This morning it was time to bid farewell to the delightful Lottie’s Cottage in Albany. We really enjoyed our stay here in a beautiful house in an idyllic garden setting. As an added bonus we had access to a compost bin so didn’t have to feel guilty about how we were going to dispose of fruit and vegetable waste. For someone accustomed to worm farming this was a welcome feature of our stay! It was also very handy to be able to launder some clothing while we were in Albany for four nights. We drove the scenic route to Denmark on the Lower Denmark Road through Elleker, Torbay and Youngs Siding rather than taking the South Coast Highway. The road was fantastic and signposted at 110/kph so better than some of the sections of actual highway ... read more

Another day, another national park. This morning, we headed into our fifth park, Torndirrup National Park, which is situated just 11 kilometres outside Albany. We had looked last night at the website and learnt that the access road to Bald Head is currently closed. That’s OK the Bald Head Walk Trail is a Class 4 bush walk that is 12.5 kilometres long. That would take all day so happy to give that one a miss. Shame not to be able to drive to the trail head to see what the view is like there, but if it’s closed, it’s closed. Instead, we set the SatNav for Stony Hill where we completed a short circuit walk with fabulous views. We then drove the short distance to the trail head for Peak Head Track. This is also a ... read more

There has been so much discussion about the route we should take between Hopetoun and Albany. The notes on our original itinerary stated: ‘Drive to Albany via (Bremer Bay +120km), Cape Riche, Cheyne Beach and Gull Rock NP’. However, the staff at the Visitor Centre in Esperance advised against this route taking the South Coast Highway declaring it boring and recommending the Chester Pass Road through Stirling NP. Then one of Cathy’s friends extolled the virtues of the Killer Whale experience out of Bremer Bay. We looked that up and baulked at the price … and the amount of time that we would be out on a boat in the Southern Ocean. OK, we don’t feel compelled to go that way just for the Orca spotting potential. Yesterday, we mentioned to our friendly Community Paramedic, Gareth, ... read more

This morning … we all had a hot shower to start our day! After eating breakfast and re-packing the vehicles our first stop today was at Aurelia’s Ice-creamery & Café to buy some rolls for lunch. The hot bread bakery is closed on Sundays, but we noted yesterday on our ice-cream run that they had a variety of filled rolls for sale at the ice-cream shop. Today’s itinerary was to drive 192 kilometres to Hopetoun via Stokes National Park and while in the park to attempt the 6.4-kilometre return Stokes Heritage Trail. However, on our ‘Esperance Wonders’ information sheet we had learnt about Lake Monjingup just 15 kilometres west of town. With the promise of a brand-new boardwalk trail and the opportunity to do some birdwatching, wildflower spotting and trail walking we decided we could spare ... read more

There were no problems with the power this morning, but we may have all showered for too long too close together because the water was warm rather than hot for the last two showers. The information manual warns that it is only a 90-litre electric hot water tank, and it takes quite a while to reheat so showers should not be too long or better still staggered to give the tank time to reheat! After breakfast we drove into the Esperance French Hot Bread Shop to purchase rolls and cakes to take with us to Cape Le Grand National Park. From the bakery to the BP where Bernie was excited to be able to put Premium Diesel in the truck. It has been a while between tanks of the good stuff. Our next stop on the ... read more