DENMARK

WEDNESDAY, MAY 14 – SUNDAY, MAY 18 

We were undecided about where to stay next, so we called in to the information centre in Denmark to see what there was to do around the area.  It seemed that there was plenty!  We found the Rivermouth Caravan Park on the mouth of the Denmark River and the start of Wilson Inlet.  

It was a beautiful area and the park was very user friendly.  "Just choose your spot and then come back and tell us where you are" was the instruction at the office.  We found a lovely spot on the bank of the inlet with a bit of scrubby bush for the dogs to scratch around in. 

There were lots of birds on the inlet, pelicans, ducks and several varieties of seabird.  

While we were there the moon was quite spectacular on a couple of nights, with a bit of a "stairway to the moon" happening.

The morning on the inlet wasn't too bad, either!

There was other wildlife in the park as well as all the birds.

Plenty of fish in the inlet and blue swimmer crabs for the taking as well.

Denmark is located amongst green hilly areas and forests of very tall trees.  

Between Denmark and Walpole is the Valley of the Giants with the huge Red Tingle Trees.  These trees are the largest buttressing trees in the world, but have very shallow root systems so they are endangered if lots of people are walking around amongst them. The walkway that has been built through the trees makes it possible to walk amongst them without doing any damage.

Around Denmark there are lots of lovely bays and beaches.  

At Peaceful Bay, you can even drive onto the hard sand on the beach.

At William Bay, there are some spectacular rocks called Elephant Rocks and Greens Pool.

On the way back to Denmark from Walpole, there is a place that grow marron and sell them.  Out the front there is a big marron - one to add to the list if you are visiting big things! 

There are some unusual ones that are bright blue - they don't sell those ones!  

There are lots of wineries and "foodie" places to visit as well. One of them, Ducketts Mill, makes beautiful cheeses.  We had a lovely lunch there with a very large platter of all sorts of goodies, accompanied by a glass or two of wine.  They also had a very nice assortment of specialty chocolates.  We took a few samples home for later.

Another one of the local attractions, The Lake House, was a gorgeous setting for another delicious lunch and a little wine sampling.

So that's Denmark for your enjoyment.  A beautiful part of WA.

Merrilyn xx

ESPERANCE

WEDNESDAY, MAY 7 – MONDAY, MAY 12          

We had a lovely spot in the Pink Lake Caravan Park with plenty of room to set up.  This isn't always the case! However, there were gremlins afoot during the night. On Wednesday morning, something made me do strange things. I got up early, did washing (2 loads), had breakfast and a shower, all before 8 a.m.  Must be an evil spell, hope it doesn’t last.  It didn’t, fortunately was gone the next day.  That was too close for comfort.

The Browns got to Esperance before lunch on Friday after 4 days of relentless driving.  They were ready for a few days R & R.  Just the place to do it.

  

Sunday was Mothers’ Day, so Peter and Alan found a lovely place for lunch.  We sat outside in the sun, drank lovely wine and had delicious food.  We could even take the dogs there.  It was perfect.

After lunch, a walk along the beach opposite the restaurant was the day's exercise. 

There is some stunning scenery around Esperance.  The drive along the coast west of Esperance is beautiful.  Loath as I am to say it, it probably is better than our own Great Ocean Road.

We even saw some dolphins in the water - they are there, look a bit closer!

While we were in Esperance, bed number 3 for Millie was purchased. The plan now was for her to sit up the front with us, in the middle. There is not a lot of room there, so we'll see how that goes.  Can't keep buying new beds!

Well, that's your lot for today, next stop Denmark (even though we are actually past there now, in Augusta).

Merrilynxx

CROSSING THE NULLABOR


SUNDAY, MAY 3  SMOKY BAY TO GREAT AUSTRALIAN BIGHT

We reluctantly left Smoky Bay at about 9.30 with grey skies, but very little wind.  Ceduna was the first stop, only about 40 kms away, for fuel and a few groceries. Pretty uneventful day, just lots of scrubby saltbush, a couple of roadhouses and a few emus. 

The warning sign for animals on the road amused me.

Millie managed to demolish her second bed during the day.

We stopped for an overnight camp at a rest area overlooking the Great Australian Bight. 

Beautiful scenery out the bedroom window.

MONDAY, MAY 4        GREAT AUSTRALIAN BIGHT TO BALLADONIA

Not a great start to the day with a cold shower – the hot water service was not working.  We continued on across the Nullabor. Just before the WA border, we saw a dingo at the side of the road.  It was just standing looking at us, didn’t even try to run away.

At the WA border we had to get rid of all our fruit and vegetables at the quarantine station.  Fortunately we knew this would happen so we didn’t have much left.  This means a couple of days without any fresh fruit or vegetables as there is nothing much until Norseman.

We passed through Cocklebiddy and Caiguna and started on the longest straight road in Australia – 90 miles of straight road.

We decided to stop at the roadhouse at Balladonia as there was a caravan park there and we would have hot showers.  It was an interesting place, there was a Skylab Museum there.  Apparently it is where a part of Skylab landed years ago.  The piece is actually in the Museum there.  There was also a very nice bar and eating area.  We had a very acceptable dinner there.  It is strange to find these types of things in the middle of nowhere.  There were also extremely large ant holes - must have very large ants in Balladonia!

TUESDAY, MAY 5             BALLADONIA TO ESPERANCE

Another early start (I hope I am not developing bad habits).  I think the time differences are messing things up a bit.  We were on the road before 8 o’clock. 

Another interesting sign on the highway are the emergency air strips for the Flying Doctor.  Great dual use for the roads.

