Day 83 - Esperance - Cape Le Grand National Park (29 Nov)

Had a great day exploring the Cape Le Grand National Park 50kms east of Esperance.  Packed a picnic lunch to see if Esperance really does have the best beaches.  The first beach we hit was Hellfire Bay which has been voted the 2nd best beach in Australia (the 1st being one in Sydney) and I have to say it is tops Meelup Bay (sorry to our Busso/Duns friends but it does).  Unfortunately the photos don't do it justice, the water is so blue and the beach so white it is absolutely stunning.   If only it was warmer and we could have gone for a swim and snorkel!  We had morning tea here sitting on the rocks surveying the stunning view.  Next we went to Frenchman's Peak which is 262m high.  It has a lovely Aboriginal yarn (story) which we have photographed for you.  The views from the summit that look over the park are meant to be stunning and John and I may go back and walk up there.  Next we went to Rossiter's Bay and then Lucky Bay.  Lucky Bay apparently has been known to have kangaroos lazing on the beach and John thought this was a big joke until we saw 2 roos (mum and baby) bouncing down to the beach from the road.  We didn't see them on the beach but they are around.  (I've cheated and added in a photo below that the Esperance tourism use).  The views in this park are spectacular and the water is blue as can be.  There are some interesting rock formations and some even look like animals as if they have been sculpted.  Quite amazing. We have never seen as many Xmas trees in one place as in this park and there are some other pretty flowering shrubs as well.  This is one of the prettiest national parks I have been in and we would like to go back if we have time.  To see more detail on the photos click on them to make them full size.

Day 82 - Esperance (28 Nov)

Went on a port tour today which we thought might be a bit hohum but it turned out to be very interesting and only $5.00!  The tour went for one hour and we weren't allowed off the bus (security reasons).  The tour guide was very knowledgable and made the tour very interesting.  Due to the lead dilemna last year the port and DEC have had to put into place some extreme measures to ensure this never happens again.  Investigations discovered lead dust had escaped from the port when lead carbonate from Magellan Metal's mine at Wiluna was loaded onto ships in windy conditions after travelling more than 800km from mine to port.  This was all done uncovered without any care given to the dust that flew around.  The load was railed down from Wiluna Consequently thousands of birds died and children were found to have high levels of lead in their bodies.  One suburb close to the port was most affected and the Port, Shire and EPA have had to pay to clean rooftops, replace insulation etc.  The lead content in children is still being monitored and is dissipating which is good news.  The Port however has had to put in place automated monitoring equipment and all machinery has to be covered and sealed so that no dust is emitted (unlike Port Hedland which is very dusty everywhere).  The Esperance Shire has been successful in its negotiations not to load lead anymore and it is likely to be exported out of Fremantle.  The port loads iron ore (from Southern Cross); nickel from Leinster, sulphur and diesel is imported for mine works.  The port has 3 berths, 1 for iron ore tankers and 2 general for grain etc.   The picture on the right is sulphur in storage.

Days 77-81 - Esperance (23-27 November) Week 12

Mixed bag of weather from cold to hot!  One day we have the winter woollies on and the next we are at the beach in our shorts and tshirts!  On a day when we did have sunshine, we did the Ocean Drive a 40km drive alongside some of the beaches close to town.  The beginning of the drive is a walk along the Tanker Jetty in town, 200m out to sea.  It is common to see a sea lion in the vicinity and there is a statue of a seal that is called Sammy.  The second photo is overlooking the town from  the Rotary Lookout. The photo of the beach with people on it is called Twilight Beach which won best beach in Australia in 2006.  There are some really beautiful beaches here and the sand is so white.  We have discovered a couple of beaches that we want to revisit when the weather picks up.  The next day we did some 4WD beach driving and spent the day relaxing at the beach.  Unfortunately the ocean is not warm enough yet to swim (well not for us) and it was a quite rough although John did brave it and took the kayak out for quick paddle.  He also did some fishing and caught 7 good sized herring which we had on the barbie for dinner, they were very tasty.  The last couple of days have been too cold to get out so we have just been lazy and did some sightseeing around town.  It was John's birthday during the week and he is now addicted to custard puffs from the local bakery and we have found a great noodle place in town that we had for his birthday dinner.  The caravanners at this park are very friendly and we have had a couple of nights sitting with them having nibbles and drinks.  It is amazing the number of people we have met who have sold everything for a life on the road.  Surprisingly there are a lot of solo travellers out there and the majority are women even more surprising.    I think they are very brave.

