THE BIG DASH: 'We'll be back'

If I had a dollar for every time on this trip someone had said to us, “You must go to Esperance” or “Wait till you get to Esperance”, we’d definitely have enough money to buy a couple of beers!

Well, we’ve spent the last week in Esperance on the south-east West Australian coast and we now understand what people are talking about!

It’s been our last extended stay in WA before heading across the Nullarbor to the eastern states and, with full awareness of recency bias kicking in, it’s been one of our very favourite places.

It’s the vibrancy of the colours and the sheer grandness of the coastline that just grab hold and won’t let go. The talcum-white of the sand, the Gatorade blue of the sea, the enormous greying, weathered slabs of granite that emerge from the turbulent sea and then climb hundreds of metres.

When the time came to pack up and head off, we did so with genuine regret and the promise we’ve made to ourselves so many times and in so many places on this trip: “We’ll be back”.

Dealing with dead-ends

A lighter week for Tas, our Kia Tasman X-Pro, as we toured the Esperance region in search of great sights and beaches – and found them in abundance.

The town itself, healthy and vibrant, stretches along the coastline. To the west it then evolves into Great Ocean Drive, a kinda miniature version of Victoria’s Great Ocean Road. It isn’t as long or serpentine, but the views are pretty similar. Spectacular in other words.

Go east toward Cape Le Grand National Park and beyond and there are long, flat and straight country roads through the last of the WA wheat fields. Next comes the desert.

Out here you’ll find a complete replica of Stonehenge, as it originally would have been in the English countryside. It’s an oddball thing to stumble across and it turns out it landed in a farmer’s field after the tourism business which ordered the granite blocks from a local quarry went broke. It’s quite a sight.

Further out is Condingup, essentially the last town with fuel and a pub before you get to the Great Australian Bight. In fact the pub is also a café, take-away and general store, so it’s a versatile place. The schnitzel a bloke was tucking into for lunch when we visited looked about the size of his substantial head!

Through all our town and country driving Tas operated without fuss or issue. He even had a wash and clean when we first arrived in town. It then started raining, which kinda negated things.

The driver was less imperturbable this week. I nearly reversed into a car at an intersection. Funny how the reversing camera and warning buzzer won’t save you if you don’t look and listen. Jane did though, so crisis averted.

I also managed to get myself all tangled at the aforementioned car wash with the caravan in tow when I initially selected the wrong line.

The situation was salvaged, but it was a reminder to do my reconnaissance before committing to a potential dead-end.

So to this week’s fuel numbers. They include our touring time in Esperance and the haul up to Norseman with the caravan after we departed.

Litres consumed: 132.05
KM travelled: 1024
Consumption average: 12.69L/100km
$ paid: 380.72 (best price paid: $2.779 per litre)
KM per $: 2.69km (was 1.8km per $ last time)

More amazing views

With Eddie and Lulu parked with a sitter for the day, we headed to Cape Le Grand with some walking and swimming in mind. We chose the return hike from Hellfire Bay to Thistle Cove – about 9.4km return. Not that far, right? Well, it took us about three hours!

The trail started out benign enough, but we were soon scrambling up, down and over rocks and boulders and ascending and descending some steep granite faces. It was bloody hard and a bit heart-in-mouth in places, and definitely the toughest walk we’ve done on the trip.

But the reward was some amazing views out over various bays and towards the Southern Ocean. More of those involuntary gasp moments we’ve been experiencing regularly down here. Seriously, it is quite incredible.

The swim at the end was needed to soothe some aching muscles.

Then it was on to the Lucky Bay Brewery for a beer and a pizza. Another great craft brewhouse tucked away in WA’s south-west.

Wharton Beach was a recommendation from the very helpful Esperance tourism people as a great place to go with the dogs.

Well, “great” proved to be an understatement. The beach was firm, wide and blindingly white. We could drive onto it and then park in the lee of the point, out of the wind (wind is pretty much a constant here to a greater or lesser extent). Plenty of other people had as well.

A three-foot swell wrapped around that point and delivered some decent waves for bodysurfing. I went into the frigid water for a quick dip and stayed for half an hour.

I’ve never caught a wave before in water so clear. Scooting out in front of the froth was like sliding along on liquid, transparent glass.

Our last full day in Esperance promised temperatures in the mid-20s, so it was off to the beach again. This time to a place called Eleven Mile Beach, with a natural lagoon formed by a reef close to shore that kept the big swell out. And hopefully nasties with fins and teeth as well!

Again, we were able to shelter out of the wind and enjoy a few hours of spring warmth on this spectacular coastline.

Whale season

The whales are coming south!

I don’t just mean the humpbacks and blue whales off the coast, I mean the land-based ones.

Yep, the massive combinations we saw up north are now, like their sea-based equivalents, departing places like Broome and heading for the summer sun down south.

It was a realisation that struck while we were in Esperance, both at the park where we were staying and in the streets of the town itself.

Of late, south of Perth, we’d become used to seeing more “affordable” and smaller vans. Other MDCs, Franklins, Viscounts, Snowy Rivers and so on.

The tow vehicles had become more varied as well. A panoply of one-tonne utes, SUVs and even some exotica – a couple of VW Touaregs, an Audi Q4 and even – ah, glorious – a couple of Ford Territorys still in service.

But it couldn’t last. In they rolled, blotting out the sun. The Toyota LandCruiser 300s and 70s, RAMs and Silverados, towing their 25-foot Zones, Titaniums and Lotuses (Lotii?).

Rolling on bulbous A/T rubber, Maxtrax, fuel containers, spare tyres and electric bicycles clamped to their metal toolboxes, they looked ready to tackle the wildest backroads and tracks imaginable. Some of them also looked showroom clean though.

Big site bliss

I’ve mentioned more than once how impressed we’ve been with RAC caravan parks while in Western Australia.

In Esperance, we stayed with the RAC one last time and again came away impressed.

The avenues are wide and the sites are large, so manoeuvring the van is not the challenge it can be – and so often still is for me.

The sites are also usually flat and grassed, which is always helpful and more pleasant. The amenities are clean and plentiful, which again is a positive.

As with other RAC parks we’ve stayed at, the location is close to the water. In this case, we had only sea glimpses, but it was something.

Now though, it’s eastward over the Nullarbor as the trek home really kicks in. I don’t think we’re going to be quite so well looked after for a while...