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Friday 1st May ~ can’t believe it’s May already, where have the last 3 months gone? Anyway had a lovely leisurely hot shower (the first for 3 days!!) then sent last blog before setting off to see T he Natural Bridge and The Gap, both just outside Albany.
More superlatives!! The Natural Bridge is a huge bridge of granite some 60 or 70metres long, 30 metres wide and about 30 metres above the waves of the Southern Ocean. Those waves come thundering in below the bridge and shatter themselves on the rocks. Similarly The Gap is a cleft that’s been cut into the granite cliffs by wave action and as the waves hit the cliff face its just a maelstrom of rushing white water and deafening noise ~ photos never quite capture the awesome power, the noise and the energy of these incredible elements. If the waves explode like this on a quiet day one wonders what it would be like in a storm apparently there have been several fatalities with people falling or being blown off the cliffs.
As we were near the Blow Holes we thought we ought to go and see them so we walked for 900M along
a cliff path and were surprised to hear this great roaring way before we were anywhere near them. These are just cracks in the rock which go down to sea level, 60+ metres below, and when a wave breaks at the base of the cliff air and spray is forced out through the top. The sheer volume makes you jump and again makes you realise what powerful forces there are. Lyn thought it sounded like a dinosaur breathing - but how would she know!!
So after that it was on to Highway 1 en route to Esperance along straight roads and red earth country, very little traffic apart from road trains. Stopped at Overshot Hill Nature Reserve (Ravensthorpe) for freebie camping - only one other campervan for company.
Saturday 2nd May - Up and away early. The town of Ravensthorpe is a central hub for the area both for grain and mining with huge grain silos supplying equally huge road trains. Made good time along these straight empty roads with a mixture of agriculture, mining and bush country. Arrived in Esperance by 11.00am and found the Information Centre was situated in a reconstructed pioneer village. All the old buildings
now house a mixture of coffee shops, art & craft galleries etc. - so stopped for a coffee and bought some more paintings!
As we were there so early decided to drive to Cape Le Grand National Park which boasts the best and whitest beaches in Australia (so they say). 66Km later we arrived at Lucky Bay - WOW - an incredibly beautiful cove with clear white sand and dunes set off against clear blue sea. Parked and wandered on to the beach and surprise, surprise, there were 2 kangaroos. These were wild but quite friendly and you could get quite close to them to the point where they would nearly feed out of your hand. Amazing for such untamed animals. We took loads of photos and then wandered along the beach, hardly anyone there, just a couple of beach fisherman with their 4 wheel drives. We wandered through the surf for a couple of kilometres, sat on the sand dunes, wandered on again and then started back just as the sun was setting. Quite dark as we left this beautiful spot but met the local hazards as kangaroos kept bounding across the road in front of us including one
that miss-timed it and left a hole in the bumper!! Apart from that it had been another perfect day.
Sunday 3rd May - Up early as we had a long drive to Kalgoorlie - a quick trip around Esperance first, such a lovely town and beaches - would have been easy to have stayed longer. Still the desert calls! Empty roads, not even many road trains - different country again with huge salt lakes appearing on either side, just vast expanses of salt crystals looking just like yesterday’s beaches. Stopped at Norseman (named after the horse that got a gold nugget stuck in its hoof and started the gold rush at the end of the 19th century). Still a huge open cast gold mine which produces 100,000 ozs of gold per year. The streets are really wide as they were built for the camel trains to turn round in but you get the feeling that this is just in the middle of no-where. Kalgoorlie on the other hand is a busy thriving town with lots of its original buildings still intact and in use. The whole town is based on the Super Pit which is the biggest open mine
in Australia. Lots of tours available including the Super Pit, Royal Flying Doctor Service and Brothels!!! Tomorrow should be an interesting day!
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