Port Lincoln is located on Boston Bay (a bay which is more than three and a half times the size of Sydney Harbour and, thus, the largest natural harbour in Australia) and nestled on the easterly side of the Eyre Peninsula, Port Lincoln has grown because it has been the most important grain and fishing port on the peninsula.
Port Lincoln is located on Boston Bay (a bay which is more than three and a half times the size of Sydney Harbour and, thus, the largest natural harbour in Australia) and nestled on the easterly side of the Eyre Peninsula, Port Lincoln has grown because it has been the most important grain and fishing port on the peninsula.
It is an attractive town which, with the nearby port of Thevenard, is located on Murat Bay which in turn is part of the larger Denial Bay. A vibrant multicultural community with a significant Aboriginal population, it is the service centre for a rural area known for its agriculture (predominantly grain and sheep), salt and gypsum mining and seafood – particularly oysters. Ceduna is set amidst a patchwork of grain farms, natural bush and rugged rocky bays, secluded white sandy beaches and wilderness (sourced from the Aussie Towns website – click for more).
It was the Ceduna Oyster Festival week-end and accommodation was very difficult to find but we managed to get into the “Big4”. There’s something wrong when you book-in to a caravan park, tell the person on the other end of the phone that your caravan is 21’6″ and they allocate a site that a 16′ van would just fit into.
This was one of the worst parks we had stayed in for a very long time. Razor-wire around the perimeter fence etc but when you’re only paying $27.90 per night then you should realise what to expect.
The Oyster Festival
Well, we really picked a great week-end to be in Ceduna as it was the annual Oyster Festival with so much going on BUT it was 44 degrees (in the shade) and very very windy. We still enjoyed our time here. Annie and I even went for a swim off the Jetty.
There was a street parade as well as a massive oyster orientated food stall area, packed with people from all over.
2023 AFL Grand Final
Saturday 30th September was the AFL Grand Final between Collingwood (Merrisa’s team) and Brisbane. The match, attended by a capacity crowd of 100,024 spectators, was won by Collingwood by a margin of four points and Merrisa was ecstatic, running around our caravan park cheering and waving her arms in the air like a mad woman!
Border Village, sometimes known as BP Border Village, is a combination of a Western Australian agricultural checking point (fruit, vegetables, plants, seeds, soil, honey, birds and animals must be declared) and a very comprehensive service centre offering petrol and diesel (BP, of course) as well as Motel, Cabin (dormitory) and Caravan Accommodation, a restaurant, a takeaway service, full garage service and a desalination plant which provides fresh water. It is open 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. The most valuable information for any visitors to the area is that the famed cliffs of the Great Australian Bight – the true highlight of the area – lie to the east of Border Village (sourced from the Aussie Towns website – click for more).
Accommodation
We pulled into the Boarder Village Roadhouse(which is right on the SA/WA border) and also a much cheaper option for both fuel & accommodation. It was a bit dusty but we managed, and the showers were fantastic! We just needed to find a flat spot where the power-box worked (so the air-con would work too – it was bloody hot mate!!)
There’s a massive concrete statue of a kangaroo out the front of the roadhouse holding a jar of Vegemite! Such a very Aussie thing and looks so different in the late afternoon light than it does on an overcast morning.
Border Village Roadhouse
The Big Roo outside the roadhouse.
Pick a spot where the powerbox works!
NRL Grand Final
It was Sunday 1st October and we had arrived in time to watch the 2023 NRL Grand Final between the Penrith Panthers and the Brisbane Broncos. Our travelling friends were Bronco fans (especially Fran) so the eight of us settled into the roadhouse bar to watch it on the TV. It began well but ended badly for our mates as Penrith ran out winners.
Travelling west on the Nullarbor
Leaving early the next morning we immediately had to pull over as a grumpy traffic management person told us to do so in not uncertain terms (and language) to wait for a massive piece of machinery to pass, heading east.
Views over the Great Australian Bight
You just cannot cross the length of the Nullarbor without having a gander at the famous Australian Bight Cliffs. We pulled into Scenic Lookout No 1 (satellite map link) to check it out and were not disappointed at the breathtaking vista that is in front of you; it’s truly spectacular. We even got to see a mother whale and her calf, even though it was so late in the whale season.
Newmans Rock Freecamp for overnight stop
We found, what turned out to be, a fantastic campsite (on WikiCamps) called Newmans Rock.
It’s signposted on the Eyre Highway (satellite map link) and you can get about 1km off the highway, so it’s not too noisy. We did a “posse up” in circle with big intentions of having a fire in the middle but it was far too windy. The views over the plains were fantastic and the day ended up with a great sunset.
