The Thompson and Bere families caught up to us in Esperance. Leonie had an altercation with a concrete step on her way to Esperance, and after a visit to the local hospital, discovered that she had broken her little finger. It was a sad turn of events, as it meant that the Bere’s had to hightail it to South Australia to get some medical attention. Sam and Eliza were sad to say goodbye, but it won’t be the last time we see them on this trip.
It was only 45 km to Cape Le Grand, so we had the pick of the campsites when we arrived. There are only 15 sites at Cape Le Grand Campground, with a second more open area (more like a car park) at the Lucky Bay Campground. These camping areas are operated by DPAW (Dept. Parks & Wildlife) and maintained by a campground caretaker, who collects your money each afternoon. A site will set you back $10 per adult and $2.20 per child. Not bad for a great camp kitchen, lovely clean toilets, solar showers and the best beaches in Australia! You’ll even get a bit of mobile reception if you stand on one leg with your hand in the air! You could easily spend a week or more here. Lucky Bay was by far the most beautiful white sandy beach and clearest water that I saw for the entire eight months travelling. Pity it was so cold! Of course we all swam, but getting out the wind chill factor was high! The mosquitoes were also out in force at night, so it was a good reason to layer up and get the red wine flowing.
Cape Le Grand was the only place that I saw a snake. And it was a big tiger snake at that! It was not too happy to see us and the twenty torches that were waved in its face.
After one night at Cape Le Grand, we were joined by the Thompson and Bale families. Once again we had some wonderful days enjoying the beach, and nights of socialising with some great company. The kids all mixed so well that we rarely saw them.
Lucky Bay is a great spot for fishing and kayaking; Dave caught three fish off the beach, and the kayak had a good workout with the kids.
We stayed a couple of days longer than planned, but were soon back on the road. After a quick fuel stop and food shop at Esperance, we were on our way across the Nullarbor.