TripRoundUnder

After what has seemed like a long time coming, it was time to start our second lap for real! This time with Alfie and the tinnie in tow.

We had spent almost 2 months in Adelaide and it was a weird feeling to say goodbye again. We were packed and ready to hit the road, Lauren nursing a small hangover after a night out, nothing could stop us. Well, maybe the dreaded Nullarbor drive could challenge us, but second time round we should be good!

Our first stop after leaving Adelaide was Streaky Bay, an awesome little town on the west side of the Eyre Peninusla and well worth a visit if you’re travelling to WA from the east. We stayed at the caravan park which had fantastic rates compared with what you usually see and had a cracking spot right on the beach! We wished we didn’t have a bit of time pressure to get over to WA and could have spent a few days relaxing and exploring, but beggars can’t be choosers.

The next day it was Nullarbor time and we headed west after a fuel pitstop in Ceduna. I’m not sure if we can describe how much we dislike this drive, there’s a lottttt of nothing but straight roads and scrub. In saying that, the Nullarbor cliffs are definitely worth stopping at, just don’t get too close to the edge! Apparently you can camp here, but would take braver people than us!

The drive took us a couple of days to make it to Norseman on the other side of the border and passed without much excitement. We didn’t expect it to be pissing down with rain on our first day in WA though! Apparently it was the first rain they’d had in 3 months and 60mm felt like a drenching, although it gave the Troopy a much needed wash!

After a night in the interestingly named Salmon Gums town caravan park, it was on to Esperance a “tiny” 100km down the road. It was pretty windy going when we got to town, but it’s always an awesome feeling seeing the bright blue sea and white beaches after a few days in the bush. In classic Lauren and Steve fashion, we immediately went for a run and stopped at all the workout stations on the esplanade. While you’re here, go check out nomadictraining.com.au or nomadic_train on instagram, I’m (Steve) looking to take my knowledge from my exercise science degree and PT work and help people looking for minimalistic training options.

Back to the story, we stocked up on supplies and headed east of Esperance to a campground we loved when we were here on last lap, Membinup, a cracking camp right next to the beach. Even better, it’s a free camp! And even better, Alfie gets to live right on the B word!! That’s very cool!

Being “old hands” at the WA game, we knew Esperance and most of state really, has two faces; 4 days of the wind and average weather followed by a day or two of conditions and beaches that are the best (in our opinion) the whole world. So, part of our plan for this lap was to go a bit slower and camp for longer at a few specific places to hopefully see them in their best weather.  

We waited out a few windy days with Steve having some good spearfishing luck to keep us with some variety in the pantry. We managed to setup our newly purchased starlink and with solar blanket set up alongside, we felt like a proper home on wheels.

It was nice to just sit still for a moment and relax, Adelaide had been nice with friends and family, but we didn’t have much time just us to breathe.

We were rewarded for our patience after a few days with a very special evening by the water, one that I think is very unique to the Esperance region. It was with this view that we felt content and very happy we’d made the decision to go travelling again. 

Our next campground was Alexander Bay, about 15km further east with Steve excited about the possibility of a beach boat launch here. Although it was a nice campground and we managed to catch some fish from the rocks, we were a little disappointed in the spot. You could tell that it had the potential to be really nice, but the seaweed build up on the shore made swimming difficult and the beach not quite as picturesque and difficult to launch the boat.

We made the decision to pack up after one night and head to Duke of Orleans, an interesting name and home to one of the voted best beaches in Australia, Wharton beach. And more importantly, a better spot for a boat launch.

Being windy, we didn’t quite get to see Wharton in its full glory, but we still managed to get in a little beach session with Steve having a crack at some body surfing. As usual, Alf just loved being at the beach.

With a bit of time left in the afternoon, we decided to give the boat a bit of a test run before hopefully a bigger session tomorrow. This proved to be a great idea, as not only did we have a successful beach launch and a working boat, Lauren managed to catch a monster squid for dinner! 

That night we stayed in the car park of the Condingup pub, a really cool country pub who let campers set up for free in the spare carpark. Worth some wedges and a beer if you ask me. 

The next morning started off with a little bit of a downer, as we realised the drone controller had been lost somewhere yesterday. We retraced our steps driving the corrugated roads back to Alexander Bay and checking in at local caravan parks and at the pub to no avail. Not a great way to start the day, but we still decided to take the boat out anyway.

We had plans to take the boat around the point to visit some cool looking beaches from google maps, but maybe we had bitten off more than we could chew as Lauren didn’t appreciate the big ocean roller waves as we poked our nose around the corner.

Abandoning that idea, we decided to explore the bay we were in and even found a little island to anchor up and explore. This turned out to be a great alternative as we had an awesome time trekking up the steep rocky slopes and getting a spectacular view of the bay. Steve even managed to spear a fish for dinner and overall maybe it wasn’t such a sad day.

After another night spent outside the pub (no wedges this time), we headed back in to Esperance for a much needed wash and resupply! It had been 8 days without a shower and even though we went in the sea every day, fresh running, warm water is always welcome. We stayed at the Pink Lake caravan park and managed to wash almost every item of clothing we owned. 

It would have been rude if we didn’t also venture to a couple of bakeries and coffee shops to get a little sweet fix in while we were in town as well!

We also checked out some of the beaches closer in to town and stumbled across one of our new favourite beaches, Observatory Beach on the west side of town. Worth the long walk down the steps and back up.

Later that day, we went for a sunset cruise along the coastal road and again we were reminded how much we love this little coastal town with the best beaches in Australia and maybe the world!

Next stop Bremer Bay and Albany!