Our next stop would be Norseman, approximately 200 kms away, where we hoped to get some supplies.  Alan also hoped to find an auto electrician and get our batteries checked as they didn’t seem to be working properly.  We found an auto repair place, where the man was able to check them.  He told us there used to be an auto electrician but “the town’s buggered now”.  I guess the mining downturn is having an effect here, similar to what we saw in Kalgoorlie/Boulder last year.

We went into the “town centre” of Norseman for a look anyway – there wasn’t much to see.  There were a lot of boarded up buildings and the ones still operating had a very tired look about them.  It had obviously been a thriving small town at one time.  The main street had nice little garden areas and some sculptures.  The corrugated iron camels were very clever.

From Norseman we turned south for Esperance.  As we travelled along this road the vegetation thinned out and there were large crop growing areas.  We followed the railway line all along and there were very large grain storage facilities at regular intervals. There were also many signs pointing to Historic School Sites.  This area must have been dotted with small schools in the past.  There were also a lot of shallow lagoons with some water in them.

We got to Esperance and started looking for a park to stay for a few days until Peter and Judy Brown catch up with us.  Unfortunately, the best positioned ones (there are 6 parks in total in Esperance) are not pet friendly.  We eventually found Pink Lake Caravan Park about 2 kms from the town centre, dog friendly and quite tidy.  We had quite a large drive through site so fitting everything in was pretty easy.  It isn’t always!

After setting up we drove to the shopping area to get some much needed fruit and vegetables, and a bed for Millie to sleep on!  The town is much bigger than I expected, with lots of shops and a very large industrial area.  There is a lot of development in the harbour area.  The rail line runs to the harbour and is obviously a very important part of the town.

We will be here for about a week and Peter and Judy should get in by the weekend, so there will be lots of Esperance to show next time.  

Merrilyn xx

SMOKY BAY

I forgot to put this photo in the first post.  This is a very special bracelet made for me before we left by Aiden and Hunter to remind me of them while we are away.  

TUESDAY, APRIL 29                                SMOKY BAY

The wind was still blowing very strongly in the morning but the rain seemed to have cleared.  It is lovely being able to stay inside out of the wind but still be able to see the sea.  

The wind stayed with us all day, but we did manage a long walk, pretty much all the way around the town.  We walked through the industrial area where all the oyster sheds are, and to the boat ramp. 

It was hard to find a spot out of the wind, but the sun was out so sitting outside with a book was the afternoon’s activity.  

The sunset was quite beautiful as there were only a few clouds in the sky.  I think it might have been a partial eclipse tonight. 

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30                       SMOKY BAY

During the night, the wind dropped right away, so the morning was right for fishing.  The sea was very flat and the sun was out – perfect. 

While Alan was out fishing, Millie and I had a very long walk all the way to the little headland to the right of the shack.  The tide was out and we only saw one other person on the beach so it was quite beautiful.  Millie enjoyed her walk, there was a lot of scrubby bush along the way and she did a lot of running around in there – probably chasing rabbits.  She also chased the seagulls so she got plenty of exercise.  

As we walked along, there were lots of shells and seaweed, but I saw one large complete shell that looked beautiful.  I thought I would take it back and leave it at the shack.  As I picked it up and turned it over, there was a pop and a little crab retreated into the shell.  

The fishing boats seemed to be mainly just off the headland so hopefully there were some fish being caught.  

Alan had managed to find a couple of unsuspecting whiting to jump on to his line, so it was whiting for dinner.

THURSDAY, MAY 1                            SMOKY BAY

The morning was nice and sunny again, a little bit of wind but nothing much so Alan went out again to bother the fish.  

Millie and I walked again to the point, a bit more difficult today in the increasing head wind. As we got back, Alan did as well as it was becoming a little choppy out on the water.  He had a sizeable catch this time, 14 good sized whiting.  He also brought to the surface a number of large blue swimmer crabs but they dropped off as he pulled them in, not having any net with him.

After lunch the weather started to turn really nasty, with strong winds and rain setting in.  We were confined to quarters for the afternoon, all 3 of us in the camper.  Everything outside was wet and there was nowhere dry for Millie outside.  The afternoon was spent playing computer games and reading. For the quilting readers, I have managed to do a bit of sewing. 

During the night the wind got stronger, and the camper was really being blown around.  The rain kept up for much of the night and we couldn’t open any of the windows as it was blowing in.  However, we were very cosy in the camper and Millie was even allowed to sleep inside.

FRIDAY, MAY 2                               SMOKY BAY

In the morning it was still windy, with some showers, but the sun came out at times.  

The wind and showers continued for most of the afternoon, but we did manage a short walk to the Community Club to have a look at what time they opened and whether meals were available. They were, so that  was us for dinner. There were quite a few there, mostly locals and some people from the caravan park so we were told.  You need to be local to get prompt service from the bar, otherwise you wait. Home again to watch the finish of the football, unfortunately not a great result for Carlton. Another windy, showery night with Millie sleeping inside again.    

SATURDAY, MAY 3                            SMOKY BAY

In the morning, the wind had dropped again so Alan went out to try and catch some more fish, we were leaving the next morning and hopefully would have some fish to take with us. Millie and I walked to the point again and found a few interesting things on the way. 

The large shell seemed to be some sort of mussel, but some ladies I met walking told me that it is the shell that the razor fish grows in.  Razor fish are used for bait and have become quite scarce here now.  The shell grows upright in the water and the fish inside is quite small.  A very large shell for a very small fish.  The ladies were collecting some sort of reeds for weaving into baskets.  That would be interesting to see how they turned out.

Alan came back with a few squid for the freezer.  One of the locals came to have a look what we had.

It was hard to leave this beautiful place.