An article detailing our adventures in the northern Kimberley around the Mitchell Plateau and Mitchell Falls hit the shelves earlier this week.  We stumbled across it in a shopping mall in Brisbane, it’s in Australian 4WD Action issue number 148.

The second of our 4WD articles just hit the shelves in Australian 4WD Action issue 144.  This one documents our trip to Purnululu National Park and the Bungle Bungle Range when we were up north last July.  The next article comes out in a few weeks in issue 145, I think that one focuses on Litchfield National Park in the Northern Territory…  

On our way out of town we took a detour around the other side of Esperance Bay to Cape Le Grand National Park.  The road into the park passed through flocks of more emus than I think we’ve seen on the entire rest of our trip combined.  We stopped off at Le Grand Beach next to Cape Le Grand itself, last year voted as the Australian beach with the whitest sand, a beautiful spot where the beach appeared to extend forever into the horizon.  Thistle Cove was similarly worth a visit, definitely one of the most majestic beaches we’ve seen on our travels, the beautiful turquoise water backed by huge granite peaks.  After conquering West Mount Barren in Fitzgerald River National Park Lisa was keen for some more mountain climbing so we scrambled up Frenchman’s Peak for some brilliant panoramic views of the National Park and all its beaches.  Some great caves on the way up, one with a natural bridge cut through the tip of the mountain.  Worth the climb…

We were of two minds as to where to head from Cape Le Grand: east into Cape Arid National Park or north to the mining town of Kalgoorlie.  As we exited Cape Le Grand we saw a sign that indicated the road from Cape Arid to the Nullarbor Plain was closed so our decision was made for us: north to Kalgoorlie.  Even though Kalgoorlie was 400 kilometers (249 miles) out of our way we figured we’d better visit whilst in the area.  ‘Kalgoorlie’ and ‘gold’ are almost synonymous in Australia, every kid grows up being taught about Kalgoorlie’s Golden Mile, the richest stretch of gold-bearing ore on the planet.  The name ‘Alan Bond’ is also recognizable by most Australians, I learned that it was Bond who was originally responsible for the creation of consolidated mining in Kalgoorlie when he started buying up the plethora of individual mining leases to form what is today the Super Pit: Australia’s largest gold-producing open cut mine.  We visited the Super Pit lookout on our way out of town, the sheer size of the mine is mind boggling.  The massive earth movers (they have tyres with a diameter of 12 feet so they really are monstrous) looked like Tonka trucks as they scooted around the huge hole in the earth.  An operation of unbelievable proportions…  In its heyday Kalgoorlie had a population of around 30,000 and boasted a staggering 93 hotels and eight breweries!  Today the population remains roughly the same but the drinking establishments have been trimmed into the thirties, still a high ratio by anyone’s measure.  Kalgoorlie’s main Hannan Street is lined with an array of heritage buildings, most of which were hotels in their day and many of which have been transformed into multi-level drinking establishments today.  A pretty seedy atmosphere, many of the pubs advertised strippers every night of the week or at least bar staff clad in the most scanty of clothing (locally known as ‘skimpies’).  When we walked down the main street on Saturday morning there were still patrons stumbling out of a few of the pubs!  Kalgoorlie also used to boast a huge number of brothels, Australia’s oldest brothel still operates in town, we stopped off for a photo at Questa Casa but didn’t feel like hanging around for the daily 2:00PM tours.  On our one night in town we enjoyed a quiet beer at one of the original pubs, securing a spot on the second-floor verandah to watch the world go by in the late evening heat.  A cold beer just tastes all that much better when it’s hot outside…  Definitely worth the trip to Kalgoorlie just to see the Super Pit, although I have an inkling that Kalgoorlie may be the town that began Australia’s original bogan movement.

