We set up camp in the late afternoon after over 400k's driving under grey skies and through intermittent showers between the down pours and opened every window and flap on the camper to speed the drying process after two wet pack ups in a row. It was bloody cold though, and the long pants were a definite fashion fixture. We ate in the camp kitchen out of the wind and then headed straight inside the camper to read and watch telly. The next morning was full of promise and blue sky, so a look around town was in order. One of the attractions here is the very long Tanker Jetty which used to be used by tanker ships for offloading fuel to the storage facility in town. There is even supposed to be a local seal (Sammy) who hangs around the jetty waiting for scraps from fishermen. Well, that may have been, but obviously the good people of Esperance heard we were coming, so the jetty has been condemned and the first 50 metres of it have been removed so there is no possibility of walking along it, fishing from it (as if...), or seeing the seal. Another must see is Pink Lake which is turned pink by the algae in the extremely salty lake water. Only problem is that it is currently basically blue - can't even rely on the algae to do their job right :(
Oh well, they do have an exceptional french bakery with all kinds of baked goodies to help overcome the dissapointment.
Headed out to Cape Le Grand National Park for a days exploring. What a fantastic place it is. Just one stunning beach/cove after another. The water is sooo blue and the sand is sooo white. The sand has a high silica content and squeaks when you walk on it (just like Squeaky Beach at Wilsons Prom). For something completely different we also walked/climbed/scrambled up to the top of Frenchman Peak which is a 262m high lump of granite which is supposed to resemble a type of cap worn by your typical French sailor back when they were naming places around here. This was a bloody steep climb which took nearly an hour from car park to summit, but the views were spectacular.
We are off to Norseman tomorrow for the start of the Nullarbor Plain which contains such highlights as Australia's longest straight stretch of highway at 146.6km - we can hardly contain our excitement ;-)
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| Not so Pink Lake |
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| Frenchman Peak |
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| You can just see the Patrol in the car park from the top. |
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