So much of the Western Australian coastline, particularly the coastline washed by the Great Southern Ocean, is idyllically beautiful. Turquoise waters, beautiful white sands, granite rocks edging the beaches. It is hard to imagine a more sustained area of beauty than the beaches which lie just to the west of Esperance – West Beach, Chapman’s Point, Blue Haven Beach, Salmon Beach, Fourth Beach and Twilight Beach.
So much of the Western Australian coastline, particularly the coastline washed by the Great Southern Ocean, is idyllically beautiful. Turquoise waters, beautiful white sands, granite rocks edging the beaches. It is hard to imagine a more sustained area of beauty than the beaches which lie just to the west of Esperance – West Beach, Chapman’s Point, Blue Haven Beach, Salmon Beach, Fourth Beach and Twilight Beach.
The impossibly white sands, the gently rounded granite cliffs, and the ocean changing from aquamarine near the shore to a deep blue out near the islands of the Archipelago of the Recherche, is a combination of nature’s beauties which make Esperance one of the true wonders of the Australian coastline. The sand dunes, pushed to fantastic heights by the unforgiving ‘Esperance Doctor’, are 50-60 metres high. They are so white and so battered by the winds of the Southern Ocean that there are places where the sand has drifted across the road like snow. Below the road the white sands of the beaches and small bays are edged by smooth and dramatic granite rocks and glorious displays of wildflowers. This is one of those areas where the beauty is so overwhelming that it really does take your breath away. (sourced from the Aussie Towns website – click for more).
After a long drive from our free-camp at Newmans Rock we found an available caravan park for a 1 nighter, to refresh & replenish supplies before heading off to Lucky Bay for a few days. The park chosen was Acclaim Pine Grove Holiday Park located at 817 Harbour Rd, Esperance. Not the prettiest park we ever stayed in, but it was only for a night (and the only one we could find with vacancies for 4 caravans)
Cape Le Grand National Park is a national park in Western Australia, 631 km south-east of Perth and 56 km east of Esperance. The park covers an area of 31,801 hectares. The area is an ancient landscape which has been above sea level for well over 200 million years and remained unglaciated. Wikipedia. (maplink).
About Lucky Bay
Lucky Bay is a truly gorgeous place that easily rivals Whitehaven Beach in Queensland. Roos can come down to eat when the sun starts to go down and seem quite happy to get up close with tourists. The campground is one of the best national parks camps in WA. Fees apply and you must carry your own water, there’s no power but they do have fantastic toilet blocks & showers.Wikipedia. (maplink)
Lucky Bay is a truly gorgeous place that easily rivals Whitehaven Beach in Queensland. Roos can come down to eat when the sun starts to go down and seem quite happy to get up close with tourists. The campground is one of the best national parks camps in WA. Fees apply and you must carry your own water, there’s no power but they do have fantastic toilet blocks & showers.
A bit of history… While exploring the south coast of Australia in 1802, Matthew Flinders sailed a dangerous route through the Recherche Archipelago. He named it Lucky Bay when his vessel HMS Investigator took shelter here from a summer storm.Wikipedia. (maplink)
Here’s a promo YouTube video on Cape Le Grand NP (worth the watch)…
Video produced by Parks and Wildlife Service Western Australia
We’ve been here before
When the Touring Wombats did our “half lap” in 2018 we stayed in Esperance and took a day trip out to Cape Le Grand to check it out and instantly fell in love with it, especially the “Lucky Bay Campground”. It was one of those “we must come back to stay” moments. Last year we were visiting our friends, Tim & Ann in Sydney and we were talking about Lucky Bay and decided to book in for this trip. So glad we did it in April for an October stay as we just got in, along with our Bailey mates who were travelling west with us.
Fees information is available on the booking website. We had to pay per person staying plus a vehicle pass too (the vehicle pass fee is not required if you have a pre-paid WA Parks pass)
What a fantastic campground. There is no power or water but there’s absolutely fantastic amenities, which are cleaned daily. Each campsite is fairly level and is nestled into the surrounding bush, making them rather private (if you could call it that).
TIP: The only mobile phone service available (when we were there) is OPTUS, as the Parks & Wildlife Service use it. Telstra had no connection at all.
Our campsite
Our campsite
Our campsite
View from our campsite
View from our campsite
New Holland Honeyeater
Camp Kitchen
Fantastic amenities
... and fantastic ablutions
Graeme gets a haircut
Amazing Wildlife
There’s a lot of kangaroos around the campground and you’ll also sometimes find hem on the beach as well. We also had a mumma and baby roo hanging out at at the back of our caravan. There was a massive male we met on a walk which looked like he’d had a few fights during his life, based on the pieces of his ears which were missing (see the photo).
The Beach
Wow!!! The beach at Lucky Bay is probably one of the main reasons why people come here. It is outstanding, the sand is crystal white and water is a magnificent aqua blue.