From Kalgoorlie we headed back down to Norseman where the highway tees east and onto the Nullarbor Plain.  We knew that the Nullarbor was going to be a marathon of driving through relative nothingness, but we really realized what we were in for on the road sign as we left Norseman where it had 1989 kilometers (1235 miles) painted next to ‘Adelaide’.  That’s a lot of scrub-covered plain!  It was a bit of a test in trying to keep each other alert, we traded driving two hour slogs each, struggling to find new material amongst the almost 7000 songs on our iPod but keeping amused with some old NPR podcasts we discovered.  We traveled across Australia’s longest stretch of straight highway between Balladonia and Caiguna, 146.6 kilometers (91 miles) without a single deviation.  It was good to spend some time camping back in the bush, something we hadn’t been able to do for a while, around 5:00PM one night we started looking for a patch of sparse trees and pulled off into the seemingly endless Mallee scrub where we enjoyed a good campfire and night under the stars.  We stopped off at Eucla, the first settlement west of the Western Australia/South Australia border, to take a look at the relics of one of the old telegraph stations that is now being engulfed by sand.  There’s a stretch of sand dunes just east of Eucla that were so strikingly white we needed a pair of sunglasses just to take them in!  It’s back into south Australia from the Nullarbor Plain, a week or two touring the Eyre Peninsula then back to Adelaide for Santa Claus.

The drive into Denmark (S34°57.650′ E117°21.439′) was another one of those stretches of road where we were a little overwhelmed with all the spots to stop along the way.  We visited The Toffee Factory, Elephant Rocks in William Bay National Park, Somerset Hill Winery, an alpaca farm and the Denmark Farmhouse cheese factory.  And that was just in the morning!  The coastline enclosed by William Bay National Park was unreal, definitely some of the most beautiful coastline I’ve ever seen, the turquoise waters along the shore receding to the deep blue of the Southern Ocean was so picturesque.  Had it not been for the inclement weather we’d been dodging for the better part of a week, Elephant Rocks would have been a great spot for snorkeling.  The water was so clear we could see the fish swimming in the protected pools.  I had a bit of a fright (‘bit’ might be slightly understated…) when I rounded the corner on the trail to Elephant Rocks and almost stepped on a brown snake (pictured here) bathing itself in a patch of morning sun.  Don’t fancy a nip from the world’s second most venomous snake!

The hills surrounding Denmark were pretty magic as well, dotted with art galleries and wineries there was no shortage of spots to visit.  We tasted at Somerset Hill Winery, a beautiful vineyard overlooking the surrounding countryside that boasted some great Semillons that would have been interesting to age for 10 years (so says our resident winemaker!).  We couldn’t wait that long, however, and enjoyed our bottle with some fresh fish.  It was fun to visit the Denmark Farmhouse cheese factory, the week earlier we’d tried to make it to the creamery in the tiny town of Northcliffe but missed closing time by 30 minutes.  Some of the cheeses at the Denmark Farmhouse were exquisite, we walked away with some of their tasty feta and a block of goat’s cheese.

Denmark itself was a great little town, somewhere we can picture both of our mothers enjoying the art galleries, coffee houses, restaurants, gift stores and health food establishments.  Denmark Bakery is the most recent addition to my list of Australia’s Best Bakeries, the storefront is covered with awards from the Perth Royal Show and they were definitely well deserved.  One of the galleries in Denmark had some of the most beautiful wooden tables and furniture we’d ever seen, definitely jotting this place down on our list should we ever need a new dining table down the road…  We spent the night just south of Denmark at Ocean Beach, the closest beach to Denmark’s town centre.  Lisa was as giddy as a school kid when she spotted an air-filled trampoline out the front of the caravan park in which we stayed, we both relived a few childhood experiences as we bounced around.  The Wilson Inlet, on which Denmark is located, had a nice walking trail around its edge and the beach at Ocean Beach was another in the string of fantastic beaches that the southern coast has to offer.  We threw a line in near the mouth of the Wilson Inlet but our fishing was cut short after Lisa ended up on her back, drenched in seawater after tripping whilst scurrying backwards to escape an oncoming wave!  Once I’d ran down the beach to check that she was okay we both had quite a good laugh before trudging back to the caravan park for a much-needed hot shower.

