Lucky Bay – 14 to 16 March 2010

We had decided to drive straight to Cape Le Grand National Park. Little did we know how popular it was.

After finding the Le Grand Beach Campsite full, we drove to the Lucky Bay Campsite where we were took the last remaining site. The Ranger said it has been full since Christmas. Every night even the overflow camping is full.

 

 

 

 

 

Lucky Bay was named by Matthew Flinders when his ship the Investigator, in an awkward position, took shelter from a summer storm in the bay. He also found food and water. It was lucky for us as we found refuge too.

 
Lucky Bay is a beautiful bay, protected by the Islands of the Recherche Archipelago making it a sheltered and safe swimming beach.  It has certifiably the whitest sand in Australia!   The water is so clear it is like swimming in glass.

The local kangaroos come onto the beach, lazing on the sand on sunny days and sampling the seaweed. There are plaques to Matthew Flinders at both ends of the beach, and we walked to see this one which includes a sculpture of HMS Investigator.

 

We explored nearby Hellfire Beach, named after St. Elmo’s fire [Trish had a great swim] and also Thistle Cove with its  “whistling rock”, unfortunately silent because the wind did not blow in the right direction. 

After three great days we moved  to Le Grand Beach, with its secluded sites and Telstra Next G wireless signal giving us regular internet access.

Wave Rock near Hyden – 13 March 2010

We set off from Forrestfield in Perth pleased to be without our “collars and ties” and on the road again. First stop was Wave Rock a unique granite formation near Hyden a town on the western edge of the wheat belt on the road to Esperance from Perth. Hyden was named after Mr. Hyde a sandalwood feller but somehow the inevitable misspelling crept in, although Tricia wonders if this was a comment on his standard of living.
We camped right by the rock and spent the afternoon exploring the rock and the local countryside including nearby Lake Magic, dry at present but said to be a crystal clear salt lake with a white gypsum bottom when full . Hyden is a small town of 400 people, tidy and nicely developed with an excellent local bakery. The bread has lasted a full week and still tastes great.

We spotted a local “ornate dragon” which are common inhabitants of Wave Rock.
Hyden makes the trip from Perth to Esperance into two easy stages.

Perth – 9 to 12 March 2010

On our return from Melbourne we had the Caravan serviced by PDA caravans. They were recommended by Simplicity Suspensions who make the Bushtracker independent suspension [used by the Australian Army] and we had them repack the wheel bearings, adjust the brakes and check the suspensions alignment.
They must be good as there was a one month waiting list for an appointment so it was fortunate we booked before returning to Australia.
 
This gave us some time to visit parts of Perth we hadn’t seen including Kings Park with a magnificent view across to the city. We had dinner in Frasers Restaurant in Kings Park on a beautiful evening. The Restaurant looks out across the park to the Swan River estuary.
The next night we caught up with friends for dinner at the Rose and Crown Hotel in Guilford, spending a warm night in their garden restaurant.

 

 

 

Melbourne – 26 February to 9 March 2010

We drove back from Denmark stopping at Kojonup for lunch. The town has made a real effort and a recently built stopping place with an excellent coffee shop and park made lunch time a real pleasure.
We left the van at Forrestfield before flying back to Melbourne so John could do his compulsory professional development courses to maintain his legal registration. It was a hectic ten days of lectures and appointments, with not really enough time to see everyone we wanted to see.