Committed Travellers

Our 200kms drive west to Dumbleyung was mostly on a straight road. The 10kms causeway across King Lake is the longest in WA.

We stopped at Newdegate for a brief look around. The painted silos were impressive.

Our lunch stop was in the town of Lake Grace. The bakery has an outdoor seating area but we had to carry the dogs through the shop to get there. The former Bank of New South Wales was established in 1817. A three panel mural depicts individual women who helped establish and develop the community.

At Dumbleyung we are camped behind the Tavern. The two guys who own this pub have embarked on a major renovation, for example, the new roof cost $250,000! They are away travelling and their friend Dan is managing the hotel in their absence. Dan owns a 21 foot Bushtracker. He took a photo of our van and sent it to his wife “Honey, I shrunk the Bushtracker!”. We had dinner at the Tavern in front of the fire.

Dumbleyung Lake is “famous” for being where Donald Campbell broke the water speed record on 31 December 1964. He is the only person to have held the land and water speed records in the same year. A replica of his Bluebird watercraft is on display near the railway station.

The announcement that Campbell had broken the record was made from this staircase in the Tavern. The collection of photographs in the Blue Room includes caravans camped by the lake, and refuelling the Bluebird with people swimming close by. Note the Ampol sign positioned in the middle of the lake!

It rained on and off for most of the day. Every time I had to do something outside it rained! When packing up the van I would be outside for a couple of minutes, then back inside until it stopped. Fortunately it did not rain while I walked Bluey down to the coffee van.

We stopped in Esperance to buy some buttons to finish a knitting project. I had some beige wool recycled from a jumper my mother had knitted for my father, and added some colour using my Nundle wool, knitting two colours together.

Our first stop was Ravensthorpe, 190kms from Esperance. We had lunch at a basic diner/cafe where Anita enjoyed her lamb shank pie. The decor was very ordknary except for this small collection of teacups and teapots.

Ravensthorpe is a small village with one pub, two service stations and other basic agricultural services. The historic shire building has detailed timber work under the eaves. In September last year the Shire Chief Executive was sacked for using $55,000 of shire funds to pay for sex workers.

We drove through here in 2019 but I didn’t recall the town until we saw the painted silos.

Canola, wheat and cattle are produced in this region. Road trains transport grain and ore from various mining sites. At Lake King there is an historic collection of modified equipment used on these large area farms. Local farmers have cleverly rebuilt equipment to suit their particular needs.

We took Bluey and Leo for a walk together. They sat still for a split second while interested in a treat.

We had nice meals at the tavern in front of an open fire. Back in the van Tilly laid across my lap to groom Bluey sleeping next to me.

It has been sunny for most of the day but the wind has been unrelenting. The maximum wind gust in Esperance on 1 August was 72kph and 83kph yesterday. There is still a chance of an overnight thunderstorm.

We went to Cloud Eleven Coffee to buy an AeroPress coffee press that can make espresso style coffee. Anita tested it and was happy with her first cup. It is small and lightweight so suitable for the caravan. Many places where we camp do not have nearby decent coffee.

I revisited the scenery along Twilight Beach Rd with our friends, and Bluey and Leo. It was so windy in some places it was hard to open the car doors or stand still, so we mostly enjoyed the views from the comfort of the Toyota. We could not walk the dogs as they may have blown away.

We drove further than I had yesterday, turning around at Eleven Mile Beach, the end of the coastal road in this area. On the way we stopped at Observatory Point where I climbed the steps to the top, holding onto the rails with both hands all the way up and down.

Back in our van Bluey got into trouble for stealing the butter off my roll. A couple of days ago he stole a piece of cheese from Anita’s cracker. His nose goes close to the table each time he gets up on the bed via the step and bench, but knows he should only look not taste. He hid on our pillows.

While Perth and towns on the west coast of WA suffered damage from wild winds over 100kph, we have so far not had any issues here on the south coast. The wind was very strong all day but our site in the caravan park is surprisingly protected. A colourbond fence and line of pine trees provide some protection from the wind. Other areas of the park are very windy.

The people operating the coffee van packed up early because of the wind, so I drove to Cloud Eleven Coffee in town. This place is hidden away down an arcade, so I only knew about it from on line research. Our coffees were great and takeaway breakfasts good.

I decided to explore more of Esperance while there was no rain. Anita wasn’t interested so I headed off with Bluey. In our 2019 trip to WA we had explored the Cape Le Grand National Park which is to the east, so I drove west.

This granite outcrop is visible from town so I drove up for a closer look. Houses up on the hill have views over the silos and port.

There are several viewing areas along Twilight Beach Rd where I could stop to see so many different sections of coastline in a relatively short distance. A couple of aqua blue bays were relatively calm. I spotted a dozen or so dolphins playing in the protected water, but didn’t want to climb down and up these steps.

