Day 167 Thursday 21 june

swap the decks

this tea is warmmmmm

Peaceful Bay

Left Albany with blue skies but stopped so Will and Dan could look over a replica of the Ámity’which was the first ship with convicts etc. Stopped in beautiful Denmark for lunch before setting up camp at ‘Peaceful Bay’.

Day 166 Wednesday 20 June

I didn’t think it could happen but the weather got worse. With a good hailstorm at midday and then 20 minutes of sun it was hard to see too much again.

i was not feeding them but someone has been

gorgeous Middleton Beach

What whale?

Day 165 Tuesday 19 june

Lots of rain overnight and intermittent all day. Albany is much nicer than our first impression but we don’t get to see much today. With the weather and old buildings it feels a bit like Dunedin in NZ.

Day 164 Monday 18th June

We're climbing that!?

charmer

road in and carpark

it's not that cold at the top

up and back

Walk to the top of Bluff Knoll 1095m from 300m high car park. Will walked all but the last 200m to the top (3.1k). It is a beautiful clear day but blowing 40 to 50 ks at the top. The views are spectacular and we can see 50k to the coast. Again Will walks all the way down except for a very windy section because it was a bit scary.

Day 163 Sunday 17th June

no trees above us

Storm damage before we arrived

Reluctantly we pack up and head towards Albany. See alot of tree debris on the road from last weeks storms. Camp near the Stirling Ranges which remind us of the Grampians in Victoria. Campground has had alot of storm damage.

Day 162 Saturday 16th June

It has been a cold night and we eventually go fishing, wearing our thermals, in the Kayak at Stokes Inlet. We (Kel especially) catch loads of bream and cook them for lunch. The wind drops in the evening and we spend it catching more bream until it’s so dark we have trouble finding the boat ramp.

2 at once! what a show off!

Will's first big one!

Killer Kelli

Feast with a view

She can't get enough

Must be high tide

Day 129 Monday 15th May- Day 161 June 15th

I have put the next month on one blog. Why? Because we are staying in Esperance until June 14^th.  Danny has picked up 4 weeks work at the local public boarding school- Esperance Residential College as a Senior Boys Supervisor. He is working 55 hour weeks. Starts at 7.30 most days and has a split shift and goes back in afternoon until 10.30pm. He has enjoyed it but found the hours long and now four weeks I have found my nights a little lonely, although I have filled my evenings with many DVD’s.  My days and Will’s  have been tough. We have had glorious warm, sunny days filled with skateboarding, bike riding, fishing (although I feel a little guilty doing this while Danny is at work) playing in all parks across Esperance, beaching and at times coffeeing. Esperance as a town and community has won us over. We love it. What isn’t there to like about it? I have put all out photos up over the last 4 weeks and the captions will tell it all. Esperance - we will hold as a special place in our hearts. 

This Sammy the Sea lion, he lives at the wharf about 500meters from our caravan park.

We visited him daily in the first week but he seems to have gone to greener  pastures  and we haven't seen him for a week or so. He is the fattest sea lion I have ever seen. Maybe he has gone to lose some weight.

Frenchman's Peak in Le Grand National Park about 50km from Esperance.

Yes, we climbed it.

Very steep, but well worth the climb.

Will loved all the little caves along the way.

Oh the views. 

I love granite.

King of the world.

The fisherwomen in action at Lucky bay.

Oh yeah the salmon were on!

That is a fish! The biggest I have ever caught.

Now it's Dannys turn.

Now it's Wills turn. The salmon chased all these bait fish into a rock pool . Will had a ball trying to catch them.

See Skippy in the background.

That is Gross! ESpecially for my vegetarian and non fish eating friends.

Thistle Cove- white sand

and kangaroos. Not sure who scared who the most.

Honestly this is one of the most beautiful unspoiled parts of the world I have ever visited.  I am falling in love with my own country. i am just sorry it has taken 40 years.

Friday 15th and we do the big pack up. we don't leave until after 2pm. it's as though we don't want to leave. drive 1 hour to Stokes Inlet. Beautiful National Park and only one other campers.