Back to the Nullarbor and Australia’s longest straight road

  
We started from our bush camp amongst the salmon gums and drove to Newman Rock, which we had also visited coming across from the eastern states. There was more surface water this time.

We proceeded to Balladonia roadhouse where we had a hole of golf to play. The green and fairway were okay but the fairway was pure saltbush. Even though it was only par 3, the green was so difficult to locate that a red target was required to show us where to aim.

  
The roadhouse museum, included remains of Skylab, NASA’s space research laboratory, that re-entered the earth’s atmosphere and exploded around Balladonia.

  
Beneath the Nullarbor are many caves and near Caiguna is a ‘blowhole’. It seems that caves ‘breathe’, with air exiting through holes as temperatures increase. We visited it, but it was underwhelming. The blue bush plains after rain, however, provide attractive reflections, views of complex skies and clouds and are a pleasant place to spend an evening.

  
  

Welcome to Cape Le Grand – with a lucky hike

  
The Seafront Caravan Park at Esperance has a 1:00pm checkout time, so we set the alarm for 6:30am and took the 4WD down to Cape Le Grand National Park. We knew that Lucky Bay facilities were closed for upgrade works, but we hope to see the “whitest beach in Australia” by hiking in. This we did, over granite rocks with spectacular views and a variety of wildflowers. Lucky Bay itself was a bit of a disappointment with a lot of dead sea grass covering the section of beach that we reached, but we could see the white sands gleaming alluringly in the distance, we just didn’t have time to reach them.

  
The wildflowers included chittick;

  
Leschenaultia;

  
A tea tree with large blue flowers;

  
And sticky tailflower.

  
When we returned to the car, we found that the ranger had closed the track we had been on between the time we left and the time we got back. So we were lucky to have made it to Lucky Bay. We celebrated with coffee from a vacuum flask and fruit, before picking up some last minute shopping, filling up with diesel fuel and towing the van out right on 1:00pm.

We camped last night at the start of the Nullarbor Plain, among salmon gums that gleamed like rubies in the setting sun. The myriad stars shine above and the campfire warmed our spirits. We love the isolation and sense of total freedom.

  

Seascapes in Esperance with a French botanical influence

  
The Western Australian coastal town of Esperance is named after a French sailing ship that put ashore on a nearby island in 1792. The botanical environment that was recorded has changed little in two centuries and can be observed, together with a stunning coastline on an ocean drive.

  
So, with our trusty Yaris courtesy car, we did the 36km drive, stopping at the many lookouts provided to take in the spectacular views.

Naturally, I also did some botanising and photographed these Cockies Tongues and Bush Pea.

  
  
There were also birds: a butcher bird, oystercatcher and pacific gull.

  
A fisherman had a line in off one beach, while one beach was labelled “clothing optional”. Wisely, considering the temperature and our age, we decided to keep our clothes on.

  
  

Seafront rest-day with bronze-wing in Esperance

  
We are in Esperance, on the southern coast of Western Australia. After over five weeks travelling around 8,000km we were ready for time out: cleaning vehicle, van, bedsheets and clothes, strolling along the seafront, uploading photos.

I cooked an omelette for a leisurely outdoor lunch while a bronze-wing kept us company, walking around the picnic table, cooing softly.

  
The Esperance seafront has been tastefully renewed with an eye-catching sculpture of a whale’s tail, warm, red-hued retaining rocks, indigenous planting, creative playground equipment, interpretive signage, seating and paths. The rubbish bins are solar powered! Why? Maybe to illuminate them by night.

   
  At any rate, on this sunny day, the whole town seemed to be playing with their kids, dog-walking, fishing from the jetty, rollerblading, cycling or riding motor scooters. 

  
Offshore islands and ships entering the port further enhance the view. Our caravan park overlooks it this pleasant place to hang out.

A stroll into town introduced us to the relaxed, club-like atmosphere of Dome cafe, with its free wifi.

  
Outside the museum is this intriguing sign:

  
Tomorrow the Prado 4WD will be serviced and we will restock for the return trek across the Nullarbor.

Two national parks for the price of one

  
We left the van in the caravan park at the township of Hopetoun on the south coast of Western Australia for a couple of hours and drove into the Fitzgerald River National Park. We drove past the historic Port Hotel where we had enjoyed a hearty dinner lthe night before.

The $6.00 per vehicle Seniors Rate for entering the Park is good for the day in any parks. Fitzgerald NP is known for Royal Hakea. I managed to find one and some other winter flowers.

  
  
The park has beautiful heathland and some peaceful inlets.

  
We picked up the van and drove towards Esperance, diverting via Stokes National Park, where which also had a pretty inlet and more wildflowers.

  
  
The photo below is I believe a cone flower.  

Natural gardens in the rain and Hippo Rock

Today it has rained seriously from morn till night. Despite this, we walked to Hippo rock, a short distance from the camping ground at Wave Rock. The track was wet.

