Day 15 (25 May) – Kalgoorlie (VERY VERY Windy and 19o in Kalgoorlie)
A quiet morning – we went to the Information Centre and had our last 2 holes of the Nullarbor Links signed off [C Y O’Connor and Golden Mile] for the Kalgoorlie Golf Course. We also had the completion certificates printed – so the Nullarbor Links has been completed for the second time by us. We had played the course when we travelled with Charlotte, James, Wren and Luna when we travelled over to see the total eclipse in Exmouth in April 2023.
We went to the Kalgoorlie Golf Course where we played 18 holes with Shane from Sydney. Shane was a relieving manager at the Kalgoorlie Ampol terminal and so I had a lot in common as I’d worked for a couple of years at the Mobil Yarraville terminal (at the base of the Westgate Bridge) in Melbourne.
We had dinner at The Cray again. Another good meal. The Maitre d’ was so pleased with us he wanted to give us a free dessert. I had to get back to watch the replay of the Demons beating the Swans but Lyn agreed to get a chocolate take away dessert which made him happy.
Day 16 (26 May) – Kalgoorlie to Esperance (RAC Esperance Holiday Park) (A little bit of rain and 17o heading to Esperance where it was raining slightly again as we arrived – 430 km)
We travelled back down the same highway we’d come from Norseman a couple of days before, then stopped in Norseman where I had to post back the key tag from Kalgoorlie Caravan Park (We didn’t have to use the tag as the gate was broken so we’d forgotten that we had it as we left).
An uneventful drive down to Esperance and, as we were early, we went to the full size replica of Stonehenge made out of local pink marble. A fascinating site and well worth a look.
On to the RAC Esperance Holiday Park where the welcome SMS we received whilst travelling had our site number and gate code meaning we didn’t have to check in on arrival – a really effective process.
After setting up, we went to the Information Centre, got some advice about local attractions and eateries and then toured around the Great Ocean Route along the coast and back past their Pink Lake. There were very stormy seas as we drove around the coast. We found out that Adelaide had closed a number of their piers and jetties due to the rough weather conditions. We stopped at the Pier Hotel for dinner by the fire.
Day 17 (27 May) – Esperance (Variable day misty rain in the morning, sunny at times then cloudy in the afternoon and 17o in Esperance)
A morning for laundry and administration – I was doing more work on my parent’s estates and paying bills. Brief patches of sunshine over the heated pool though and beautiful first thing in the morning.
A late morning walk to the local jetty where we stopped for a light lunch then back to the motorhome to finish the washing.
We had a long chat with some neighbours who had an Avida Longreach – the same model as Lisa and Steve that went up in flames a couple of years ago. Murray was a musician and Shiela was retiring the next day on her 67th birthday.
We booked in to the Seasons Hotel on the foreshore for dinner. It was very disappointing as they didn’t have a lot of items on the menu – both drinks and food.
Day 18 (28 May) – Esperance to Lucky Bay (Lucky Bay Camping Ground) (A beautiful day and 19o in Lucky Bay – 64 km)
We had the almosty empty gas cylinder filled at Barbeques Galore, filled Elsie up with diesel, then headed to Lucky Bay for some free camping.
We arrived around 10:15 and, as we were coming into the area, we noticed a Jimny on one of the best sites in the area. It was right next to the beach access track (a little walk down to the beach) and it had a great view over the entrance to the bay. As we pulled up, the owner of the Jimny came out and said he was just about to leave. We spent around half an hour talking about Jimnys. He had explained that during the night someone else had set up next to him and then I think they were told they were on a site already taken and so moved on. When he left we set up the site to get the best views out of our ‘bedroom window’ and to make sure no one else decided to join us on the very large site.
We then took a walk around 2.5 km to the other side of Lucky Bay along the beach and then back as the wind started increasing.
As we were free camping, we tried several different combinations of lighting, Starlink and other electrical devices to see what sort of power drain we’d have. The most usage indicated around 10 hours available. Switching everything off gave us around 140 hours, so no problems with our set up. Starlink drained a fair bit so we turned it off when not needed.
