6/6/16
EUCLA TO Bush Camp West of MUNDRABILLA
With a good quick pack up and delicious breakfast and good
coffee we were ready for a good solid ride today. Looking at the wind forecast
of gale force winds for Wednesday we decided to push past Mundrabilla, bush
camp tonight and get into Madura Tuesday afternoon ahead of the predicted
winds. Our big ride today was assisted by a slight tail breeze, dead flat
terrain and very comfortable cycling temperature. Spin, spin, spin was the go.
We took it in turns out in front so the back rider could get a little rest
sitting on the back. This worked an absolute treat as we were able to get a
pretty good pace of 22-24km/h going. With the wide sealed verge on the WA roads
we were able to keep this momentum going even when we had to ride off the
actual road.
The first 3km’s of our ride out of Eucla was downhill. Yep
here we had a fun fast ride down to the plateau of the escarpment peaking at a
rare 46.6km/h. As we settled back down after our thrill we could see in the
distance someone walking. As we approached we realised it was the lady that we
had heard about who is walking from Perth to Sydney. Veronica was excited to
see us and we her, so we stopped for a great chat. Her husband John is driving
support for her and arrived soon after with their car and small caravan. Here
we were, standing on the side of the road having the most amazing conversation
with two of the most inspirational people we have ever met. With big hugs and
waves good bye we parted company and continued on our separate ways.
Since crossing the border we have unfortunately noticed so
much road kill, and from Eucla onwards it has been really sad. Wilma just can’t
look and closes her eyes when we come across the dead roos, emus and even wedge
tail eagles. Makes me so sad seeing such beautiful animals squished mainly by
all the big road trains. We came across a very recent roo that had been killed
that was on the road being eaten by two magnificent wedgies and a handful of
crows. We safely stopped and pulled the animal off the road into the bush so
the birds too didn’t become road kill. We moved away 30-40 metres or so and
just watched the eagles flying above, not having the confidence to come back to
their tucker until we were clearly gone. Such magnificent birds to watch, I
could just have sat there and watched them all day.
We came into Mundrabilla just on lunch time and enjoyed
toasty sandwiches and not so enjoyable coffee and continued on our way. It was
at about 4pm we looked up the wiki camp app and found a rest stop to be just
15.8km’s down the road which apparently had a large treed area out the back.
Soon enough we came to our destination, had completed a big 120km’s and set up
our camp out the back of the rest stop. We couldn’t be bothered cooking tonight
so just had a feed of cheese and biscuits and a vegemite sandwich. Pretty
stuffed, we crashed into the tent asleep well before 8pm.7/6/16
Bush Camp West of Mundrabilla to MADURA 62km
I love being in the tent while it’s raining, this morning we
woke up to that sound and hoped that it wasn’t going to last too long. We lay
there listening to it for another half hour and it than began to ease. We had a
quick pack up and knew we wanted to get going to Madura before the predicted
high winds became reality.
The light tail wind continued as we spun the fat tyres up to
speed and started crunching up the kilometres again, 20k’s done in the first
hour, but we were watching the sky grow strangely dimmer and dimmer, it wasn’t
coming from any particular direction, so we just kept going. Then, a quick
break on the side of the road, saw a few light spots of rain, it didn’t look
much, so we kept going. We had only gone about another k when we decided it was
time to break the rain jackets out. While we had the panniers open, Wilma dove
into it looking for cover, an ominous sign.
It still didn’t look like we were going to get much, so here
comes the lesson. I have always had this problem while trekking or cycling, I
hate wearing water proof pants and always think that the weather is not severe
enough to warrant putting them on, but when you feel the first stream of water
running down your legs and into your boots, it’s too late. What a wanker. Next time.
So by now, we were getting pretty wet, but the breeze was
still behind us and we were able to keep up our average speed. With about
fifteen k’s to go, the wind swung around to the west and into our faces,
slowing us down and driving the rain into our faces. It was a hard, wet slog
into Madura, with the final killer being the beginning of the climb back up the
escarpment to finish the legs off for the day. Overall we made good time and
were able to get a budget motel room with a great verandah to put the bikes on
and dry our gear out.