My dad connected us with an old friend of his who owns Frankland Estate winery in-between the towns of Rocky Gully and Frankland, about an hour inland from Denmark.  We called ahead the day before, organized to arrive for lunch and were treated to a tour from owner and winemaker Barrie Smith as well as a gourmet sit-down lunch with the winery staff and Barrie’s daughter Elizabeth, who’s also one of the winemakers.  A beautiful piece of property nestled amongst the rolling hills of Frankland and such hospitality from Barrie and his daughter.  We sat there for an hour or two tasting through their fantastic wines paired with some delectable meats and cheeses.  Our visit to Frankland Estate coincided with Thanksgiving in the States so Lisa was excited to be able to enjoy a sit-down, communal meal on the day of the year when every other year of her life she’d eaten turkey with her family.

Frankland Estate was on the way inland to Stirling Range National Park (S34°24.058′ E118°06.129′).  The mountains of the Stirling Range rise out of the surrounding wheat fields like jagged teeth, a collection of majestic peaks stretching for close to 70 kilometers across the plains.  The mountains are home to a dizzying array of flora and fauna and are recognized internationally as one of the world’s most biodiverse regions.  There are a number of plants, like the red Mountain Bells pictured here, that aren’t found anywhere else in the world.  There’s only one campsite in the entire National Park and it was thus pretty packed by the time we rolled in at 4:30PM, the bushland of the Stirling Range is quite dry so we weren’t allowed to have a campfire.  Definitely one of our coldest nights in a long time we sought refuge in The Blue Room shortly after the sun disappeared (and the geriatric in the caravan next to us turned off his stinking generator!).  Quite a number of the peaks comprising the Stirling Range have hiking trails to their summit, we got going early and climbed the tallest of them all: Bluff Knoll.  The 675 meter (2215 feet) climb to southern Western Australia’s tallest mountain took us the better part of the morning, tough to dress for the occasion as the steepness of the trail had us sweating heavily at some points while the wind across some of the exposed bluffs was bone-chilling.  There were sections of the hike that took us through expansive fields of wildflowers, some areas were so dense that it was like walking through a colored blanket of flowers, just amazing…  The views from the top of Bluff Knoll were awe-inspiring, full 360° panoramas of the mountains making up Stirling Range and the surrounding wheat fields.  We took the long way out of the park, traversing the Stirling Range Drive across the National Park lengthways, a beautiful area of the country, we’re glad we made the trip inland for the experience.

From the Stirling Range we ventured back toward the coast to spend a couple of days in the bustling port town of Albany and then continued west toward Esperance.  The number of white sandy beaches along the stretch of coast between Albany and Esperance is just amazing, anyone who doubts that Australia has the most beautiful beaches in the world should visit the coastline of The Great Southern.  The visitor information bureau in Albany suggested we explore Two Peoples Bay and Betty’s Beach on the way to Esperance, the road to which is a dirt track veering off the South Coast Highway about 30 kilometers east of Albany.  Two Peoples Bay is a stretch of a few kilometers of beautiful white sand, hemmed in by granite peaks at the western end and rocky granite reef to the east.  Lisa went for a long walk on the beach (and got stung be a bee!) while I spent an hour or so snorkeling at the eastern end of the bay, after which we grabbed some lunch and then headed over the hill to the more protected Betty’s Beach (S34°56.211′ E118°12.513′).  Betty’s is a collection of old iron sheds perched overlooking a beautiful cove, some of the shacks have been left to ruin and others maintained by locals from Albany for weekend trips.  It was a fantastic spot, we enjoyed watching some local teens get barreled by a very sucky little break in amongst the granite rocks on the edge of the beach before eating dinner overlooking the beach and mountains in the distance.  The sunset and waves crashing into the tide pool made for some pretty awesome water photos…

