Ctrl X-Ctrl V and move on: Part 2

Albany

The best thing near Albany is Torndirrup National Park and we loved Cable Beach where we saw a whale playing, Salmon Hole Beach, the views from Stoney Hill, and of course the touristy spots The Gap and Natural Bridge.

The wind farm at Albany is definitely worth checking out as the views from up there are fantastic and you can walk north or south along the coast from there.

Done, done and done. Although we didn’t see any whales, nor did we walk that far from the car. It was a lovely spot, and R&L’s holiday was turning out to be great, even if the weather was shit. We particularly liked the waves smashing against the cliffs at The Gap, which Becky daringly tried to capture with her phone, despite the risk of dropping it in the sea. We liked it so much we stayed a full ten minutes before leaving due to the cold.

Don't drop the phone

R&L promised whales!!!!

If only there was a way to harness the power of the wind

Jeez, next you'll be telling me you can get power from the sun

On the other side of Albany we loved Little Beach and little Little Beach at Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve.

We decided to miss this, as it was past lunchtime and we still had a lot to check off the list.

Porongurup

The walks here are quite good - the Granite sky walk (free) is fun and we loved the loop walk taking in Nancy's Peak and Hayward Peak (5.5km) from the tree in the rock carpark.

Once we saw free, we were in! The granite skywalk was very cool, in both senses of the word. It was a 2km walk to the top, which made us quite warm, stripping down to only two layers. At the top the wind picked up, we nearly froze and quickly piled everything back on. It was worth the effort, but we were pooped after 4km, so missed the other walks. We did a scenic drive instead, and got the general idea.

That got cold fast

Good views, even with clouds

Baudin's black cockatoo

Do you even lift, bro?

Stirling Ranges

Most of the walks here are about climbing mountains and the most popular is to climb Knoll Bluff which Ric describes as a 3km staircase (one way). If you don't want to climb it, it is still worth driving to the carpark for great views. We preferred the shorter walk Mt Hassel (about 3km return) for better flowers and more nicely framed views. We also enjoyed some flat walks near the cafe and around the campground which are about flowers and birds. They are the only walks we did here, the other walks could have been even better.

We stayed just north of the park, in a very nice bush retreat, and had the coldest night of the trip. There was an icy wind, so despite sleeping in long johns, long-sleeved t-shirt, woolly socks, beanie and under 2 blankets and a duvet, it was still a little cold. It was a shame, as all the camping sites w'de stayed in here had been exactly what we’d been looking for over the past 3 months… just 10 degrees colder than we could cope with.  We also bumped into a Dutch couple who we first saw in Mission Beach. We then saw them in Limmen NP, and again in Kakadu. We had never spoken, but we remembered them as I am very sensitive to other people near me. They had no idea who we were, and I would have kept it that way, but Becky has become more social of late and insists on talking to people.

The weather that morning was terrible. We’d planned to walk Mt Hassel, but after walking 200m to a lookout, we settled for the scenic drive through the park. We stopped at all the drive-through lookouts, finishing with lunch in the car park of Knoll Bluff, in the wind and rain with the peak covered in cloud. It looked like a nice place, but our experience reminded me of my childhood holidays in Wales.

Jumping for joy or to keep warm?

I can see fine from the car, thanks!

My new interpretive dance

On our way to Esperance we overnighted at Ravensthorpe which has a caravan park with a section that looks like it has been reserved for escaped criminals on the run.

If we went back we would like to check out the Fitzgerald River National Park but no time this trip.

