Our last night on the Nullarbor was spent only 70km east of
Norseman. We woke up feeling refreshed and happy to be at the end of that
stretch of road. We followed Clint and Brook into Norseman and we all stopped
off at the Visitor Information Centre to get certificates for the kids for
crossing the Nullarbor.
Saying goodbye to one family, we met up with another two. The
Beesons and Cronans travelled across the Nullarbor before us, but went to
Kalgoorlie and were passing back through Norseman at the same time as us.
We decided to all stay at a small rest area in a little town
called Grass Patch. Paying our $20 per night at the local pub, the rest area
had power, water, clean amenities and a laundry.
Later in the day Ton and Cam joined us at Grass Patch after
staying with friends for a few weeks in Kalgoorlie. We hadn't seen Ton, Cam and
the kids since we left Alice Springs, so it was a wonderful reunion.
That night, while the kids were playing and we were all sitting
down having a drink and chatting, one of the locals came over and joined us. He
has lived in Grassy Patch his entire life and only travelled once to Esperance
which is about 78ks away. Other than that trip he has never left Grass Patch
with its population of 20 people! He was keen to sit and hear about our travels
and came across as almost desperate for our company. He told us some funny
stories and shared some of his homemade sauce with us. Later that night as we
listened to him playing old country music, blaring from his house, we wondered
why someone would stay in one tiny little town their entire life.
The next day all three other families continued south towards Esperance,
while we stayed in Grass Patch to catch up on school and work.
We followed them all down a couple of days later and were so
grateful to Ton and Cam for saving us a spot at Cape Le Grand. This time of
year is very busy at the popular campgrounds near Esperance, and we understood
why as we drove into the National Park. It is stunning and the campgrounds are
beautiful.
Cape Le Grand National Park covers and area of nearly 80,000 acres, and is an ancient landscape which has been above sea level for well over 200 million years. The name Le Grand is from one of the officers on L'Esperance, one of the ships in the 1792 expedition of Bruni d'Entrecasteaux.
Each campsite is surrounded by bushland and it feels like you are
completely by yourself. A small walk over the sand dunes brings you to a
breathtaking beach with white soft sand and aqua blue waters.
We took a drive over to Lucky Bay where Marty, Belinda, Nikki and
Matt were camped and enjoyed an afternoon relaxing on the rocks, while the kids
jumped into the crystal clear water.
We all met up near the port in Esperance and had fish and chips
for lunch. Then I took the kids over to the park to play in the maze and on the
climbing equipment.
One evening all the kids put on a show for us on the beach while
the sun was setting. They had spent the past few days making musical
instruments and rehearsing songs and dance moves. It was boys vs. girls and
ended with them all showing us their Gangnam Style moves!
We were reluctant to leave Cape Le Grand and all its beauty, but the
weather had turned again and our solar panels don’t work well when it's
raining! So after taking the tourist loop drive past the pink lakes then along
the coast, we are heading inland to Wave Rock.