8/6/16
Rest Day MADURA
The predicted 100km gale force winds did not eventuate last night,
early hours of this morning and are not now anticipated today. Gone, headed
south and left us with just 30-40km winds, lots of rain and a feeling of slight
disappointment. Well not really we are still actually glad we made the decision
to stay another night while the last of this front passes through. Feeling
cabin bound we ventured out between showers and climbed to the top of the
escarpment to a view that spread for miles over the flat plateau that was
dotted with small trees. For the past 160+km’s we have been following the
escarpment and imagining a large city of lights, a green oasis and coffee
shops, fruit and veg stalls and blue water lagoons sitting way up on top. But
no there were only trees and rocks but as a compromise there was an amazing view
of the tree studded plateau below. With rain most of the morning, the afternoon
brought glimpses of sunshine which was a most welcome sight. All our gear is
now dry and packed and ready for the road again tomorrow morning. From the
vantage point on top of the escarpment we could see a very decent, long, steep
climb out of here in the morning. Nothing like looking forward to a warm up
climb first thing in your ride. Joyful sight to look forward to….
9/6/16
MADURA TO COCKLEBIDDY
Within 10 metres from leaving this morning we hit the hill
out of Madura Pass. Ouch she was a nasty one straight into a 10% with no
warming up….well that obviously was the warm up!!! Then it was another solid
2km’s of about 5-6% so we were well and truly warm by the time we reached the
top. Then onwards and flat we went. We ended up with a fresh headwind and
thinking we would probably have to make camp in the bush well before we reached
Cocklebiddy. By the time we had lunch and then an afternoon rest stop we
suddenly found that we were well in the reach of Cocklebiddy. We arrived in
Cocklebiddy feeling pretty shattered and so looking forward to a nice hot
shower. Dave got his shower but when I ventured over there the power had gone
off and so no shower for me yet. After hanging around for a while waiting for
the poor guy to try and fix the power in the amenities I was starting to get a
bit cold. This problem didn’t look like it was going to be fixed really quickly
now so I was lucky enough to have a shower in the fuel stations amenity block.
Wasn’t the greatest looking showers but it had hot water so that is all that
mattered tonight. Then it was a vegie burger for me for dinner and steak sanga
for Dave topped off with a hot chocolate to warm the bones just before bed.
10/6/16
COCKLEBIDDY TO CAIGUNA
This was a crazy kind of day on the bike, had a good brekky
at the Cocklebidy roadhouse and then hit the road, it was grey, a slight head
wind and we just seemed to get very little reward for each turn of the pedals.
We were still seeing lots of kangaroos, in fact we had a big mob, probably 60 –
70 of them all wanting to get from the North to the South Side of the road. At
one stage two jumped in front of a road train coming towards us, one stopped in
time while the other kept going, he got past the front of the truck then turned
back, the silly bugger. Mary screamed and we heard a loud bang, and the poor
roo had hit the side of the truck and went skidding down the road. It was a
terrible sight, but then miraculously, the roo got up and hopped back to his
mate once the truck was past, and appeared to be quite ok, Phew.
This was not a day for photos, we had really poor light and
very little to photograph, just endless scrub. Not to mention the effort we
were putting in, just to keep moving. A
truckie pulled up, actually stopped his truck, a cheerful bloke and said, “You
guys look like you could do with some water” and handed us a couple of bottles
of water through the window. Great people out here.
We were coasting along really nicely when suddenly a large
bird flew out of the bush and across the road followed by another and then
another. At first we thought they were wedge tailed eagles as they were quite
large but then realised they had long necks. Then there were over a dozen that
flew out of the bush across the road. We weren’t sure what sort of birds they
were, they couldn’t be ducks as they were too big. With a little research once
in Caiguna we found them to be ‘Bustards’ not Bastards but Bustards, a bush
turkey that are quite rare due to over hunting.
Then out of the gloom about 5 k’s from Caiguna, we saw a
cyclist coming the other way, we stopped and introduced ourselves, he was
Japanese, heading East and having the time of his life. That’s about all we
could get out of him. We were very worried for him though as he was riding in
very dark clothing and was very difficult to see, hope he makes it ok.
Approaching Caiguna we finally crossed out of the weird half
way time zone of Eastern WA and left 1963 behind for 2016 once again, it’s good
to be back.
Rain was threatening as we arrived into Caiguna, another of
the famous Nullarbor Roadhouses. Luckily we were able to camp under shelter as
the showers continued for a while, while we had an awesome hot shower with
brand new amenities.
