As we headed out from Balladonia the bush was beautiful. The stunning balance of greens of varying hues, young red tips of gums and the greys of salt bush was stunning. It had all been washed clean by the evening rain and was shining brightly in the warm morning sunshine.
We had been warned that the track would be fine for the first 60 km or so, and would then become dodgy. With a bit of rain in the last couple of days, we wondered what we would find, but little did we realize...We did the responsible thing and let people know our plans (just in case)
At the 23 km in the track we came to the undies gate (open). What can I say?? How do people come through here with spare underwear?? Either they sacrifice the small amount they have packed or..... Some people,have signed their underwear, others leave them for posterity with no sign of the owner. They sit here and fade and rot and amuse..oh yes they do amuse.
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| Undies Gate |
Another one at 36km. Yes! Another undies gate!! I know it is unbelievable, but believe it.
At 63 km we got the " Welcome to Esperance Shire" sign and another 4WD warning sign. But instead of the ragged 4WD track we were expecting, we found a graded road about 6 lanes wide!!! Unbelievable!!!
We sat in the middle and travelled at about 80 instead of the 20 ( if we were lucky) that we were expecting.
One of our loose plans had been to,spend the previous night at Deralinya Ruins (had read about this when researching the trip over) but when we came to check the location we couldn't find the information. Our memory was that it was about 40km in from Balladonia, but we had not seen it as we drove along, and had given up hope. Then, after we had long given up hope, there was a brown sign with an "h" (history? ) and a track off to the right. Sure enough, there before us was a roof! We had found Deralinya homestead at the GPS coordinates S33 03.150, E 123 23.019.
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| Just for you, Drew and Karen |
This little hut has been lovingly restored and has a lounge room with 2 beds, and two other bedrooms. The pizza/wood oven out the front had been recently used, and there was a wood oven inside also. Stock of water and tea bags and a tea pot and bread mix were all available for whoever might pass by, and a stock of reading material including a visitors book. This was all wired with a 12v LED lighting system! Outbuildings included a long drop toilet with bush shower and another barn or similar which was being extended, and looked like storage. We sat on the front verandah and made a cuppa from our thermos and enjoyed the hospitality of generous people who have put so much effort into this spot. It would certainly be an ideal place to stay overnight.
The sign with the h was our only hint of the pleasures ahead, and this was about 10 km past the intersection of Balladonia with Permango Rd. Coming from the Esperance direction it would be about 2 km past the locality of
Buraminya on the Parmango Rd. (this showed up on our Garmin nuvi).
At 160 km the road went to narrow bitumen just at the Beaumont Rd intersection and we were back on blacktop! So much for the anticipated 4WD adventure.
Our next goal was Lucky Bay. Having heard about its beauty and seen stunning photos (thanks Marschalls) we were keen to see this spot for ourselves. We headed south-west, towards the coast through many native tree plantations (most of which appear to have recently been burned-with the tell tale epicormic shoots giving some of the trees a fuzzy appearance). We wondered about the quality of the wood after that. Many km of both the forest and the natural bush had been burnt, so it must have been quite a blaze. Some of it is owned by Kalima tree farm.
Finally we arrived at Cape Le Grand National Park, paid our entry fees and gazed in awe at the huge mountains still ahead of us including Frenchman's cap with the strange gap beneath the cap. Almost inpenetrably thick bush sent us thinking about the early explorers again. Imagine trying to cross this!
Finally we came around the corner and there was Lucky Bay. Our synchronized gasp of astonishment was genuine. Spread before us was the most beautiful sight. Pale blue turquoise waves crashed onto pristine white sand, in a lovely curved bay. The water rivalled any we have seen for its beauty.
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| Camp kitchen complete with hot water, BBQ, sink and stove!! |
The tide was right in, but we braved the sand between the big ones to walk on this stunning beach, and to hear the squeaking of the sand beneath our soles as we did so. We enjoyed lunch by the beach and I mused about how the parts of our life come together. We sat at a beach one set of friends had told us about, eating delicious honey log cooked by our friend Belinda and generously gifted to us and drinking from a can wrapped in a holder from Emma and Mikes wedding!
Eventually we decided we had better move on, and pulled ourselves away. A quick trip into Esperence , and after admiring their neat new esplanade we decided not to stay , but to add another 80 km or so and to head for Quagi beach for the night. This ended up being a great choice, with small designated campsite surrounded by the huge banksias we had been driving past for the afternoon , with their flowers sticking skyward like the flashing lights on top of service vehicles. A windmill supplies water for washing up, and flushing toilets are available. It is just a short walk to the beach with a steep drop off of the dunes to a windy rugged beach with noisily crashing waves. So we slept to the sound of waves.
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