Open beaches had rough seas but magnificent granite outcrops and sand dunes. The white caps show how windy it was out towards the Bight.

I only drove 10kms from our caravan park to see all of these lovely coastal views. I went as far as the West Beach Lookout, past the large empty car park next to lovely Twilight Beach. This coastline was almost as dramatic as Cape Le Grande National Park, but much closer to Esperance.

Bluey looks so different with his latest haircut that I have to make sure he is our boy. Louise the groomer told me about a red Toy Poodle named Waffle that won Crufts 2022 so I looked him up. There is no way Bluey will ever have to look like this! I watched the video showing Waffle having a pee during the formal victory walk. The audience thought that was hilarious.

This afternoon I cleaned and rearranged our pantry cupboard. My apprentice inspected the job.

Today was fur/hair cut day for Bluey and Anita. Louise Powell did a great job grooming our poodle. She breeds rare Bedlington Terriers and is going to show her 12 week old very red Toy Poodle. She scoffed when I said Blue is a Toy Poodle, because he is much too big to be in that category.

Fortunately Louise gives priority to grooming travellers’ dogs, otherwise we would not have got an appointment. After noting his raggedy hair cut and long claws, she advised Blue is one kilo overweight! Anita’s haircut is very good, was cheaper than Bluey’s, and didn’t come with advice that she lose weight!

We drove to the Rotary Lookout which looks like a Covid-safe structure, allowing visitors to keep at least 1.5m apart. Of course it pre-dates Covid. The second photo shows Twilight Bay taken from the lookout. The third and fourth photos were taken from a car park along Twilight Beach Rd. If bad weather wasn’t imminent the granite rock would be a great place to explore.

This mechanical clock tower in located in Adventureland. It was built by a group of miniature railway enthusiasts in 2005, who describe it as having Greek, Roman and Renaissance influences of western architecture.

While Anita was having her haircut, I drove out to Pink Lake which today was not pink. It appeared to be pink when we drove to Esperance three days ago as the sun was shining. A sign advised one of the reasons the lake is no longer bubblegum pink is salt mining which reduced the concentration of salt in the water.

Weather wise the day started fine enough, but severe weather warnings prompted our caravan park manager to advise everyone to put down their awnings and secure loose items.

As our next destination will be towards the west, we would not be able to avoid the forecast severe weather. Consequently we have decided to stay put for two more days. There are repeated warnings about strong winds, heavy rainfall and possible hail over the next couple of days. On the west coast gusts up to 90-100kph were recorded this afternoon, with a 10m swell.

Blue was happy to recover from his traumatic grooming experience by resting on my pillows. However, Tilly has wanted to be out in the cold so I took her for a run.

I took Tilly for a walk around our caravan park. We don’t generally use swimming pools, playgrounds, camp kitchens or games rooms, but of course we pay the same rate as travellers who make full use of these facilities. Apart from our site facilities of power, water and drainage our use of caravan park facilities is limited to the dump site, clothes line and laundry (which we pay for by inserting coins into the washing machines and dryers).

Visitors using the playground, kitchen and pool enjoy the view across Esperance Bay.

Tilly explored the decorative array of succulents in this pot. She later was very friendly to the young woman who cleans the ablutions.

While it was sunny all day there was still a chill in the air. When I drove to town for coffees, it was still very cold even though the sun was shining. When I took Blue for a run on the beach this afternoon, I had to wear a jacket. He was exploring this interesting plant.

Anita washed our bed linen and the critters quickly made themselves comfortable in and on it. If I hadn’t seen Tilly burrow into the doona we would not have had any idea where she was.

Blue and Leo still get excited when they see each other, but quickly settle when we take Bluey for a visit in the motorhome. They had a play together in the critters’ crate, happily bouncing up and down.

This morning there was sunshine and we managed to get our washing dry before the winds increased and changed direction. The owners of a neighbouring caravan were out when some of their gear was blowing away. I collected it and weighted it down for them.

A coffee van was open near the entrance to our caravan park overlooking Esperance Bay. It was good coffee but won’t be back until Tuesday morning.

I kept watch on the BOM weather forecast and decided the winds might get worse so we put our awning away late this afternoon. The temperature was 10° but “feels like” 2°. Overnight it will drop to 6° and feel like 1°.

We drove to the shops to buy a newspaper and treat ourselves to coffee and cake. I took Blue for a quick walk while Anita stayed in the warm cafe. There is a lovely swimming enclosure with aqua blue water, but white sand has banked up covering steps – not that we will be swimming!

The cold wind precluded any walking around town, but we did a drive through parts near the water.