11/6/16
CAIGUNA TO BUSH CAMP
Promise of a tail wind had us up early to make inroads into
what could be a two day trip to Balladonia with fair winds or three if not
good. Big thanks to the lovely lady who runs the roadhouse for filling up a
take away container with vegemite for us, seriously appreciated. Straight out
of Caiguna was the sign marking the beginning of the Eastern End of the Longest
Straightest road in Australia. The 90 mile straight!! 146.6km’s of straight road!!
Really, just one continuous straight line for 146.6km’s?? Just as we headed out
of Caiguna we noticed a sign indicating a blow hole that was just off the
roadside. We took Wilma in for a bit of a sticky beak and found this blow hole
to be of great interest. It is just so amazing to see how natural forces can
form such amazing features. Then it was off to use the tail wind and get as far
as we could, giving us a good chance of doing this leg in two days. We flew
along and had good k’s done when we called a halt for lunch, we found a
protected spot in the bush away from the road a bit, boiled the billy, had
vegemite sandwiches and had a nice chat with Owen on the phone.
Once again it was a poor day for photography, so we didn’t
get much. We just enjoyed the breeze and made a nice camp out in the bush with
about 95k’s on the clock for the day, Job Done.
12/6/16
BUSH CAMP TO BALLADONIA
Pretty sweet riding today. Just a nice easy tail breeze
making for a nice and steady day of pedalling. We left camp at 7.45am with the
temperature reading 4.3 degrees. It wasn’t until 9.30 that it reached a warming
10 degrees. We seemed to click over the k’s in great time today and enjoyed the
remaining 80 odd k’s left of this straight road. How exciting was it to see a
road sign with a bend on it. After riding 90 miles of straight road, following
a white line for 146.6km’s all we see at the end of it is a bendy sign. No ‘oh
wow you have just completed the longest straightest road in Australia’, all you
get is a bendy sign.
We enjoyed another bush stop lunch break and then continued
on our way to Balladonia. We reached our destination in good time, setup camp,
showered and were ready for dinner at 5.30. We had a good feed at the Road
House Restaurant and warmed up by their combustion heater and then headed back
over to the tent for a good night’s sleep.
Today ended the long haul on the bitumen as tomorrow we head
down the old Balladonia Road to Esperance via a dirt road. Big adventures on
this road await we think.
13/6/16
BALLADONIA TO Bush Camp 1
The feeling of being back on dirt was such an awesome
feeling of freedom and adventure with not really knowing what lay ahead of us.
This old dirt road, the good ol’ Balladonia Road was a breath of fresh air. No
having to watch out for trucks, or caravans or cars coming up behind or in
front, just a lovely 200km dirt road heading south to Condingup. Immediately we
relaxed and felt energised breathing in fresh air from the forest that grew on
either side of the road. No traffic noise just the enjoyment of birds singing
and the wind gently blowing and the peacefulness of the sound of our wheels
going round and round. The forest we were riding through is called ‘The Great
Western Woodlands’, the largest and only one of a few woodlands left growing in
a Mediterranean climate. Such a treat to have the experience to ride through
this amazing woodland that is untouched and such a healthy, alive and precious
area. Today’s ride on the dirt was so much fun. The first part of our ride we
had a mix of corrugations and nice smooth rolling dirt. It felt like as soon as
you started tiring of the bump bump bump you were soon onto smooth riding
again. This continued corrugations, smooth, corrugations, smooth for about 20
or so k’s. Then things changed the following 40+ k’s was just corrugations. No
smooth sections to enjoy just bump bump bump and the forever search of a good
line. 
Feeling like a good rest from the bouncing around we found
the perfect spot for a picnic lunch. There was a large fallen log to sit on and
enjoy a nice bite to eat and deserving coffee. Then back onto the bikes to
continue the ride until about 3.30pm. Here we found an animal track that led
into the bush which opened up into a small clearing which gave us space to put
up our tent. Dave made a lovely small campfire to warm us up while dinner was
being made. Dinner was consumed just before dark and as we were about to go to
bed we noticed that the moon was rising and there was a very light cloud covering
the sky. When we looked up to the moon it looked like gold glitter was falling
from the light of the moon. Such a magical moment. It was quite a cold night so
before long our sleeping bags had warmed us up ready for a good night’s rest. 