Walk to beach
Exploring Cape Le Grand National Park
You must check out the other beaches in Cape Le Grand NP as they are simply magnificent. We checked out Thistle Cove (with it’s whistling rock), Hellfire Bay and Rossiter Bay.
There’s plenty of walks around the Lucky Bay campground too. We actually came across the “Matthew Flinders monument cairn” which commemorates the naming of Lucky Bay by Matthew Flinders in 1802. In January 1802, Matthew Flinders passed through the Recherche Archipelago and found himself surrounded by islands and reefs. With the light fading he made the decision to head for the mainland in the hopes of finding safe anchorage and this he did, naming the place Lucky Bay.
A couple of brave members of our group took the 3km walk up to the top of Frenchman Peak (this “Class 5 walk” was just not suitable for my bad knees). The peak’s shape was thought to resemble the hats worn by French troops in the 1800s
So much of the Western Australian coastline, particularly the coastline washed by the Great Southern Ocean, is idyllically beautiful. Turquoise waters, beautiful white sands, granite rocks edging the beaches. It is hard to imagine a more sustained area of beauty than the beaches which lie just to the west of Esperance – West Beach, Chapman’s Point, Blue Haven Beach, Salmon Beach, Fourth Beach and Twilight Beach.
So much of the Western Australian coastline, particularly the coastline washed by the Great Southern Ocean, is idyllically beautiful. Turquoise waters, beautiful white sands, granite rocks edging the beaches. It is hard to imagine a more sustained area of beauty than the beaches which lie just to the west of Esperance – West Beach, Chapman’s Point, Blue Haven Beach, Salmon Beach, Fourth Beach and Twilight Beach.
The impossibly white sands, the gently rounded granite cliffs, and the ocean changing from aquamarine near the shore to a deep blue out near the islands of the Archipelago of the Recherche, is a combination of nature’s beauties which make Esperance one of the true wonders of the Australian coastline. The sand dunes, pushed to fantastic heights by the unforgiving ‘Esperance Doctor’, are 50-60 metres high. They are so white and so battered by the winds of the Southern Ocean that there are places where the sand has drifted across the road like snow. Below the road the white sands of the beaches and small bays are edged by smooth and dramatic granite rocks and glorious displays of wildflowers. This is one of those areas where the beauty is so overwhelming that it really does take your breath away. (sourced from the Aussie Towns website – click for more).
Returning from Lucky Bay, we booked into the RAC Esperance Holiday Park for a night. This caravan park is a really well maintained and centrally located (maplink) one as well. Totally recommend it if you’re staying in Esperance.
We didn’t take any photos so “borrowed some” from the caravan parks website (only to showcase how nice this CP was to stay at)…
Park Map
Park grounds
Pool
Coffee Truck out front
Nature playground
Main camp kitchen
Main camp kitchen
2nd camp kitchen
Ablution blocks
Shared bathroom
Guest laundry
Dog wash
Around the town
There’s plenty to see and do in Esperance, but we were only in town for a very short time. There’s plenty of art to see, especially along the foreshore.
Of note is the fantastic roundabout called “Ocean seals roundabout” with copper sculptures of seals & sea birds (maplink) shown in images below…
Whale Tail Monument
There is a fantastic park along the Esperance Foreshore with a definite stand-out being this huge steel, wood & glass whale tale embedded in the footpath (maplink). WOWEE! This is truly a fantastic piece of art which pays tribute to the Southern Right Whales who are seen in Esperance throughout the winter as they often come close to shore to rest.
The artists, Cindy Poole and Jason Wooldridge, chose to use industrial steel as the primary materials of the sculpture, to encompass and reflect the industrial basis of the port and timber to represent the boats serving it. The central embedded glass sections are coloured to reflect the natural environment and sunlight passing through the windowed section of the tail colours the surrounds of the base at different times of day.
TIP: Do yourself a favour and visit the Cindy Poole Glass Artist gallery to check out the wonderful glass creations on sale (maplink).
Twilight Bay
There’s a great drive south-west of Esperance, along the coast along Twilight Beach Road. We stopped off to check out several beaches, ending up at Twilight Bay. What a beautiful spot with a massive weirdly shaped rock just off the beach, locally known as “Twilight Beach Jump Rock” (go figure).
I went for a swim here our friend Annie and the water just sooo crystal clear, the sand squeaky clean and super white.
I forgot to take the camera so here’s a view photos from the web which I found, that really showcases how beautiful this spot truly is…
Crystal clear water
Jump Rock
Jump Rock
Jump Rock
The Pink Lake
Went to check-out the Pink Lake of Esperance (maplink) and discovered that it’s not pink! There was a sign we found that said “Pink Lake is likely no longer pink due to the removal of too much salt based on annual salt harvest quotas being set by incorrect hydrological investigations undertaken in 1986″.
