Secrets of Esperance

Curtin University shutdown for two weeks + summer weather = a Christmas backpacking tour down to Esperance and possibly one of the best vacations ever. I spent 6 days and 5 nights traveling around the southwestern corner of Western Australia in "Betsy."

Going on a tour over Christmas day, I was curious to see who else would join me. Turns out that awesome people go on tours on Christmas. There were 12 of us plus Sean, our fearless Freo tour guide/bus driver extraordinaire and expert in WA history, flora & fauna, and cider sipping guitar player (he even played James Tayor!). It was quite the international mix:

• 2 guys from Switzerland, one who had the best 80's playlist ever and the other who was expert trailer backing up director
• 1 girl from Denmark, who sat in front of me and put up with my terrible dancing and singing
• 1 girl from Belgium who lives in Sydney, affectionately known as Rudolph and who the mozzies loved
• 2 girls from Japan working here who were always willing to help with a giggle
• 2 engineers from Melbourne, a couple with one Italian and the other American who could share my perspective on all things non-American (like stranger danger!)
• 1 German on holiday who had the best time hiking up Bluff Knoll
• 1 Italian living in Perth on a working holiday visa but moving to Sydney who made a fantastic co-pilot
• 1 girl from the UK living in Melbourne with a love of cars and who introduced I Spy to the bus to entertain us
• and me, the American living in Perth. 

A week with these guys and I decided that I need to learn another language! But I did my job as the token American, sharing my country music, random Ludacris and Beyonce songs from my running playlist, and hosting the dance party in the back of the van.

All packed up before 6am at the Mount Trio bush camp (no campfires anywhere because of the bushfire risk, but there was still a campfire circle as a tease).

The festive A Team at the top of Frenchman's Peak at Cape Le Grande.

Since moving to Perth, I hadn't yet ventured out of the city limits. Sitting awestruck in the back of the van, I was able to take in the expansive Australian bush. We drove for hours, passing only a few cars and a few farm houses. The openness of the country is stunning. Through the window flashed, fields of wheat and pastures or sheep and cattle in the Wheat Belt of WA. The hills of the Stirling ranges, bright orange Christmas trees and grass trees dotted the scrub of the bush. There were hundreds of kilometers where the only turnoff's were gravel roads and everyone travels with extra cans of gasoline, should the next petrol station be a bit too far (or closed!). Out in the bush, fellow travelers look out for one another, waving as they pass, and aiding others who have had bad luck (we stopped for an accident to see if we could help)

At dawn and dusk, wild kangaroos and emus dotted the fields and pastures.  

The legendary rabbit proof fence.

 We only passed through a few SMALL, quiet towns like York, Esperance, Albany, Margaret River, and Denmark.

 York and Albany (no I wasn't in New York)

 We slept under the stars in swags. A swag is a canvas bag with a little mattress pad. Compared to tents, no assembly required. Just roll out and climb in with your sleeping bag. Sean warned us not to roll out our swags before we were ready to get into them, in case some creature decided to crawl in there first. When asked what kept things from crawling into them when we were in there, his reply was, "You do." While the days were filled with flies (so many and so annoying!) at night, with just my head poking out under the stars, I didn't have any problems with flying or crawling things, or get any kangaroo kisses. Without the ambient light from cities and towns, the stars are innumerable. I was finally able to find the Southern Cross in the sky. And seeing Orion's belt (Larisa!) in the sky reminded me I'm still looking at the same stars all my family and friends are looking at, even if it was upside down. 

 

Our days were spent hiking and playing on the most beautiful beaches. Life is tough. But I'll tell you all about that soon...

 Rockstars at Elephant Rocks.

  "Stranded" in Twilight Cove while Simone went to the emergency room when his foot lost a battle with the barnacles on the rock (he's ok). I could think of worse places to be stranded.