14/6/16
Bush Camp 1 to Bush Camp 2
Gentle rain began to fall during the night. We slept a
little longer hoping that it would stop, it eventually did and we quickly broke
camp, had a quick brekky and got going. The cloud was so low that we couldn’t
get a bearing from the sun, with the bush so thick we actually had to turn the
GPS on to get a bearing back to the road, bit of a lesson there. Once back on
the road, we realised that it had turned pretty muddy from the rain overnight
so we made sure that all our gear was properly covered and started pedalling.
The rain began again, but slowly, time to get the wet weather gear on. It
stayed on for the whole day. 
Another 8 ks saw us arriving at Deralinya Homestead. This
amazing old station homestead
has been restored over many years by the owners
as a labour of love. They leave it unlocked for any traveller to use, which is
an amazing thing. We were able to top up our water from the tank here, we only
needed a few litres and used the front verandah for shelter from the rain while
we had breakfast number two. A big thankyou to the owners for making this
beautiful building accessible, we loved it and wished we weren’t so early in
our day’s ride or we would have stayed.
The rain continued for most of the rest of the ride, trying
to pick a line between corrugations and muddy patches left us exhausted and
looking for a camp around 3pm, just as we popped out into open farmland, great.
We carried on, knowing that there was some more bush a bit further along. We
were ready to camp just anywhere when I noticed a blocked off sandy track going
off to the left. We did the whole, fatbikes can ride around anything designed
to keep cars out thing, and headed off the road between farmland on our left
and amazing low growing bush on our right. Kangaroos scattered and we realised
that the track led into what was a large granite outcrop. We couldn’t quite
work out how to get there, so stopped at the first open ground that we could.
It was just big enough to push the bikes into the bushes and put the tent up,
quite protected. We stripped our mud coated wet weather gear off and dived into
the tent. We had a quick cup of hot coffee and just starting eating all the
cold stuff we had left, cheese, bikkies, olives, jerky etc and then just
crashed out exhausted as the rain continued to fall throughout the night.
15/6/16
Bush Camp 2 to CONDINGUP
We awoke to no rain, overcast but no rain in site. Once back
out on the road we continued our journey on the dirt for about another 30km
passing large farms and stations. Before we knew it we came to bitumen once
more. Faster travelling surface but sadly a sign of civilisation approaching
once again. Towards the end of our ride today, about the time of the usual last
10k’s we had a head wind that started to well and truly slow us down. Not
knowing too much about the approaching town we were wishfully hoping for a hot
shower and some good coffee and yummy food. Up one big hill before a descent
into Condingup we realised that whenever there is a town with ‘Up’ at the end
of the name it does actually mean you have to go up a pretty descent up before
you get into that town. So up we went and down we went and saw a sign directing
us to the Tavern. The Tavern is the only shop in town and it is a bar, a
café/restaurant and a general store. Oh and they also have a petrol pump. A
tavern that caters for absolutely everyone. Feeling pretty excited we ventured
in and found a nice warm open fire burning in the café. A lovely girl greeted
us and we ordered real coffee for starters. Yep they were real, Dave’s shorty
was short and had crema and my latte was just perfect. How grateful and happy
were we. Next was to decide what to have for lunch. Burger with the lot was
Dave’s choice and I had a veggie burger. What came out was totally amazing,
delicious and just what we had been dreaming about for the past couple of weeks
real, fresh, homemade, nutritious goodness. After chatting with a couple of
locals who asked about our bikes (one whom use to work with the camels in
McLaren Flat) Dave was asked to come out and train with the vets at the local
footy oval tonight. They thought he looked pretty fit and deserved a run LOL. We
ventured into the general store area and stocked up on some supplies and had
quite an exciting time. The last time we were able to buy supplies from a shop
was back in Ceduna. There was a shop at Penong (this is actually the last shop
for 1000km’s) but it was a Sunday when we were there and they were shut, so we
felt like kids in a lolly shop with all sorts of food and goodies to restock
our food bag. 
We were informed by the locals that there was no caravan
park in town only 20km’s away at the beach but there was free camping out at
the Community Centre where the footy oval was. We thanked the lovely girl at
the Tavern for our beautiful lunch and headed off to investigate the community
centre. WOW the centre was amazing, all made of rammed earth and was enormous.
The oval looked nice and tidy and the surrounds just perfect with trees and
lots of grass to put our tent plus open toilets. We went for a little wander
around the outside of the centre and couldn’t believe the facility. It had a
large open area with a bar, tables and chairs and a huge open fire place,
kitchen facilities, sports change rooms, playgroup area and other large areas
that we couldn’t see into.