On the recommendation of Elizabeth and Barrie Smith at Frankland Estate we took a 60 kilometer detour from the South Coast Highway to the holiday town of Bremer Bay.  The town is tucked behind Point Henry, the orientation of which ensures that there’s always a secluded beach to be found somewhere within 10 minutes of town.  We explored the peninsula between Point Henry and Bremer Bay, stopping off for a swim at Little Boat Harbour on the easterly side.  I had no idea that coral existed in the cold waters of the Southern Ocean but about 50 meters offshore and 10 meters deep I was surprised to see some beautiful hard and soft coral, amazing colours and so many fish buzzing about.

Preferring to stick with campsites rather than caravan parks for as long as possible, we left Bremer Bay behind (in Western Australia you will never find a campsite within 17 kilometers of a town) and made our way along back roads to the edge of Fitzgerald River National Park.  Lisa was in the mood for some more mountains after our hike in the Stirling Range so we stopped off to climb the tallest peak in the area, East Mount Barren.  We were rewarded with some brilliant panoramic views of the coastline from up on high.  There’s one campsite in the southern section of Fitzgerald River National Park at Saint Mary’s Inlet, we stopped for the night at yet another extremely well-equipped campsite run by the Department of Environment and Conservation (this one had free gas BBQ and burners, toilets and secluded level campsites nestled amongst the trees surrounding the waters of the inlet).  In the morning we took a walk to the tip of nearby Point Ann, the southerly beginning of the famous (or infamous…) Rabbit Proof Fence constructed in the 19th century in a failed attempt to halt the spread of introduced rabbits west across the Australian mainland.  Today all that’s left are some old fence posts and rusted sections of mesh fence, but an interesting piece of history all the same.  The flies in Fitzgerald River National Park were some of the worst we’ve experienced, I think it was the first time we broke out our fly nets since Gregory National Park all the way back in July!  Some beautiful wildflowers dotted across the landscape of the National Park, not the brilliant fields we saw in the Stirling Range but some great examples of Kangaroo Paw and other brightly coloured specimens.

For our last night of camping in The Great Southern we stayed at Munglinup Reef (S33°53.211′ E120°48.338′), roughly 100 kilometers west of the port town of Esperance.  The reef bends around a small peninsula, the easterly portion a deep and quite rough stretch of ocean while the western side is protected by a long barrier of rocks making for a fantastic snorkeling and swimming spot.  It was so calm that Lisa even wanted to get in for a dip!  Lisa called me over to take a look at an Eagle Ray she’d found underwater when the Morwong pictured here flew past and I happened to have my spear drawn, I landed him in the side of the head and Lisa’s now going to be eating fish for the better part of a month!  Definitely the biggest fish I’ve ever landed on spear or line, it was so heavy I struggled to get it out of the water and it bent my spear head whilst I was carrying it.  I wasn’t sure what type of fish it was until asking master fisherman Matt Little, luckily it has some nice white flesh and Lisa has been enjoying it for dinner for the past few nights.

It’s back off into some arid country from here for us as we begin our way across the Nullarbor Plain, we’ll definitely hold the southwestern corner of Western Australia (Margaret River, The Southern Forests and The Great Southern) fondly in our memories.  Such a brilliant portion of the country with so much to experience.  Time and time again we were taken aback with the awesome campground facilities provided by Western Australia’s Department of Environment and Conservation: always with toilets, the occasional shower, wood provided if campfires are allowed…  And the shire campsites provided by the towns of Albany and Esperance at places like Betty’s Beach and Munglinup Reef were also awesome, some of the best campsites we’ve visited anywhere so far.  The fact that we had most of the spots to ourselves made it all the more fantastic.

