bank account in Perth. The weather was lush – clear blue skies, 20 degree plus temperatures until, you guessed it, we arrived at Esperance where it was hammering it down. Typical. The only saving grace again, was the cute collie with the one blue eye, aptly named Blue. The other issue we found with Esperance was that, because of its reputation and stunning location, local camping spots and holiday parks wanted $40+ to stay the night – not on my Nelly!
Salmon Gums was a shining beacon of hope and hot showers (honestly, cherish your hot showers. They are a gift from God) just 45 minutes north of Esperance and is where our next adventure begins…
Free Bird 