The evening approached pretty quickly and we decided to head
back over to the Tavern for some dinner. Dave dodged the footy training as
after the last few days on the bike there were no legs left to run with. We had
a lovely enjoyable dinner and were treated with a dessert to share by the
lovely girl we met at lunchtime. We asked if the café was open for breakfast in
the morning and she said to drop in about 8am and that we were more than
welcome to come in and have a shower at the shop as well. How awesome is that,
we are just so lucky and spoilt and went to bed with great excitement with the
thought of breakfast and a shower in the morning.
16/6/16
CONDINGUP TO LUCKY BAY
Breakfast time came around quickly after a very cold night.
Packed up and off to the tavern again for a shower and brekky. We had an
awesome and inspiring chat with the owners of the tavern, who were just
amazing, and it turned out that they came in especially to cook us breakfast
that morning. Fond farewells, and we were off towards Cape LeGrand national
park. The bikes were rolling well, but the threat of showers coming made us
keep an eye on the skies as we rode along. It was nice but uneventful riding on
a mixture of bitumen and fast dirt roads,, until a small car travelling towards
us stopped and a pink fuzzy head popped out of the window to ask us directions
to the Condingup Tavern. The two young girls and a very embarrassed guy in the
back seat of the car were all dressed up in clown costumes and appeared to be
having an awesome time, hahaha, really not sure what that was about.
We turned south again towards the park entrance and hadn’t
gone two ks when the heavens opened up. We dashed madly for a tree trying to
get a bit of shelter while we got the wet gear on again. On we went, a few ks
down the road while still raining, we were hearing this huge roar, it sounded
like big surf, but we were still quite a way from the coast. There was a swamp
on either side of the road, so we just stopped in the middle of the road to
find out what the noise was. It turned out to be a cacophony of frogs, I am
telling you, it was like heavy surf, or a jet engine, but it was thousands of frogs very loudly rejoicing in
the life giving rain. One of my most awesome experiences that we never would
have had if we’d been snug and warm and dry in a speeding car.
We entered the park and came to the unattended ranger’s
station to a notice saying the campground that we planned to stay at was closed
and that we had to go to Lucky Bay instead. This was going to be quite a bit
further and also make our next day’s ride longer as well. I was feeling a bit
sick of being out in the rain by this time, but Mary insisted that I invoke a bit
of Rule No5 of “The Velomanati” and “Harden The Fuck UP” So we kicked on as the
rain finally cleared. Well, this was one of those very special rides, down
through coastal heath amongst towering granite peaks with boulders on top of
them the shape of shipwrecks and Whales and Eagles. Yes, there was some
climbing, but with the breathtaking views, who could complain, this place was
special. We gathered views of pristine bays, some with wild surf, some so
protected that you would have no problem just floating around on them. We began
a final curving descent into lucky bay, and just knew that this was going to be
a great place to have our first rest day in ten days. Lucky bay has the
(scientifically tested) whitest sand of any beach in Australia. Top that off with
protecting dramatic granite headlands, this is one of those jaw dropping places
you just have to see in person to know that it was real.
17/6/16
Day off at LUCKY BAY, Cape LeGrand NP
Our breakfast treat of toast and coffee started our day off
well then it was adventures by foot and places to explore. We followed a well
signed walking track heading out to Thistle Cove. This cove should have a more
spectacular or beautiful name like Dream Cove, Imaginary Cove, Blue Diamond
Cove or Crescent Wave Cove. The walk out to Thistle Cove was over and through
amazing granite boulders of all shapes and sizes. Every few metres revealed
spectacular views one after another. You are really left with amazing visions
the whole time. We came to a lookout about half way between Lucky Bay and
Thistle Cove which overlooked the outer part of Lucky Bay and as we sat there
for 10 minutes or so taking in the view we spotted a couple of whales. As we
watched closely we could see there were three and with the help of the zoom
lens on the camera discovered that they were Humpbacks. How exciting, right in
front of us were beautiful whales, 2 adults and a calf just playing in the
protected bay. Today was our lucky day. We watched in awe for a good hour
before heading on further to reach Thistle Cove. As we were descending down to
the cove it started to rain and we found shelter behind a big granite boulder.
Actually Wilma and myself fitted just nicely underneath the boulder but Dave
was a little too big to squeeze into this totally protected natural shelter.