A meal of prawns and salad for dinner cooked in the motorhome!
Day 19 (29 May) – Lucky Bay to Albany (Big4 Middleton Beach Holiday Park) (A fair day with high level cloud and 20o on the way to Albany – 551 km)
Although we had two nights booked at Lucky Bay, after a trip to Thistle Beach and Hellfire Beach (and an aborted trip to Rossiter Bay along a very corrugated gravel track), we decided to move on and travel to Albany a day early.
Back through Esperance where we refuelled, then a full day’s driving through Ravensthorpe and Jerramungup before arriving at Albany fairly late as it was getting dark. There is a fantastic sweet shop in Ravensthorpe where I got an ice-cream and tried to play hopscotch like Wren.
We tried refuelling on the Albany Highway but found the site really difficult so headed to the Middleton Beach Holiday Park where we set up with a bit of difficulty as there was no lights on in the campsite at that stage. I hit a tree on the side of the site but fortunately it was only leaves. Very close to a big sawn off branch though.
We went to Liberte restaurant for dinner – one of the best meals we’ve had for a long time. Brett, our waiter was exceptional. A memorable night and meal.
Back to the motorhome where we tried to firm up bookings heading up the West coast. We’d found that it was getting more and more difficult to get accommodation and more and more fellow travellers recommended booking ahead to ensure we had somewhere to stay.
Day 20 (30 May) – Albany to Denmark (Denmark Ocean Beach Holiday Park) (Rainiy at times, overcast but up to 22o on the way to Denmark – 75 km)
I made some phone calls and managed to confirm all bookings up to Exmouth. I’d deliberately not booked Carnarvon and the Coral Coast to give ourselves flexibility but it was clear we needed to make the bookings in advance. We found it difficult to have some of them confirmed and some sites showed no vacancies at all. We’ve found that calling the site is better that using the website – the people answering can rearrange bookings to accommodate us where as the site doesn’t have the capability of re-arranging bookings dynamically.
We decided to play 18 holes at Albany Golf Club – a unique, interesting and great course. Very narrow and undulating fairways with similar greens. We hired a cart as Lyn’s back appears to be getting worse. There were some great scenes on the back nine as we could look across Middleton Beach and the bay.
After the golf, we refuelled in Albany then off to Denmark and the Denmark Ocean Beack Holiday Park (around 10 km out of Denmark).
We spent the afternoon arranging our accommodation and bookings up to Katherine after the booking challenges the night before and the past few days.
Dinner at the Flame Trees Denmark where we shared a table with Arlene and Scott. A really nice meal and fascinating conversation with amazing similaries between us. Back to the motorhome in the holiday park where we found kangaroos sharing our site.
Day 21 (31 May) – Denmark (Another day of rain – drizzly and heavy on and off up to 19o in Denmark)
Updating IT stuff in the early morning then into Denmark for brunch at the Bakery, shopping and down to the river to watch a pelican float by.
Thw Blue Wren is the fauna emblem for the Denmark area so we had no problems finding nick-knacks for Wren. Fortunately I found a Luna specific item in the newsagency so partial balance could be restored.
Thankfully they have Man Chairs for me to have a brief break.
A light lunch in the pub before returning to the holiday park to watch the Storm beat the Titans.
Lots of kangaroos sharing our section of the holiday park.
Back into town for dinner at the pub. One of the last places I had a meal with my best mate from years ago – Phil Roberts – who moved to Albany and is sorely missed after a tumor near his heart.
We had a fascinating meal with Kate and Brad from Perth. We tried to eat in the main restaurant of the Denmark Hotel to be told that we’d need a booking. They suggested we try to find a table in the main bar area and to share the table if we had to. Fortunately we found Kate and Brad and had a great meal and conversation with them. In the corner were Arlene and Scott from the previous night. In a brief discussion with them, they said that they thought that they’d seen Kate and Brad at one of the wineries that day. When I rejoined the table Kate and Brad confirmed that it was probably them.
It’s great meeting new people for dinner. So often we have a table to ourselves, so it was great in Denmark to get to meet and chat with others.
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