There are several interesting murals around town so I captured some of my favourites.

The rain has set in this evening so it’s a good thing we can watch the Commonwealth Games. Being in WA we can stay awake to watch 2 hours more of the coverage than we would have back in Queensland. It’s a shame the Telstra internet here is so hopeless!

It was partly cloudy at Norseman when we left the RV park. Our first stop was to be the dump site but some selfish, ignorant, idiotic person had blocked the entrance with their car and caravan (grrr!). We gave up and I went to the only cafe for my coffee.

It was a 2 hour drive to Esperance where our first stop was the Caravan Repair Centre. Fitting a new Anderson plug took less than 10 minutes, but we were charged labour at the minimum of half hour – $55 for 10 minutes. Effectively we paid the equivalent hourly rate of $330!

The clouds gathered and light rain started while we set up in the caravan park. The forecast is for lots of wet weather while we are here so I put up the awning with a combination of shade screens and waterproof screens. To reduce the amount of sand being carried into the van, I put out double layers of groundsheet.

Anita did two loads of washing all of which is hanging under the awning – it could be there for days!

We drove the short distance to the shops, just in time for a heavy downpour. I sat it out in the car with Bluey and caught up with a some phone calls.

We are watching the Commonwealth Games trying to convince Blue it is not time for his late night treat. He is confused by the time change, perceiving it to be 10.30pm when it is only 8.30pm.

It was foggy this morning with some frost. We waited for the fog to clear before leaving Cocklebiddy. Tilly kept warm in the bathroom in front of the heater outlet.

The first roadhouse was only 66kms from Cocklebiddy so we did not stop. Caiguna Roadhouse was established in 1962 to enable travel across the Nullabor for the Perth Commonwealth Games. The gravel road was not fully sealed until 1976.

Five kilometres west of Caiguna is a blowhole. This small hole in the rock is a vent allowing air movement to and from the complex network of underground caves. Some of the caves are more than 6kms long and are full of water. Exploring these is not on our bucket list!

The 90 Mile Straight section of highway starts just west of Caiguna and ends close to Balladonia, famous for being the unexpected landing site of Skylab space junk. We drove at 100kph following a truck travelling at exactly the same speed all the way from Cocklebiddy to Balladonia. The speed limit is 110kph but all vehicles towing are limited to 100kph.

In December 2019 we crossed the Nullabor west to east with Beccy Cole. We were amazed the temperatures were mild during our trip. A week after we had crossed the temperatures were extremely high and fires halted vehicles travelling on the Eyre Hwy for days. The fires came within metres of buildings at the Balladonia Roadhouse, and large areas of woodland with dead trees.

Our stop for tonight is a free RV campsite in Norseman, named after the horse reputed to have discovered gold here by pawing the ground uncovering a nugget. Other than two service stations only three or four shops are trading – the IGA, a cafe, bottleshop and pharmacy. Several old shops are for sale. The pub appears to only use part of this lovely building.

The town makes great efforts to attract tourists, such as the impressive visitor centre, sculptures and artwork.

Next to the visitor centre is a fantastic gallery showing photographs by Lynn Webb. I asked Lynn if he was a local and he said not as he has only lived here for 35 years! Some of his works are featured outside the building so I could take photos.

I downloaded this photo from the gallery website which has many more amazing photos.

Bluey and Leo had a run on the basket ball court. Blue spotted his friend looking for him through the motorhome door.

We saw a lovely sunrise this morning, but not as dramatic as the sunsets. We had to eat, cook or freeze most of our fruit and vegetables before crossing the WA border due to quarantine restrictions. Anita made banana hotcakes for breakfast and served them with yoghurt a segments of mandarine. I ate the last orange and mandarin just before the border.

We stopped at two viewing spots overlooking the Bunda Cliffs and deep blue water of the Great Australian Bight. The cliffs were in shade so our photos are not good.

The fuel price at the Nullabor roadhouse was reported to be over $3 per litre for diesel. We had enough to safely drive the 200kms to Border Village where it was $2.59 per litre. We visited the dump site and bought take away lunch. There were no delays crossing the border.

In theory the time in SA is 30 minutes later than on the east coast, and in WA the difference is 2 hours. However there is at least one other time zone across this remote part of the country.

The straight flat road on the WA side of the border is reflected by our fuel consumption being consistently about 21 litres per 100kms. That is over $50 per 100kms.

Once over the border we drove a further 283kms to overnight at the Cocklebiddy caravan park. We paid $25 for a powered site, with no water connection or drainage. Tokens were provided to use the showers, but we use our own shower and toilet.

Two wedge tail eaagles are kept here in an enclosure, because they suffered injuries and cannot survive in the wild. The care of these eagles is regulated by a government agency.