Days 74-76 - Esperance (20-22 November)

Arrived in Esperance after a long day on the road, 410kms.  The caravan park we had booked into was not particularly good, full of permanents and quite a distance from town so after unhitching the van went looking for another one.  Found one near the beach which is in a much better location and is family owned and cheaper (bonus). The managers are very accommodating and are very dog friendly.  So next day we changed parks.  Very busy park with so many nice people, too nice in that they kept coming over and chatting to us which was lovely but it took us all day to get setup!  Majority of people here are tourists although they have and are/or staying for weeks which makes it more like a happy family setting.  So after many interruptions we finally got set up before the rain came.  It poured and it poured and it is so cold!!!!  We had to dig out our winter woollies from the depths of the wardrobe, it is yuk!  Bring back 42 degrees!  The weather is supposed to improve over the next few days up to 36 so very variable at the moment.  Dennis (John's dad) arrived on Sunday and let us know he had arrived by nudging our caravan with his car, no damage done and we had a good laugh.  Went to the tourist bureau and discovered there is a lot to do here and first impressions are that we like it.  About 10 degrees warmer and it would be perfect.  The beaches are beautiful and the sand very white.  So lots of exploring for us to do.  The national parks sound lovely.   Want to go to Lucky Bay where the kangaroo lies on the beach.  Ths is one of the tourist enticements that is true apparently.  Not sure what the seabird is but it is huge and there are a lot of them.  Look a little bit like seagulls.

Days 71-73 - Kalgoorlie (16-19 November)

Left Menzies heading for Kalgoorlie - short trip for us 235kms. The photo on the bottom left is of Paddy Hannan who discovered gold in Kalgoorlie in 1893 starting the largest goldrush in WA's history.  As John hurt his back putting up the gazebo I spent the first afternoon driving around Kalgoorlie tyre shopping (I know nothing about tyres) to replace the one that had the puncture.  Amazing the difference in prices.  Anyway settled on one that and will get it the next day.  The park we are staying at is close to Centennial Park which is great at it has a lot of cycleways for walking near a lake.  Surprisingly there are a few parks in Kalgoorlie considering how dry it is.  I discovered during my travels Kalgoorlie is quite a shopping mecca with a large variety of shops.  Next day we visited the tourist bureau and got some ideas on what to do and see.  Obviously there are a lot of mining tours which we decided not to do as we have both done them before and they are quite expensive.  We did go to the viewing platform at the Super Pit.  The Super Pit is the largest open gold pit mine in Australia and is expected to be producing until 2021.  The Super Pit produces 80,000 tonnes of gold each year.  Currently the pit is 320m deep, 4kms long and 1.4kms wide. Apparently the pit affects the local weather.  Plans are to deepen the pit to 500m by 2017.  Over 550 personnel work in the pit and it operates 24 hours every day.   Quite an amazing site.  The haul trucks look like 'dinky' cars and they are huge vehicles.  4wds are only just able to be seen.  The workers who drive the dump trucks, excavators etc are highly skilled drivers as each tyre on the dump truck for instance cost $26,000 so care needs to be taken to ensure they have a long life!   We observed a blast which they do on average every 2nd to 3rd day.  They blasts are 12m deep.  We were on the viewing platform and could feel the blast.  

We also did a tour at the Royal Flying Doctor Service.  This was really interesting.  Kalgoorlie cover a large area of the state, they have 2 planes, 5 full time doctors, nurses and pilots.  On average the plane goes out twice a day to pick up patients.  The planes can take 2 patients lying down, 1 sitting up, doctor and a nurse so very compact.  Most of their callouts are to vehicle accidents.  Whilst the RFDS is partly funded by the State government they fall $6M short so all centres fundraise to meet the shortfall.  To date they have managed to meet this. 

Day 70 - Sandstone to Menzies (16 Nov)