Having had terrible luck with the weather in Stirling Ranges, we decided we could catch up with R&L by doing Fitzgerald River NP, and carving out our own distinctive bit to the holiday. However, the road to one of the highlights, Point Ann, was closed. We went straight through Ravensthorpe and headed to Hopetoun, a town that spelt town wrong in their name, so we could visit another section of the park in the morning. Fitzgerald River has a reputation for having a great number of wildflowers, or as they are known in Europe, flowers. R&L had mentioned the wildflowers quite a few times, and we’d seen a number of other people, car stopped in the middle of the road while they ferreted around in the bush taking photos of the “wildflowers”. Don’t get me wrong, the flowers in this area are beautiful, just like they are every spring in Europe, but not park-your-car-in-the-middle-of-a-bend-so-you-can-take-a-shitty-photo-on-a-dark-rainy-day kind of beautiful.

In Hopetoun we stayed in a shitty cabin that Becky really liked as it had solid walls. The only downside was a mother and her two kids had the cabin next to us. They seemed to be holidaying with some other Mums and their kids. In their excitement, the kids ran across the porch of our cabin and Becky told them to get off our land, as the mums didn’t seem to give a fuck.

The next day, as we were packing up, the kids kept looking at us like we were the weird ones, and I found myself staring back, giving them a dirty look… an angry one, not the look a child predator gives.

We drove into Fitzgerald River NP, and found it to be a very nice park. At the time we thought it was a nice day, but the photos show otherwise. We didn’t see any whales, and decided this was our chance to try and experience some proper wildflower photo experience. It was more fun than I expected, but I don’t think I’ll take it up as a hobby.  

Try to look warm, or R&L won't be jealous

Wildflowers and a bee

Wildflowers plus butterfly

In Esperance we camped at Lucky Bay in Cape Le Grand NP which is a spectacular spot and NP. Very popular but large campsite, you'd need to rock up fairly early to get a spot. The other campground, at Cape Le Grand Beach is not nearly as scenic but guaranteed to be quieter. 

We reached the edge of Cape Le Grand NP quite late, and although  Lucky Bay had been recommended by a few other people too, we opted for the quieter Le Grand beach spot. We wandered down to the beach and enjoyed a very nice sunset. At first we’d considered spending two nights here, but in the end it was cold and we’d had enough. Besides, although the forecast was good for the next day, it was predicted to get much worse as the week progressed. We got a good nights rest, and geared up to get everything done in half a day.

So happy to be near the end

A great lasting memory

We loved walking from Lucky Bay to Thistle Cove. (Short and easy!) And we drove to Hellfire Bay and loved the 20 min walk to little Hellfire Bay for the most spectacular wildflowers and vegetation.

The weather on our last day here was fantastic and we made the most of it. We didn’t walk between any of the beaches, as you could drive to them all, but did wander on the rocks for a bit. Basked in sunlight the place looked amazing. We took a look at the Lucky Bay campsite, and it was a little too crowded for our liking, but the views were stunning. It was also had the busiest beach, with cars driving on it despite going nowhere. It was here Becky had one of her highlights. She has been keen to see kangies on the beach for years, and finally got her wish. I think this was the longest we spent anywhere; I mostly sat in the car while Becky filled her camera with identical pictures.

Beach babes

SUNSHINE!!

You're not suppose to touch, but Becky ain't missing out

Becky's new poser mate

Fleece or swimmers - who is the crazy one?

Warm enough for a t-shirt

There are other walks and places to go at this NP eg bird sanctuary at Rossiter Bay but we didn't have time.

We drove to check out the bird sanctuary, but the track seemed very overgrown and I didn’t find anything that remotely resembled a sanctuary. The only highlight was finding a snake warming itself on the road out there. We pulled over to check it out, and Becky stopped some dickhead driving over it. The next car stopped and helped move the snake on with his shovel.

Becky gets down for the arty road shot

Its definitely worth walking up Frenchman Peak and checking out the huge "cave" on the left of the track before the peak. (3km return).

Yes it was.

Basking in the sun

A great end to SW WA

And with that our speeded up copy of R&L’s holiday came to an end. Without that list we would have missed most of this coast, but having a checklist pushed us to see more despite the cold. However, no amount of stunning coastline and beautiful forests would have kept us here any longer and we were really happy to be heading north towards blue skies and sunshine.