We had ummed and ahhhed over whether to leave Esperance and try our luck at Lucky bay. In the end we decided to give it a go … and that will remain one of the more ridiculous decisions that we’ve ever made.
I mean, just check out this place! The “oh my god’s!” as we came over the last rise to see the colour of the water said it all.
We arrived here and just dropped the van. There were only 2 other vans here anyway, we virtually had the place to ourselves.
I do apologize sincerely for this post. Read on and be thoroughly green with envy at your peril. There’s a lot of pictures and ya just know that they’ll be terrible …
Well, almost to ourselves. There were a few roos hanging around the campground, including a mum and joey. They didn’t give two hoots that we were there setting up and just went about their grazing while we worked around them. We felt invisible.
The weather was being kind to us and we had nil wind and blue skies. Still the middle of winter, but quite warm in the sun nonetheless.
Blake and Hannah were gobsmacked by the beach. The whitest beach in Australia is not only white, but also really fine … just like talcum powder. Quite amazing … and we had the beach to ourselves. Not a soul in sight.
Once the van was secured we got our hiking gear on and set out to climb Frenchman’s Peak. This is a 262m high granite mountain. The climb up from the car park starts out easy enough, but you soon are scaling the rock face. Hannah was crawling up it in places. We all managed to get to the top, or so we thought. There is a little alcove near the top that looks to be about as far as you can go, but duck around the corner and … the most amazing rock formation awaits.
Lara Hanny?
There is a huge cavern on top of this mountain with openings at both ends so you can see all the way through it.
A bit further on still and you can climb atop the hat, so to speak. It’s really as though there’s a hat atop this mountain. The views were incredible … and again we had the place to ourselves. There is a geocache up on top which I managed to snag after a bit of scrambling around.
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After the climb, we went back to the van and completed the setup and had some lunch and a bit of a relax. Being restless, I’d read about the Great Coastal Walk that linked all the bays together in Cape Legrand National Park. I figured that I could fit a section or two in before sunset so got Kel to drop me off at Hellfire Bay.
The first section to Twilight Cove was supposed to take about 2.5 hours, but I figured I’d be a bit quicker than that and may be able to also squeeze in the extra leg and make it all the way back to Lucky Bay.
I found a geocache along the way at Little Hellfire Bay and then started the climb up the first peak … I didn’t know it at the time, but this was to be a hard walk by any standard. Mostly on a hard rock base and scrambling from marker to marker the whole way. The scenery was spectacular and it was pretty obvious that nobody had done the walk for awhile. Plenty of overgrown bits and cobwebs.
Little Hellfire Bay
I got to the top of the first peak and was grateful as there was a long downhill bit leading to a small bay. I was cooking in the afternoon sun by this point so a very short dip in the icy water restored some balance. Around the next corner though I was dismayed to find the markers leading up an even higher peak … doh! Past the halfway mark meant that there really was only one way to go and that was up.
Atop the second peak I could see a stunning white beach. Lucky Bay, I thought … but no. This was the beginnings of Twilight Cove. Kel called me on the radio as the light was starting to fade, wondering if I needed a pickup. Twilight Cove was only about 3km from the van, but with sunset upon me there wasn’t much option.
Twilight Cove
I got to the far end of Twilight Cove’s kilometre of pristine beach just as Kel arrived at the other end. We both walked along and met in the middle. Another huge spectacular beach that we had all to ourselves … but this time without kids. A moment of blissful peace in a magic spot. We walked back to the car with my sore feet in the water having a look at the photos of the day … and taking a few more! This is truly a magic part of the world.
Birthday dinner was a pair of Fred Flintstone steaks for my darling wife and I, washed down with a 1999 Mitchelton Shiraz while the kids had to make do with some gourmet snags. All finished off with a white chocolate mud cake, coffee and port. Sleep was delivered thanks to the gentle sounds of the waves lapping the shore. Who said camping meant roughing it?
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