Had our first puncture today on the car.  Luckily we had stopped to try and photograph a couple of wedge tailed eagles (got one photo) and as we were pulling off heard air been released from the back type, bummer.  We had somehow split the side of the tyre so not fixable.  Will have to replace it in Kalgoorlie.  Went through Leinster (another BHP Billiton project - nickel this time) and Leonora.  Leinster partiularly caters for the worker and is well setup, Leonora not so well setup but a pretty town.  Menzies, well another story.  We have only stopped here to visit Lake Ballard where the stick men statues are set amongst a salt lake (known as the Inside Australia exhbition 2003).  The town of Menzies has absolutely nothing except a tourist bureau, a Caltex service station and a pub of course.  The caravan park would only just qualify as a caravan park in that it provides power and water, the ablutions are demountables with no doors on the shower cubicles just a curtain, however they are clean (at least the ladies - one good thing about being a female in mining areas is that there are very few women around so generally the ablutions are clean and empty most of the time).  I'm sure the same can't be said about the mens.  We quickly setup the van and took off to Lake Ballard to take some shots at sunset.  After 51kms on dirt road we found the stick figures in the lake.  There are 51 of them (total of the town's inhabitants back in 2003).  The artist depicted each person by their own statue to capture their soul (if you are into that arty type stuff).  Anyway a little disappointing as what you see on TV is not what you get.  Yes 51 figures are there alright spread out across the whole lake which is very muddy due to recent rain and it takes two hours to walk to each one (on a good dry surface day).  I thought they would be closer together in groups.  We are the only ones here by the way.  So we set off with an impending thunderstom and lightning (3rd day in a row) on the horizon, with the thunder getting louder by the minute, we trudged to the closest statutes, took the photos, watched the lightning get closer and closer and decided the other 48 statues could wait and John justified it by saying how different can they be, they will all have tits or dicks.  He is probably right, being on a open lake with lightning strikes probaly not the smartest thing to do.  By this time also the wind was picking up and we could smell the rain in the air (yes you can smell it).  Got back to the car, cleaned our shoes and Coco's paws as best we could, had a coffee and waited for a sunset which never eventuated as no sooner had we done this then the heavens opened and it has been raining ever since.  Lovely big drops of rain, it is great as it is still warm!  We had driven to the lake on a very dusty road and the drive home was a very sodden sticky and muddy road.  Easy to see how quickly floods can develop.  Here are the photos of the stick people.  Unless you have Lake Ballard on your 'bucket list' I personally wouldn't bother, interesting to see but a long way to travel.  Some of the surrounding landscape however is very very pretty.  We've ticked that box.

Day 69 - Sandstone (15 Nov)

Sandstone is a really quaint town with a total population of 150! 50 townies and 100 country folk. The Police visit every 3rd Tuesday, doc and nurse every 3 weeks and grocery supplies are dropped by once a week, so when they sell out that's it and its very expensive. The general store is also the bank and post office and they man the fuel pump. In its peak 1910-1918 the population was between 6000 to 8000, in 1919 it dropped to 250, due to the end of gold rush and men going off to war. However the town existed for the growing pastoralists. Today there exists a gold mine nearby - (Troy mines) and cattle farms. Last night went for a walk at sunset and the colours are spectacular, a fantastic pink sky against the dark red dirt really make for gorgeous lighting. During the evening we had a great thunderstorm with some magical lighting. There is something very special about the outback. We have decided to stay today as well in Sandstone, it is so peaceful here and there are some natural formations that we want to check out called the brewery and London Bridge.  We did the heritage trail walk around town - took about 20 minutes.  Any windmills here are multicoloured, must be a town quirk! They even have a golf course albeit in the dirt.  The flies are really bad here, hence the sign on the shop door.

Checked out London Bridge and the Brewery and decided to go back at sunset to get some sunset shots of the bridge.  The Brewery was built in 1907 on top of a breakaway close to where the cliff drops 30-40 feet. Water was pumped to the top via a well. Beer by way of gravitation founds its way to the coolers and two large vats on the main floor. It was then stored into a cellar which was tunnel driven into the face of the breakaway. It was cooled by a hole bored through the ceiling of the cellar to the top of the breakway. The things men do for a beer!  The brewery was built for the miners working nearby, but was only used for 3 years until the railway line to Mt Magnet was completed. 

London Bridge is a natural formation believed to be 350 million years old.  It was a popular picnic spot for the local townfolk in the early 1900s and at that time a horse drawn carriage could be driven across the top.  Over the years of course it has thinned out and walking across it is not recommended.  While we were there at sunset another thunderstorm was brewing in the distance and by the time we got back to the park it had hit and we had a real heavy downpour, shortlived unfortunately.  It was great as it had been such a hot day that we ran out in the rain to cool off, haven't done that since I was kid.  There really isn't anything to do here once you have seen the bridge and brewery, not even a public pool so don't know the locals do for entertainment or to cool off, however it is a quaint town and certainly worth a visit.  It does get very hot in summer, last summer they had a 57 degree day!  There are a lot of multicoloured hubcaps around the place, some with flowers, dots etc so this must fill someones time.