Street View: S35°00.692′ E117°52.480′

Albany’s a great little port town situated at the back of the Princess Royal Harbour smack in the middle of southern wheat belt, the huge grain silos visible from anywhere along the harbour.  Many of the town’s historical buildings have been painstakingly maintained over the years and give the town a comforting old-world feel, a walk along the main street is like trip through architectural styles of the early twentieth century.  Central Albany is filled with a plethora of coffee shops, quaint health food stores and no shortage of restaurants, home to some of Western Australia’s most lauded chefs.  As with bakeries, it’s difficult for us to avoid a microbrewery when passing through a country town so stopped off at Tangle Head Brewery during our first afternoon in town.  One of Albany’s old pubs retrofitted with modern decor, the brewery serves up a range of home-brewed ales and and lagers.  Lisa enjoyed the coffee-scented stout while I opted for their tasty White Ale with its hint of banana and citrus (no fruity jokes please…).  We also stumbled across a fantastic grocer along the waterfront called Merchants, offering a diverse range of bulk herbs, spices, dried fruit and baking items (you would have loved it Michaela!).

If you’re reading this and are ever planning on visiting Albany it’s a good idea to plan to stop off on a weekend: Saturday’s play host to the Albany Farmer’s Market and on Sunday are the local fish markets at the Boat Shed Markets.  The Albany Farmer’s Market is hailed as the best in the state and, while it’s quite small, the fresh food and variety of local offerings was brilliant.  We stocked up on everything from fruit to honey, sampling a delectable yabbie pie for breakfast and enjoying an iced coffee from one of the local dairies selling their milk at the gathering (for you northerners a yabbie is a freshwater crustacean similar to a crawdad).  One of the more unique pieces of food we bought was a bag of banana passionfruits (pictured here) which we enjoyed on our morning cereal for the better part of a week.  Lisa wanted to sample some of the local fish for which The Great Southern is so famous, when we arrived at the Sunday Boat Shed Markets there was a line out the door leading up to the main fishmonger’s stall.  On offer were huge tubs full of filleted Red Snapper, Queen Snapper, Leatherjacket, Cobbler and a type of groper as well as some of the biggest fresh squids I’ve ever seen.  The Boat Shed Markets are also jam packed with local horticulturalists, bakers and a couple of fellows selling mussels and oysters by the tray.  We walked away with some Red Snapper, groper, a big box of cherries and some fresh bread from a local patisserie.  The Tank couldn’t fit any more food after a weekend at the Albany markets!

We spent one of our days in Albany exploring the coastline around town, the main attraction is Torndirrup National Park on the other side of Princess Royal Harbour.  The National Park is a collection of beautiful beaches mixed with some stunning natural rock formations, the turquoise water and white sand of the beaches was pretty majestic.  It was a little cold for a dip on the day we ventured into Torndirrup but some of the beaches would be a brilliant spot for spending a hot summer day.  There are a collection of blowholes in the southern section of the park but unfortunately the swell was too tame when we were there for them to spout any water.

Around the other side of Princess Royal Harbour at the northern end of King George Sound lies Emu Point, a secluded harbour and home to Albany’s famous Squid Shack restaurant.  The Squid Shack is a traditional Aussie seafood restaurant where it’s BYO drinks, plates and cutlery.  We shared a huge box of delicious salt-and-pepper squid, some of the most tender either of us had ever tasted, coupled with the remnants of a bottle of Frankland Estate Isolation Ridge Riesling.  Can you ask for more in a lunch?!

After our first visit to the speedway in Broome we seem to have inherited a bit of a fancy for country town race meets, we attended the Albany Speedway on our last night in town for a dose of high-octane, methanol-burning racing.  The Albany meet had a couple of classes of sprint cars, something we didn’t see in Broome, awesome to see how quickly the sprint cars tear around the track.  Later in the night when the air temperature dropped and the track’s moisture content increased the rear tyres of the sprint cars started to generate steam with the amount of heat building up as they tore around the corners.  Also on display were the super sedans, which we did see in Broome: methanol-burning powerhouses that were just amazing to see take off into each short strait.  It was quite a cold night after the sun set, Lisa missed the third and a bit of the fourth rounds in a Muscat-induced coma as she was trying to warm up in The Tank’s cab!

