Day 1 - peace
Awoke peacefully, with no one next to our camp spot. There was camping stuff there but no one to spoil the sound of the waves on the shore….
Got up and went over onto the long beach. The camp spot was at the west end of the beach, and then the white sand and rolling waves stretched into the distance heading west, Mmmm. We turned right towards the rocks at the end of the cove, where there were a few perfectly placed trees overhanging the sand where we put down towels in the shade while I read, and Darren snorkelled in the turquoise water.
Yes, it truly is like this. I had been to Esperance about 14 years before, and all I could remember was that it was the clearest water I had ever swum in, and had the whitest beaches. We were not disappointed.
In the afternoon we turned right towards the long stretch of beach, and we talked to a lone fisherman a little way down it. He was American, and he and Darren agreed to go abalone hunting sometime, as he had never had one.
Day 2 – peace shattered - our drunken neighbours
Today our neighbouring campers returned. We first encountered them on the beach at 10.30 in the morning, drinking with other campers and local friends. They were a couple, early 40s, and her 2 children. Both had dark tans, and were clearly sun worshippers with that leathery skin of the 70’s. Buoyed with beer, holiday mood and a natural affability for mankind, they called us over for a chat. They offered Darren a beer and we talked with them and their friends. It was clear they were pretty far gone already, and he said that their intention was to “get drunk today”. They worked 4 days on and 4 days off, her kids were down visiting from their father with whom they lived, and they were good times to be had! We were on our way for a walk around the headland where we had seen a number of 4 wheel drives going, and heard there was a beach beyond it. We tore ourselves away from the partying neighbours, and walked over the top of the headland following the car tracks and saw another fabulous beach to the west of it.
That evening Darren went for a drink with the American guy and his wife, and I stayed at ‘home’ to read.
Before Darren returned our drunken neighbours came back. They had been out partying at various friends’ camp sites all day. There was a thick hedge between them and us, but everything they said was clear as a bell. To say they were tipsy would be an understatement, to say drunk would also be an understatement – completely gone would be a polite way to put it, but fun was still being had. The two boys, 13 and 15(who had not been drinking), were fed while the music blared and then sent to bed (while the music blared). By about 11 o’clock the couple got into an argument full of misunderstandings as only drunken arguments can have. She went to the car for something. He (clearly accidentally) shut her foot in the door. She blamed him and said he did it on purpose. He was clearly sorry and a bit bemused by her anger. She still blamed him. She wouldn’t accept his apology so he got annoyed and said he was going to bed. She got annoyed by that and yelled at him and said she would sleep in the car. He was too far gone to care, and after 3 hilarious attempts to unzip the tent went to his tent. She slept in the car. Music went off at a ‘respectable’ 11.30 pm.
During this Darren came back to the caravan after his drink with the Americans, to find me giggling away while I over heard them – I couldn’t help hearing them. He joined me and we giggled on together till 11.30.
Day 3 – A blissful beach day (peace resumed)
Darren went snorkelling for Abalone early in the morning with his new American friend. I slumbered and listened to the camp next door slowly awakening with sore heads. He returned with 2 enormous abalone, which he thinly sliced then marinaded and gave one to the Americans to try. This stuff retails for $100s of dollars, and to get them off the seabed is amazing. Here is WA there are strict rules when and where you can get them, 2 should be within legal limits.
We had bought a beach shelter which I was dying to try out. For those of you in the UK, this is something you put up when you go to the beach but want to stay out of the sun. In the UK we have an inbuilt one called cloud cover – here you can’t rely on that.
We decided on a beach day and drove east down the beach. Fortunately we have our fridge in the car with us, so bringing lunch is an easy exercise. After a 15 minute drive down the beach we pitched our enormous beach shelter (2m x 2m) on the whitest sand imaginable. The waves were rolling in and we went for our first really proper Esperance-clearest-water-ever – swim. The nI read in the shade looking out at the ocean while Darren fished on the shore.
After lunch we went back to the camp, Darren went for a walk and I wrote some blog. Now you see why I am always behind! Later our neighbour (now sober) came by and said D was having an evening drink on the rocks by the ocean with them, so I hopped on the back of his quad bike and zipped off to where they were having a drink. First time on a quad bike, and not a camera in site! Shame.
That evening the music from next door was loud again, then suddenly fizzled out. Much to our amusement the next day we were told they had blown their CD player, as it had got wet in the rain that evening; the music from the car was a lot quiter!
Day 4 – 2 go on a long walk and the Mystery of the Hollow Rock
We had been told by some other campers that at the end of the beach we had seen on day 2, there was an enormous hollow rock you could stand up in. This seemed too good not to explore further, and today we set off to try and find it. It was a little overcast but we were hopeful it would not rain.
We made it safely around the headland, and were walking with a strong wind behind us up the second deserted beach. We turned round to survey the weather coming from the East and saw rain approaching us up the beach. There were no trees under which to take cover, the sand dunes were our only hope. They were steep dunes against the beach so Darren dragged me up them, and we sat huddled together with a dune behind us, and a towel over our heads, facing away from the oncoming rain. Pretty exciting stuff. I had visions of getting an hilarious 10 minute drenching while the storm went over. What happened was 2 minutes of rainfall, it seemed to peter out before it reached us; I was almost disappointed.
We resumed our walk feeling slightly foolish, and reaching the far end of the beach started to hunt for the boulder on the headland. There was an enormous smooth ledge of rock that sloped out into the sea, with a few boulders on it, and behind it, further inland, a slope of more boulders and vegetation. We explored the smooth rock first, which was deceptive in size. As we moved around the edge of the headland, more smooth rock with boulders on revealed itself. It had been described as standing by itself, and if it was big enough to stand in, I figured the rocks near the sea were jus too small. We went to where there was a mix of vegetation and boulders. I was determined NOT to give up, when at last after much peering into holes of rocks I spotted a boulder about 10 ft high with a smallish hole at it’s base.
Darren went in first, until all I could see were the bottom of his legs as he stood in the rock. Hilarious! You couldn’t make this stuff up! I crawled in to find a very roomy cave, about 6ft in diameter, and 8 ft high. This is a truly hollow boulder – wish I had been near it when the rain came.
We had been told about it, but imagine just coming across it!
‘How? When? Why?’ Are a few questions that come to mind when you are standing in a boulder, along with, ‘I hope it doesn’t collapse now…’
Another ‘crazy but true’ story from WA.
That night the loud music from our neighbours was deafening in it’s silence... Much to our amusement the next day, we were told they had blown their CD player, as it had got wet in the rain that evening and would no longer work. Ah well a third night of 80’s best perhaps would have been a bit of a trial…
Day 5 – mercifully quiet, our drunken neighbours left for home, but not before Darren had taken the two boys fishing in the morning – Awww, bless.
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