Therefore no photos were taken – why would you – suggest you give this one a miss!
Jerramungup is a small, neat, modern wheat and sheep town with good tourist facilities which has developed since the 1950s when it was opened up as a War Service Land Settlement area. Today it is a small town on the corner of the South Coast Highway and the Gnowangerup-Jerramungup Road between Perth and Esperance. The great appeal of the area is the richly diverse, and wildly beautiful, Fitzgerald River National Park which lies to the south of the town. (sourced from the Aussie Towns website – click for more)
Accommodation
We selected the town of Jerramungup as it was 301kms from our last stop in Esperance and after stopping off at Ravensthorpe for lunch it meant we arrived at the Jerramungup Caravan Park in middle of the afternoon.
It was a really tidy caravan park, which I’d call “rustic”. The owners were really welcoming with 4 Bailey’s pulling in for just one night. The camp kitchen was interesting BUT had a TV which had suitable reception for our car nuts to watch the Bathurst 500 car race.
I didn’t take any photos but here are some found on the web…
Stirling Range National Park is home to the only major mountain range in the southern area of WA, rising to more than 1000m above sea level and creating a challenging and spectacular hiking experience. The Aboriginal name for the range, Koi Kyenunu-ruff, meaning ‘mist rolling around the mountains’ is a frequently seen occurrence. (sourced from the Parks WA website – click for more)
Stirling Range National Park is home to the only major mountain range in the southern area of WA, rising to more than 1000m above sea level and creating a challenging and spectacular hiking experience. The Aboriginal name for the range, Koi Kyenunu-ruff, meaning ‘mist rolling around the mountains’ is a frequently seen occurrence.
In spring and early summer, the ranges come to life with an abundance of wildflowers and bird life which can be seen from the mountain hiking trails, lookouts and picnic areas scattered throughout the park. If the hikes aren’t for you, opt for the 42km scenic drive on mostly unsealed, graded roads weaving through the heart of the park with stops along the way.
Camp nearby at the Stirling Range Retreat or Mount Trio Bush Camping and Caravan Park on the northern boundary of the park.
Bluff Knoll, or Bular Mial, is a place of cultural significance for Minang and Goreng people, information and stories can be learnt through signage on the Eastern Lookout. (sourced from the Parks WA website – click for more
It was a fairly short 100km trip from Jerramungup to the Stirling Range Retreat campground. We planned this stop as the area is renowned for it’s wildflowers and birdlife, and it did not disappoint.
We “circled up our wagons” in a lovely flat area, enabling our group to have a central “private” space.
Camp kitchen
Camp kitchen
A Fantastic Sunset
Our 1st evening provided us with a spectacular Western Australian sunset over the mountains to our west.
Bluff Knoll
Bluff Knoll is the highest peak of the Stirling Range in the Great Southern region of Western Australia. It is 1,099 metres above sea level, with a prominence of 650 metres.
We drove out to the Bluff Knoll trailhead with it’s spectacular views of Bluff Knoll and other peaks of the Stirling Range. It’s worth a visit even if you’re not up to walking the trail to the summit. It was truly magnificent and it also provided us with our 1st lot of wildflowers.
Carnaby’s Black Cockatoo is endemic in the south-west of Western Australia. It is a large, dull black cockatoo and one of Australia’s five black cockatoo species. The population of this cockatoo has declined because of habitat degradation. Trees with suitable breeding hollows are rapidly being cleared and are in short supply. Research has shown that they need remnants of native vegetation within 12 kilometres of their nesting sites to raise healthy young.
Image from the web
Wild Flowers Day Trip
We took a car trip along the Stirling Ranges Drive to check out the wild flowers and were not disappointed with our keen group of amateur photographers really getting into it. A great day out with a stop at White Gum Flat picnic area for lunch.
The whole trip was in a loop of about 108kms – Maplink
Amazing birdlife
The caravan park has a great bird attracting bird bath which is well visited by the local birdlife. It’s in a secluded bushy area away from the camping area. They even have a couple of benches where you can sit, relax and watch all of the birds who come in for a cool drink or even a wash. Very cool and serene.
Missing out on the Granite Rock Skywalk @ Castle Rock
One of the places we all really wanted to visit is the Granite Rock Skywalk. We were told that there had been limited access during the fire reduction burn-offs in the area. We contacted the Parks people and they told us it was now open, so we headed out on a “not too short” drive of 53kms southward to Castle Rock to tackle the climb up to what looks like an amazing walk.
Upon arriving at the car park we discovered it was “closed for burn-offs” WTF!!! Anyway here’s some photos I found on the web which clearly shows how spectacular it must be to ascend to the top of Castle Rock. Maybe next time!
