Today dawned overcast and cooler, but we were completely refreshed after our first really good night’s sleep in Australia. Our bedroom looks over the sea and a group of islands, named after the French ship that discovered them, Recherché. The town of Esperance is named after the other ship in the French fleet.
About forty miles west of the town is the Cape le Grand National Park, an area of spectacular coast and very white sandy beaches. We were headed to Lucky Bay for two reasons, it is supposed to be the whitest beach in Australia and if you are lucky there are kangaroos on the beach. Well we were fortunate, there were several on the beach including a number of joeys’, Marion tells me that is what a small kangaroo is called. It was incredible to see them in the wild but also amazing to see how calm they were. You could approach right up to them and they did not react at all. They were very easy to photograph, and I will share some of the photos I took when we next have a good Internet connection.
The beach was also very white; the sand was very fine but had compacted so that it made a very firm surface. This contrasted with the sea, which around the shoreline was cobalt blue. It was truly a magical place, made more so by the lack of people. There was a campsite but other than that no development, and perhaps thirty people on a couple of miles of beach.
We drove back to town via Stonehenge; yes a farmer has created a replica in the middle of the Australian countryside. Just as the original does, the stones line up precisely with the sun’s rays on the solstice. The site was shut so we did not have the opportunity to wander round, just as was looking forward to painting my woad on!
The sun started to come out in the afternoon that heightened the views of the coastline on a circular tour known as the Great Ocean Drive, or as nobody appears to call it, GOD. It was a series of white sandy bays being pounded by the very blue sea. In between there were rock formations one with a hole right through it. Most of the beaches were completely deserted. It was a very spectacular coastal drive. Along the cliff top is a walking/cycling path so in the early evening I had a refreshing walk, it had to be brisk as by now the wind was quite keen.
A great day was rounded off by a lovely meal in fish restaurant. The local scallops, simply cooked were amazing. A much more subtle less meaty taste and texture than the ones at home. We did confuse the waitress with our questions about the fish on offer; do any of my reader (s) now what a gummy and a bronzie are. Well a bronzie is the local name for shark, which apparently are quite common here. Our waitress nonchalantly told us of her encounter with one, he was just curious and swam away. I am sure she was genuine and not just spinning a yarn for gullible tourists.
So a very interesting day in a very beautiful area, tomorrow we drive to Albany.
Gummy shark is a dog shark, also known as a smooth-hound. We had some as traditional fish and chips. Very nice- quite a meaty flesh. It’s found all along southern Aus and on the menu quite often.
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