Never one to resist a country town bakery, I convinced Lisa on lunch at The Crossings Bakery in Pemberton (it didn’t take much convincing) before exploring a portion of Gloucester National Park.  A climb up the 60 meter (197 feet) trunk of the Gloucester Tree was quite a workout, amazing views from the top over the canopy of the forest making up Gloucester National Park.  The towering eucalypts in the forests in southern Western Australia are used as lookouts by firefighters, the tallest trees in each portion of the forest have metal stakes driven perpendicular to their trunk to form a makeshift staircase.  The Gloucester Tree is one of the few trees used as lookouts open to the public.

We spent our first night in The Southern Forests at a beautiful campsite alongside the Warren River in Warren National Park (S34°30.569′ E115°57.693′).  Our spot not only had a fire pit and picnic table with benches but also a private staircase leading down to the pristine waters of the Warren River.  A really fantastic spot, so peaceful and tranquil in amongst the towering Karri Eucalypts with not a sound but the trickle of the river.  I took a dip in the river, talk about icy, lucky for The Tank’s hot shower!  From Warren National Park we stopped off at The Cascades in Gloucester National Park on our way back into Pemberton for another day of wine tasting.  Lisa called ahead to Picardy Winery, an appointment only establishment north of Pemberton, hoping to organize a tour of one of the better known wineries in the region.  Whilst waiting for a call back we took a scenic drive through the rolling hills surrounding Pemberton, stopping at Mountford Winery (where they also brew some tasty ciders), Silkwood and finally Salitage Winery.  Dan Pannell, the winemaker at Picardy, called Lisa back and we were treated to an in-depth tour and tasting of his establishment.  An outspoken but humorous bloke, Dan spent more than an hour with Lisa tasting her through all the varieties grown on his family’s estate, Pinot Noir being the highlight for Lisa.  I was fortunate enough to taste everything on offer as well, while my taste buds aren’t anywhere near as tuned as Lisa’s I did very much enjoy some of the drops on offer in the Picardy barrel cellar.

From Pemberton the South Western Highway makes its way through Shannon National Park and back to the coast near Walpole.  On recommendation from staff at a couple of the wineries around Pemberton we instead decided to make our way down through Northcliffe (Western Australia’s wettest town [even wetter than all those towns up north in the tropics!]) and to the sleepy fishing settlement of Windy Harbour (S34°50.187′ E116°01.538′).  We’re glad we took the locals’ advice: Windy Harbour lies in a protected cove beneath the majestic cliffs of Point D’entrecasteaux, the vistas from the cliffs in the afternoon sun were brilliant and the campsite in amongst all the holiday shacks was a great spot.  Windy Harbour immediately reminded us of some of the small hippy settlements along the Mendocino Coast…  During our afternoon in Windy Harbour we explored beautiful Salmon Beach then along the top of the cliffs to the tip of Point D’entrecasteaux and some of the lookouts in-between.  A very rugged but beautiful area of the country…  On our way back to Northcliffe and the South Western Highway we stopped off at Mount Chudalup, where we spent an hour climbing to its peak for 360° views of D’entrecasteaux National Park and the ocean in the distance.  As we made for the highway we attempted to find Lane Pool Falls in the wilderness area east of Northcliffe, but after the better part of an hour driving in what seemed like circles on a myriad of logging trails we called in quits and made a beeline for Walpole.  We ducked into Fernhook Falls in Frankland River National Park on our way to Walpole, the tea color of the Deep River was more pronounced at the falls than anywhere else we’d seen in the region, the tannins from decomposing plants responsible for the colour.  Even though the water is coloured deep brown, the Deep River is supposedly the most pure river in Western Australia, avoiding agricultural areas for over 95% of its 120 kilometer (75 mile) length.