21/03/2023 From Windy Harbour to Albany
What to expect
D’entrecasteaux National Park
Waking up to that same stunning viewpoint that we fell asleep to last night, still feels amazing.
Go to Tookulup Lookout
In the D’entrecasteaux National Park we went to another lookout named Tookulup Lookout, which was also breathtaking.
Look through “the Window”
Only five minutes down the road, you can look through “the Window”, which is a unique rock formation above the ocean.
Drive to Denmark
Once we got to Denmark, we visited different beaches and bays, which the area is famous for.
Elephant Rocks
Elephant Rocks is a bay with lots of big gray rocks in and around the water that look like elephants from certain perspectives. The water was turquoise and the beach was almost white, which, together with the gray rocks, made for a stunning image.
Greens Pool
Right next to it, you can see Greens Pool, which is a long sandy stretch with water just as beautiful and clear as Elephant Rocks (which makes sense as it’s literally right next to each other).
Waterfall Beach and Madfish Bay
We also explored Waterfall Beach and Madfish Bay just a five minute drive away, where we had both beaches almost entirely to ourselves.
Albany
Unfortunately, when we got to Albany, the weather changed and it was quite overcast and cold. (At least for us who have been spoilt and used to the sun.)
See the GAP and the Natural Bridge
We sprinted to the two sights, the GAP and the Natural Bridge. They both looked impressive but weren’t as enjoyable to look at when rain constantly lashes into your face and you can’t see much as the wind throws your hair into your face. But I’m sure under normal conditions these natural sights would have looked pretty 😉.
22/03/2023 From Albany to Esperance
Happy birthday to me!
And then we woke up to more rain. I guess I shouldn’t complain as we have been so lucky with great weather on this world trip.
Waking up in a campervan on my birthday was definitely a first. Waking up next to Blake on my birthday is also something I do not take for granted with all the long distance we’ve been doing in the past.
Hot shower time
The first highlight this morning was a public shower by the beach that was hot and even indoors – two aspects that make a free shower so much better!
See Australia’s most beautiful beach
After treating myself to a coffee to go, Blake and I drove back to Torndirrup National Park from last night to see Australia’s “most beautiful beach” voted in 2022. Funnily, it was called “Misery Beach”. It did look great and certainly had the turquoise water and white sandy beach. But the cloudy weather made it look a little less stunning. However, being the only ones on this beach definitely made it more special.
Visit a brewery
After having our breakfast on the carpark next to Misery Beach, we stopped at a brewery – mainly for Blake 😉.
Go wine tasting
To make my birthday complete, Blake had a great idea of going wine tasting together, which he treated me to as well as the bottle of white wine we bought afterwards.
Quite the drive
And then we drove to Esperance for the next five hours. In Germany I probably wouldn’t do that in one go just to get to the next town. Here we don’t even blink. And at least on the passenger seat I was able to receive some really nice messages and phone calls from friends and family back home.
Esperance
Watch sunset at Chapman’s Point
We got to Esperance just in time for sunset at Chapman’s Point where we were also going to stay the night in our campervan.
I’m so grateful I got to spend this special day with Blake in Australia on our world trip.
23/03/2023 Esperance
Do the Great Ocean Drive
Esperance’s Great Ocean Drive is a 40 kilometre circular loop to explore by car that features a vast range of coastal elements such as stunning beaches, rocky headlands, small bays, steep cliffs and hidden ocean pools.”
trailswa.com.au
Waking up at Chapman’s Point had the advantage that we were already on the Great Ocean Drive. And I’m not kidding: Every single lookout, bay, beach or cove on this Great Ocean Drive was absolutely stunning! I’m talking turquoise water and white sandy beaches everywhere!
See all the beautiful beaches
At Picknick Cove we decided to have our breakfast bowls on the beach. While we were sitting on the white sandy beach in our camping chairs (as the only ones!), we even saw a bunch of dolphins jumping over the waves. This day already couldn’t get any better…until it did!
Visit the Cape le Grand National Park
After an amazing morning we drove to the Cape le Grand National Park as we were on a mission: kangaroos on the beach (and this is not the name of some Aussie cocktail).
See Lucky Bay
Quarts sand is very hard. When the particles rub against each other, as they do when you walk on them, the sand squeaks. Most other Australian beaches contain calcareous material, such as bits of shell, which is softer than quartz. Calcareous beaches don’t squeak and they look creamier in colour.”
sign at the beach
The sand on Lucky Bay was completely white! Since it is a very hard sqeeky sand, 4×4 drives can even drive on the beach (which excludes our van). The water colour was so clear we couldn’t stop looking at it. The only times I looked away was when I looked for kangaroos on the beach that usually drink the spring water that comes through the white sand.
