Albany to Port Lincoln

Fitzgerald NP was as deserted as it was beautiful. It has stunning peaks, wild headlands and masses of wildflowers. The beaches are, of course, picture perfect white sand and turquoise water. We spotted a huge pod of 50+ dolphins showing off with back flips in the waves.






 

Continuing east through Hopetoun and on to Starvation Bay; an ominous name for a fisherman. With the wind coming from the south west the beach is sheltered but it is blowing straight at the headland. Pity, it looks fishy. Deep water and some safe rocks to perch on. With the girls collecting shells and a mind for adventure, I took the first born to the most likely spot and we cast out. 

From the first minute to the last the salmon kept on biting. Some days you just can’t lose and soon we were throwing them back having reached our bag limit. 15 fish landed made for plenty of filleting and few days of fish pasta, fish burgers and fish curry. Happy campers.

Moving on to the popular little town of Esperance, the sky starts to grey and the kids fall asleep reading to the sound of thunder. Kael and Omi have begun to read in bed with a torch while Eva nods off between them. It is hard to see the picturesque coastline of bald rock headlands and round islands through the drizzle; a day more suited to Op shops and card games. 

When the sun does appear, the wind remains. Weather like this can slow things down or leave you with the feeling that you have unfinished business when you leave. Thankfully, clear skies on our final morning allow us to appreciate some of WAs favourite beaches.

Just a few kilometres east of Esperance is Cape le Grand NP. It is a special place to camp with magical fine white sandy bays and that incredible clear water. The wet sand is like coconut cream; a most unusual sensation to hold in your hands.  Rounded domes of rock rise from the coastal heath and the islands of Archipeligo de Recherche litter the ocean. If the French were a little more practical they could have won the race to settle this lump of dirt and we could be part of Eurovision. Just imagine.

Our campsite has a great mix of kids playing together with some familiar faces. Plenty of playmates and a camp kitchen make all the difference when the weather turns sour. More thunderstorms and heavy rain through the night test out the canvas but we emerge unscathed. One night I threw a naan-a-thon for a few families with people rolling out their own breads.

Eva and I decided to invite a Mum and her 5yo son to join us for dinner. Francis must have enjoyed our company but not as much as Naomi enjoyed playing with Levi. He reminded her of her little cousin Atti and she wanted to spend every spare moment with him. She would race down after breakfast to knock on the window of their station wagon ready to climb trees and play games.

Driving out of Windy Always (WA) means negotiating the Great Aussie Bight, and what a bite it is. Instead of following the arcing coastline, the road is due north from Esperance then hangs a right at Norseman then it is due East. In one section the road continues dead straight for 90 miles. 

Faced with another night without showers and power our lunchtime stop turned into manna, with a shower and powerpoint right next to the playground.  Showered and powered we were ready to finish our 700km day with a free camp. A storm rumbled in the distance as we ate dinner.

The Nullabor is anything but plain. The landscape changes regularly as the kilometres tick away. 

There are glimpses of the stretches of sheer cliffs that make up the Bight.

Our next stop is Eucla, a town disguised as a caravan park on the ridge overlooking the Southern Ocean. As we cooked dinner on the BBQ, a storm cell moved in from the NW and hit us with fierce winds and rain. As I clung to the awning it became clear I was fighting out of my weight division and I scrambled to drop the tent and peg everything down. After 20 minutes of fury the storm moved on. Unlike most of the dome tents in WA schoolies week, we survived.

More serene surrounds greeted us at the sleepy fishing village of Fowlers Bay. Our introduction to the Ayre Peninsula told us every we needed to know about the area; sheep, wheat, fish. Sounds like my kind of restaurant. Fowlers sits behind the sand dunes with a jetty stretching out into the bay. It’s too hot, too dry and too far from anywhere to warrant more than 20 houses.

Kael and I watched huge Kingfish swim by the end of the jetty. In our attempt to catch the appropriate bait we had a squid snatched from our clutches. Kael lured the squid in close as I got the squid jig out when a mystery fisherman waltzed down and hooked it before our eyes. The swine. It was the last squid seen for 3 days.

Dropping the tyre pressure we attempted the dune climb and spent the afternoon driving on the beach. Naomi again became besotted with one of our neighbours, this time a local dog called Brutus. The kids are still getting the hang of dogs but Brutus was an instant playmate.

Skipping plenty, we stopped at Streaky Bay and Sheringa Beach for a night each with our eyes fixed on Coffin Bay and Port Lincoln for Naomi’s birthday. This is where the fishing industry starts to fire up with commercial fleets harvesting snapper, kingfish, tuna, lobster, abalone and pilchards. Bluefin tuna are penned in the harbour at Port Lincoln. Mussels and oysters complete the wedding feast.

The estuary of Coffin Bay is a huge fish nursery with picturesque mountains rolling down to the waterways. The town guards the entrance to the National park with sheltered beaches in the bay and sandy surf beaches of the Southern Ocean.

I took Kael and a friend of his for a morning fishing trip down at the jetty. As we arrived a Sardine trawler pulled up with the evening catch of 4000kg. Kael had introduced himself to the crew the day before (surprise, surprise) and he returned from watching them unload with a big bag of Pilchards. For the next 2 hour we had the kind of fishing that you see on fishing shows. Cast after cast we pulled in juvenile salmon and herring. 

Naomi even managed to snare 2 of the prized King George Whiting. To add to the thrill, you had to race to land your fish before a cormorant wrestled it from your line. Now that’s what I call fishing.

Port Lincoln proved to be a great little stop for us. Caravan park on the water and plenty of options for Omi’s birthday. There had been a lot of anticipation building for the big day. We kicked off with special breakfast and some presents.

A visit to a local animal park was a real hit. No surprise that holding the baby guinea pigs trumped the farm animals, bird aviary, even patting the koala. 


Afternoon birthday cake was a creation of the birthday girl herself.

The birth day was complete with dinner at a local seafood restaurant. Quite a day and worthy celebration of our little 7yo.  

With a jetty a mere 100 steps from our camper we set out each night to catch some squid. All 3 kids discovered a new favourite bbq food with a few of the little inkers making it onto our dinner menu.

A day trip into Lincoln NP concluded our time in PL. The Eyre Penninsula has turned out to be a beautiful destination worthy of a trip in itself. Adelaide is waiting for us just a days drive up through Port Augusta then down the other side of the gulf. Time to check out the capital.