We drove past soggy emerald green wheat fields and stopped for lunch at Pallarup Nature Reserve. After beef and noodle soup with cheese toastie, the rain abated briefly leaving great conditions for a photo shoot, with raindrops dripping from wildflowers and creeklets flowing over the granite rocks. We saw our first orchid – sorry the photo is on an unconventional angle – as it was I had to lean over double to avoid damaging it or its neighbours.

  

The picture below is Hippo Rock, Hyden, this morning.  

Here are two random photos of mallee plants in the rain.

   
 

We are now at the southern port of Hopetoun. To reward ourselves for spending a day in the rain, we decided to have dinner at the pub. The meal was fantastic, but it took us 20 minutes to find our way out of the caravan park, which is an absolute maze!

Cutting the corner via Yanchep

As we had toured the southwest corner and Perth a few years ago, we decided to just go down the Indian Ocean Drive, head inland to Yanchep National Park, take the Perth freeway and turn east to the town of Northam.

The morning was clear and we awoke to the best view in Guilderton, right on the estuary of the Moore River. Pelicans were fishing from the sandbar and the sun reflected off the limestone cliffs.

  
We headed along the scenic coastal route to the village of Two Rocks, past a lot of new development at Yanchep, which is obviously a sea change destination. 

Yanchep National Park, an intriguing walk down memory lane. The 1930s buildings reminded me of Wattle Park Chalet, near our former home in the Melbourne suburb of Burwood. There was even an old tramcar, like our children used to play on at Wattle Park. 

  
We had coffee at the tea rooms, so our macho off-road hero (David) was forced to endure pink table cloths and plastic pink roses. The chocolate rum and raisin was a rich treat.

  
We took a walk around the shortest of several trails. It took us through karst bushland with collapsed limestone caves and tuart eucalypts with Carnarby’s cockatoos and kangaroos. 

  
We had a healthy prosciutto and salad sandwich in the van before trundling down the Reid Highway around the edge of Perth and 100km east to Northam. We are back near the historic pipeline that brings water from a dam at Mundaring to the gold town of Kalgoorlie.

The pinnacle of a rainy day

We had a cosy night camped beside a paddock of fussing sheep and lambs, where the huge ring around the half moon presaged that rain was to come. 

We drove to The Pinnacles in Nambung National Park. This is a weird sandy desert environment filled with limestone pillars.

  
We had lunch in the van at Nilgen Nature Reserve and walked around an incredible density of blooming wildflowers. Western Australia has an amazing diversity of wildflowers.

  
We are now one of several vans in an almost empty caravan park at the coastal village of Guilderton at the estuary of the Moore River, just an hour north of Perth. At last the rain has cleared; we put on a load of washing and drying and went for a walk to a lookout over the river with its sandbar, the beach and the dunes as the sun set.

  

Wildflower madness today in southwest of WA

We’re following the Indian Ocean Drive from just south of Port Dennison (after I uploaded yesterday’s blog via the free wifi on the foreshore). Coffee stop was at Cliff Head, where I photographed a clematis flower while David chatted with campers.

  
The coastal drive is really interesting and apparently only recently sealed, so we had to stop briefly at Leeman, or Snag Island as it was called until 1972. It’s a quiet little seaside town with a cormorant-covered island just off the end of the jetty.

Then to Point Louise just north of Green Head for lunch and a rock clamber in the sunshine, gazing across to the next little holiday settlement.

I had read about the Lesueur National Park and was keen to visit it, which we did. It was a wonderland of wildflowers, with over 900 species. I found and photographed about forty in bloom today.

My favourite was the Djanda, which has lovely pinky flowers and the sun behind the leaves shows the grains.

  
This is a zamia, an ancient form of plant called a cycad.

  
I loved the banksia that looked like an acorn.

  
There was a healthy early nancy, showing that spring isn’t far away. It is often called the ‘harbinger of spring’.

  
The kingia is an interesting tree-like grass.

  
I’ll finish with this feathery flower.

  

We couldn’t get enough of Greenough

The word ‘enough’ gives a reminder of how to pronounce Greenough (‘Grenuf’). But let’s start at yesterday’s first stop; leaving Eurardy we drove to a well-known free camp beside a bridge on the Murchison River. As Wikicamps users had reported, it was very popular although some of the ground was damp.

  
Leaving the Great North West Highway, we took a scenic route to Geraldton and then down the coast to the historic settlement of Central Greenough, a National Trust set of properties.

They had been carefully restored in the 1970s and we spent an hour going between school, churches, gaol and convent between the llamas, who kept the grass down.

   
 This gave time for the group of bikers to be served their lunch, although they had used up the supplies of cottage pie, so we were left with lasagne, dearer but delicious.

We watched surfers tackling the surf at Flat Rock, and I am filled with admiration for photographers who cover surfing events – apologies for the poor focus – the camera couldn’t adjust fast enough!

  
Last night’s sunset view shows the pretty reflections at Port Denison marina. We have spent the night at a caravan park and are now using the free wifi on the foreshore before we head further down the West Australian coast.