Where are the kangaroos?
But no kangaroos in sight… yet! Even though the beach was amazing, I was a little bit disappointed as I had set my heart up for kangaroos on the beach. Just when we were about to leave the car park at Lucky Bay, we spotted two kangaroos on the car park!
They were not in a hurry to leave anytime soon. (Not even when I jumped out of the car and excitedly ran towards them like a kid that sees Santa. At least I assume that’s what kids would do.) They were the cutest and my heart was filled with kangaroo-love.
Watch sunset with kangaroos at Cape le Grand Beach
After that we drove to Cape le Grand Beach. On this long sandy stretch of beach we were almost the only ones.
We decided to stay for sunset and watch it from inside our van with our wine and beer and Ed Sheeran music that brought us back to his great concert in Perth. When we walked to the beach and were just about to get back to our van, we spotted two kangaroos grassing on the car park! Being beyond excited is an understatement!
Lucky Day
This entire day from the start with the dolphins on the beach to the end with the kangaroos in the national park was so magical!
Since it is the day in between both of our birthdays and since a lot of it took place at Lucky Bay, we decided that from now on we’ll start calling the 23rd of March our “Lucky (Bay) Day”.
24/03/2023 Esperance
Happy birthday to Blake!
Today was another very special day: Blake’s 37th birthday! The only two birthdays we have ever celebrated together were in 2020 and in 2021 when we both lived together in Germany. If you remember that “special” time, you will also remember that a full-on lockdown had been going on in both years.
So these would be our first birthdays being on the same continent without any lockdown!
Breakfast at Forth Beach
We started the day with a breakfast at one of those incredible beaches in Esperance, named Forth Beach. Unfortunately, just like on my birthday morning in Albany two days ago, it was overcast. This is why we were getting ready for a long drive up to the West Coast. But once we got gas and groceries for the long journey, the weather suddenly changed.
Relax at Salmon Beach
With the sun and the blue sky we spontaneously changed our plan and went to Salmon Beach instead. A birthday at a white sandy beach does definitely sound better than on a ten-hour-road trip.
Go to the Lucky Bay Brewery
Blake’s birthday wouldn’t really be Blake’s birthday without a visit to a brewery. Luckily, Esperance has its own brewery: Lucky Bay Brewery – how fitting!
A cozy movie afternoon
In the afternoon the weather turned cloudy again, which was totally fine with us as we got cozy in the back of the van while watching a movie.
Time for Thai food (at Siam Thai Restaurant)
My mom was so generous and treated us to a dinner for Blake’s birthday. Eating out is always special for us. But it feels extra special when you are on a road trip in Australia, where dining out becomes a luxury. Since we both love the Thai cuisine, the choice was easy: Get pad thai into our bellies!
The Thai restaurant “somehow” knew about Blake’s birthday and surprised him with birthday candles on his mango sticky rice for dessert. But let’s be honest: it’s my favourite dessert, so maaaybe it wasn’t a complete selfless act 😉.
25/03/2023 From Esperance to Toodyay
On the road again
With one day later as planned we were on the road again. Bring on that ten-hour-drive! Blake and I both don’t mind road trips. It’s actually the opposite: We both always have great conversations on road trips, love listening to podcasts and like getting in touch with friends. (At least for the person on the passenger seat – which is mostly me.)
“Surf” Wave Rock
After four hours of driving inland, we stopped at Wave Rock.
Wave Rock is a natural rock formation that is shaped like a tall breaking ocean wave. The “wave” is about 15 m high and around 110 m long.”
en.wikipedia.org
A long drive ahead
We drove for another six hours through farm land, along massive trees, passing colourful birds and a lot of (dead) kangaroos. Having rain on a travel day always makes us happy as that means that we are not missing out on the good weather 😉. However, since our flooding incident in New Zealand with our last camper van, we are certainly more cautious when it’s raining while we are driving.
Falling asleep to “lovely” bird sounds
In a tiny town called Toodyay, which randomly won the award for “tidiest town”, we decided to stay the night when it was slowly getting dark. After dinner on our front seats (salad and sandwiches), we fell asleep in the back of our van to the (quite annoying) sound of cockatoos.
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