The ups of being small. Once the rain eased we started to venture back to Lucky
Bay to have some lunch and a chill.
Sometimes we find ourselves in quite hilarious situations.
As we finished our lunch back at camp we noticed a caravan and a couple of guys
who were dressed quite smartly wondering around and flying a drone. It looked
like they were filming their brand new van. Soon enough one of the guys came
over and introduced himself and asked if I would be interested in being their
token caravan woman as they were filming a promotional video for the Caravanning
Association. Hilarious, they actually wanted both of us. We told them we
haven’t showered for a few days, live in a tent and ride bikes and they assured
us that, that was fine as it wasn’t smell-a-vision. Here was our chance to join
the caravan society even if it was short lived. We ventured over to the van and
were offered a very comfortable outdoor chair each to sit in, that had a lovely
round table in between the chairs and two cups of tea and a very special glass
tea pot sitting on the table. It turned out to be coke in the pot not tea haha
just a prop. But the tim tams sitting there were real. The camera was big and
real and with the drone flying over it was a real live movie set. We even had
to act. Dave had to come out of the van carrying the tim tams and had to place
them on the table and then sit down. He did such a good job and only had to do
2 takes. I had to get up walk over and put my hands on his shoulders (how
romantic) and then walk inside the van. We must have done a really good job as
they paid us with a good bottle of red. 
During the afternoon we went for a lovely walk around on the
beach at Lucky Bay. The sand is like talcum powder, so fine and pure white.
When you walk on it the surface feels really hard and it squeaks under every
step. Such a beautiful bay with different shades of aqua right through to deep
blue as the water deepens. Our neighbour in the park had spotted a seal earlier
but we weren’t that lucky to see him. Often the kangaroos come down to this
beach and lie around on the sand in the sun. Such a great treasure, one that is
being looked after well by the parks rangers.
Before dinner we were invited to our friendly neighbours for
pre-dinner drinks and tonight we were able to bring a bottle of red. It had to
be drunk one way or another as it just wasn’t going to fit on the bikes the
next day. We had our second encounter of caravan life in one day and I must say
it was very warm and comfortable inside our new friend’s van. So many great
stories were told as our friends have done a lot of travelling here in
Australia and all around the world. It always fascinates me that there is so
much to learn when meeting new people. We had no idea that there is an
organisation called ANF. Our new friends were past presidents of the ANF and
they informed us that there are groups all around Australia and that there are
a great number of properties around for members of the federation to use at all
times of the year. ANF stands for Australian Nudist Federation and it totally
surprised us at the number of facilities this group has and the number of
people that are so enthusiastically involved. Very interesting conversations
where had this evening. 
18/6/16
LUCKY BAY to ESPERANCE via LeGrand Beach
A cool, crisp and clear morning with the promise of beach
riding saw us rolling out of camp quite early. The usual morning warm up climb
was done and the road curled away in front of us through a beautiful valley
flanked by Cape Legrand on one side and Frenchman Peak on the right. It was a
very enjoyable road ride, ending at the Legrand Beach access ramp. The beach
curled away to the West for 22ks to Wylie Bay, the tide was high, but plenty of
flat smooth beach was available to ride on. 
We took our helmets off and headed west after a few
photos. A couple of freshwater creeks
flowed out onto the beach which were easily ridden through. After about 4ks Mary realised that her helmet
was missing (which I had tied on to her bike) Oh Oh. A mad dash back to find it sitting on the
sand just after the first creek crossing. Add an extra 8ks onto Dave’s ride for
today. Things got tough from here on, the beach narrowed, the head wind got
stronger and the sand got softer. We had to drop our tyre pressures right down
to about 3-4psi. This kept us floating, but the legs were seriously suffering.
Four wheel drives came tearing down the beach at times with totally no concern
for our safety, we couldn’t hear them coming from behind us as the wind was so
strong. We persevered and went past some
interesting things including a surfers camp with big speakers and the doof doof
going so that the guys surfing would have had no problem hearing it, cool.
Later a motorbike camp which had torn the dunes and beach up even worse, making
it impossible for us to find a good line, uncool. Finally we came to the end
and exited the west end of the beach to pump up our tyres again for the final
run into Esperance.
Fortunately we found a good café still open on the beach
front and enjoyed great coffee, cake and a beer for me. Welcome to Esperance.
We were then on to our first stay with a Warmshowers Host, Campbell, Vanessa and family who made us so welcome in their home. We had hosted other touring cyclists at our place before this but had never used it while travelling. A new and wonderful experience for us.
