Around Esperance

30th September 2014

Today was preparation for departing Esperance tomorrow to start the big trek east.  Feels like the holiday is nearly over.

Esperance beach

Esperance is a really lovely little town with a great walk/cycle track along the expansive coastline.  We walked the track this morning even though it was a bit drizzly, it soon cleared up though.

There are a string of lakes behind the sand dunes, parallel to the sea shore.  A board walk has been constructed around some of these lakes with a couple of bird hides installed.  We walked this in the afternoon but there weren't many birds around, just ducks.

Model of skylab which crashed near Esperance

Outside the Esperance Museum is a model of the first American skylab, launched in 1973.  In 1979 the apparatus fell to earth at Balladonia which is an area on the Nullarbor about 140km from here.

Cape Le Grande NP - then Esperance

25th to 29th September

We arrived in Esperance today after 3 nights in the Cape Le Grande National Park. The beaches within the park are reputed to have the whitest sand in the world and they are stunningly beautiful.

Lucky Bay 

The blue of the ocean is also unbelievable.

Lucky Bay from the campsite

The most beautiful of all is Lucky Bay which is where we were lucky enough to camp. Wonderful views, great company, ablutions and water all for $13.20 per night!

Lucky Bay

The bay was named in 1802 by Matthew Flinders when he was circumnavigating Australia.  He experienced bad weather, found the bay which is sheltered from the elements and he considered this lucky.

Sand as white as snow

The cape and many of the features in the vicinity were named by the Frenchman DÉntrecasteaux who sailed past on a voyage of discovery in the late 18th century.  His ships were the Recherche and the Esperance, hence the name of the modern city.

Kangaroos visit the beach at dusk and feed on washed up seagrass

The sand is formed from very small grains so they stick together and crust on the surface of the beach so walking over the sand crunches like snow!

Ornate Dragon, well camouflaged on the granite

This area is known for it's sudden storms and strong winds and we got a taste of this on our second afternoon.  The weather changed from a beautiful still morning with temperatures in the mid 20's to wind gusts of 50km/h and a drop to 13 degrees.  Some rain too.

Frenchmans Peak

Halfway up Frenchmans Peak

Under the 'Peak'

We had a great time walking the headlands and the beaches and this morning we climbed Frenchman's Peak, which is mostly a scramble up the granite walls. We were on the top by 8:15am enjoying the outstanding views and exploring the arch.  We had the entire mountain to ourselves at that time of the morning!

Fitzgerald River National Park

25th September 2014

Fitzgerald NP is outstandingly beautiful and we had perfect weather to visit.  Parks and Wildlife have spent a lot of money this year upgrading the road into the eastern end of the park and upgrading facilities within the park.  They have done a great job.

Royal Hakea

Fitzgerald NP is another biodiversity hotspot and we were amazed at just how many different flowers and plants we came across at the very first place we stopped.  The Queen of them all is the Royal Hakea, which has leaves tinged from pale green through to orange and yellow. A most remarkable plant and it is totally unique to a small area of this coastline and nowhere else on earth.

East Mt Barren from Cave Beach

We did two walks, the first across sand dunes from a large inlet to the coast.  The inlet is currently blocked off with a sandbar, but this changes from time to time.

Hammersley Inlet

The second walk was more challenging, a 200 metre climb, more or less straight up East Mt Barren.  The mountain is quartz so a very interesting walk over the rocks.  The view from the top was astounding.

View west from East Mount Barren

Stirling Ranges to Ravensthorpe

24th September 2014

Our last glimpses of the Stirling mountains today were the peaks breaking through a wreath of clouds and brilliant blue sky above.

Ravensthorpe is a small town which services the surrounding farmers.  This is a wheatbelt area with crops as far as you can see.  To the south is a very large national park, Fitzgerald River.  Most of the NP is inaccessible as it is another biodiversity hotspot and in need of protection.  Matthew Flinders sailed past this coast in 1802 and named the peaks the 'Barren Mountains'.  He was very wrong!

Gold mining occurred around Ravenshtorpe in the early 20th century and a railway was built between Ravensthorpe and the coastal town of Hopetoun to ship the ore.

Hopetoun beaches

The mining was short lived and was abandoned by mid century. The track has been turned into a a heritage walk and we were keen to walk part of it.  However we were very disappointed as the signage was poor and the track completely overgrown in places.  Hopetoun quite a nice little town though.

 

Orchid tour

23rd September 2014

Today we went on an organised wildflower tour, mostly to find orchids.  Once you know where and how to look for them they are everywhere.  Sadly, the better known the area becomes, the more ignorant people arrive, trample on the young plants and also dig them up to take home [they never survive as their growing conditions are very specific]. We also saw plenty of other flowers unique to this area.  Here are some of the orchids we viewed.

King spider orchid

Zebra orchid

Pansy orchid

Dragon orchid

Silky Blue orchid

Cowslip orchid

Climbing Bluff Knoll

22nd September 2014

The rain which continued all night eased off from about 6:00am to occasional showers. By late morning it seemed to have dried up enough to venture up Bluff Knoll, which is the highest peak in the range.  There is a good access road and a well formed track as this is also the most popular climb.

Bluff Knoll 1,073 metres, Stirling Range

When we set off it was showering a bit, windy and very cold so we decided not to even try for the summit as it would be very exposed.

View from 750 metres

Instead we went about halfway, a climb of 300 metres, and turned back when we came out above the trees to the sheer rocky crags.

The views from here were amazing despite the stormy clouds constantly rolling over the distant peaks.  Lots of great wildflowers too.

Southern Cross flower

Albany to the Stirling Ranges

21st September 2014

We got off to a very early start this morning and arrived at the Stirling Range Retreat by 9:00am.  The camp is very basic, but we are here for the guided walks to find examples of the diverse range of wildflowers in this biodiversity 'hotspot'.  The park covers an area of 116,000 hectares and contains 1,500 species of flora, 87 of which occur nowhere else in the world.

Mt Toolbrunup in Stirling Range NP

Numbats have been re-introduced to the wild near here too, but we are unlikely to be fortunate enough to see one of those.

Mt Hassell, Stirling Range.  The walk is hard and goes right to the top of the granite outcrop visible

When we arrived there were very high winds, but none of the forecast rain, so we unhitched the van and set off on a gravel road drive which winds through the peaks. The highest peak is a little over 1,000 metres, so not high, but this is the highest point in WA which for the most part is very flat.

We returned from this drive just as the rain started, which has now really set in but the wind has died down.