Esperance and its surrounds

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Heading to Esperance mining road trains suddenly changed to grain road trains. The number and frequency of these showed the harvest was in full swing. Over the next couple of days we passed lots of very large grain delivery sites with big queues of road trains. Chatter over the 2-way had changed to how long drivers had to wait in the queue or how slow things were at the delivery sites.

We were passed by an over-size load heading to Queensland. The cargo was a donga, obviously quite light but rather large. We overheard a 2-way conversation in which the driver was telling how he had already moved 120 of these units and there were 380 in total for him to move from Ravensthorpe to a mining site in central Queensland. The mind boggles!

This prompted a discussion on the origins and meaning of the word ‘donga’. An internet search later was very enlightening and rather disturbing. There are quite a few different meanings. If you are game, and not easily shocked give it a go.

We were tempted by the fish and chip shop. We were not quite so sure when we saw the Bible text on the black board outside the shop and the advertised Gospel Pack as the special of the day, but it turned out OK. As we snacked on our delicious lunch at the seaside, a budding graffiti vandal was observed writing a message in the dust on our 4X4. Greg’s thundering shout was enough to send him running.

A late afternoon drive along the Twilight Bay scenic route showed just how beautiful yet treacherous the south coast of Australia can be.

With evening approaching we wondered how well we would sleep as the caravan-park was rather noisy. To one side we had the harbour where grain road trains were constantly thundering in and out. To the back a train clicketty-clacked past regularly tooting its horn noisily as it crossed roads. A noisy party with lots of loud music and screaming girls was obviously happening next door on the other side. To our surprise all when quiet by the time we were ready to tuck in.

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Comments

[Angela Reimann]

Looks like wonderful weather at Esperance!