19/6/16
Rest Day 1 in Esperance
What a great sleep we had in the most cosiest and warm bed.
As we got ready to head downstairs to breakfast we could hear the cheerful
chitter chatter of a little voice and the delightful sounds of a happy baby,
yay the little ones are up and about. Great smiles from the two youngsters was
a beautiful way to start the day. Campbell had breakfast on the go for us all
and wow what a treat we had. Freshly made coffee, homemade sour dough,
porridge, fresh fruit salad and muesli. Our tummies were soon filled with
wholesome goodness all made with love.
With some washing done, bikes washed and a few other little
jobs attended to we all jumped on our bikes with Casper on his little
Cannondale Mountain Bike that he rides so breathtakingly well and little Soko
sitting happily in her bike trailer we all headed down to the esplanade to the
Sunday market. Here Dave and I were able to get some of our precious organic
toothpaste, the one we buy at home. We had nearly run out of the one we brought
with us and felt so lucky to find a replacement without having to buy a yucky
supermarket one. Such a simple little thing but made us feel quite excited. We
bought a box of deactivated nuts and seeds to add to our on the road breakfast
bircher’s. We also got a lovely energising oil to help make the tent smell nice
and some vitamins for colds as I was feeling a sore throat coming on.
Late afternoon we all headed down to the local café where
Campbell and Vanessa’s friend was playing live music. The place was full of
people all having a great time enjoying the really cool music. We had a great
relax, a few drinks and a bite to eat and headed back to our temporary home for
dinner.
Such a lovely day and evening spent hanging out with these
guys who are just so awesome and encouraging of our cycle touring adventure. I
was really lucky and had Casper ask if I could read him a story before bed
which I really enjoyed doing.
20/6/16
Rest Day 2 in Esperance
The weather was looking to be a bit dodgy and our hosts were
really happy for us to stay another night so we decided to take the opportunity
and have another day of rest and recovery. We had a couple of jobs to do in
town so after another amazing Campbell Breakfast we walked into town and sorted
a couple of things, had a great look around the town, found a café for lunch
and coffee and then wondered back. It was mid afternoon and Campbell sent Dave
a text saying there were a large pod of dolphins spotted down on the foreshore.
Vanessa so kindly drove us down but we must have just missed them. We looked
all over the bay, imagined seeing them a couple of times but it turned out to
be a flock of sea birds. Never mind it was so lovely to be down there as in the
distant a dark sea fog rolled in and surrounded a large cargo ship. It looked
really eerie and we were just waiting and watching for the pirate ship to come
out of the fog and attack. Apparently there use to be a pirate who had a harem
of women that lived out on one of the islands!! Vanessa was so kind and offered
to take us for a scenic drive around to Twilight Cove. This drive was
spectacular. The view from the lookouts of all the bays was just breathtaking.
It was an overcast day so we didn’t get the brilliant colours of aqua and blues
that Esperance is known for but even with the cloud cover you could still see aqua
clearly on the shore line. Such an amazing and beautiful coastline. We stopped
off at a few spots along the way and got out of the car to enjoy the natural
wonders this place has to offer. Twilight Bay is really protected, with a small
surf beach, and a lovely kiddy beach with great rocks for the kids to climb all
over in and out of the water. We continued along the way and came to the
windfarm which was the first one to be built in WA. This is about to be
decommissioned, a little unsure whether it will be rebuilt or not.
Once back home Vanessa cooked a warm hearty delicious meal
of Dahl and rice and after another great chat sitting around the warm fire we
headed off to bed for another good night’s sleep in preparation for another few
days on the bike.
We met Narelle at the kiosk who organised our camp site in
the caravan park and made us awesome real coffees with actual crème on top of
Dave’s shorty. See we knew this place was going to be special. We spoke to a
lovely couple who live next door to the kiosk who both work out at Yalata. They
were very helpful with advising us of where we will be able to get water from
between here and Nullabor. We ordered fresh fish and chips for a very early
dinner and Narelle came out with a lovely fresh salad for us as well. Just on
sunset we raced up the sand dunes just behind the park to take some photos.
Dave got some great shots of the sun setting and I had a bit of fun videoing
the amazing colours on display. When we got back to the park the nightly
campfire was well and truly going so we hung out over there for a while having
great conversations with other travellers. 
