2015 WA Caravan Trip. Update 6

Cape Le Grande national park is only about 50 km from Esperance so we thought it might be crowded and spoiled – not so. We camped at beautiful Cape Le Grande beach in one of only 15 secluded campsites. The sea was calm and blue – really, really blue – and the powdery, squeaky sand was an amazing bright white. Hiking over the granite hills was good exercise with fabulous scenery as a reward. We climbed to the top of Frenchman Peak with Jenny and Brian, who were riding (bicycles, not motor bikes) from Melbourne to Perth and still found energy for the 2-hour return climb). 3 days here could easily have turned into a week but the road beckons.

Next stop was about 150 kms away at Cape Arid national park. The campsite at Thomas River has 17 secluded sites and for the first 2 nights we were the only people there. More beaut scenery, interesting 4WD tracks and good hiking along the rocky coastline and sandy bays. We don’t actively seek out company but we did enjoy a couple of hours with a young couple who camped near us on the third night.

6 days after leaving Esperance we are back again so that we can wash some clothes and fill our water tanks. On arrival we still had more than 50 L each of washing water and drinking water so we could easily have stayed another couple of days. Although the skies were cloudy for a lot of the time our solar-powered batteries did not go below 12.3V and usually by afternoon they were over 13V. Unfortunately campfires are not allowed in these parks but that didn’t worry us as the weather has been quite mild; one day the max was 27 deg and at night it was still 20 deg in the caravan when we went to bed.

We’ll stay in Esperance until Tuesday morning, then head west toward Albany. Apparently there are plenty of nice beach camps on the way the 500 km (approx) will probably take a week or so.

Hope everyone is well. Love to all, from Ted and Jo