Margaret, Albany, Esperance and everything inbetween! (Part 1)

Before I start my Blog this week I feel that I must mention a film, now I don't normally bother mentioning the movies I watch, as basically I doubt anyone cares! But this time I must warn you about a particular film, for it is so dreadfully awful, in fact really quite painful to watch, that I hope to save you all from the torture that is watching Highlander: The Source! I can honestly say that they are unlikely to be many worst films in existence and implore you to destroy every copy of it you ever see. My personal choice, would be to first smash it to tiny little pieces with a very large hammer, followed by some controlled, yet explosive burning, before finally burying it in the deepest hole imaginable that your strength can muster!

Now that my little rant has finished, I shall begin the blog (proper), which this time, is all about my little camping trip down to Esperance. Last Monday, Moby, I and Lou Reed began the drive down south, with a drop of food and plenty of beer (lots of diet coke too, like I could live without any). Guessing if you are reading this, then you already know who Moby is, so don't need to explain again (if you have forgotten, or our slightly confused, check my last blog entry). My first excursion was to the Valley of the Giants and the Tree Top Walk, the Giants, are basically some very large and extremely old Tingle and Karri trees. The Tree Top Walk, is a walkway through the crowns, or tops of the trees, which is quite interesting but the view is rather hampered by the fact that you are walking within the tree tops rather than above! I also had a quick stroll around the Ancient Empire Walkway, as had to make sure got my full $8 worth of entertainment, travelling has made me so tight! I then made a flying visit to Peaceful Bay, as in I drove to it, looked, was disgusted that I had bothered to make the detour, and promptly left again, so continued my journey to Green Pool. A beautiful luncheon spot, and I was very tempted to go for a dip, but the temptation soon vanished after a quick toe dip affirmed how insanely cold the water is! I guess you shouldn't expect too much warmth from the Southern Ocean! I paid a brief visit to Madfish Bay and Waterfall Bay, the first was pleasant enough but the second just made me laugh, hardly a waterfall, if its only a foot tall, and that was after the recent heavy rainfall! My final destination for the day was to be camping spot for that evening, which I successfully drove past, and nearly made it a further 40 km, before realising my slight error of judgement, and made a quick u-turn. The road down to Shelley Beach, was something to be desired, but the dodging of the giant pot holes, while avoiding skidding on the sand, made for quite an experience! Shelley Beach, is and may remain for quite sometime, my favourite little camping spot! It is truly beautiful, it does only have 3 camping spots, a single chemical toilet, bbq, but no showers or drinking water as such, a stream does run down to the sea nearby! But when you can park up on the edge of the beach, looking across the ocean, they are few better spots!

I awoke in the morning to the Sun rising from the depths of the ocean, that is how it looks at least, and cooked my baked beans, a staple camping dietary need! I drove to another national park campsite, in an attempt to find a shower, but sadly failed, so headed off for the day, ever so slightly smellier than the previous day! My first stop for the day was the Torndirrup National Park, and Frenchman's Bay, which was nice, but rather dull really and quite smelly (the beach, not me, I blame the seaweed). I debated making a visit to Whaleworld, but decided I wasn't quite so keen to hear how they used to dismember the poor creatures and then boil down the blubber, so chickened out, I mean unlike anteaters, I rather like whales, so would prefer to see some that were alive and not in skeletal form! I then checked out the Blowholes, which were sadly inactive, as the waves were too small, although I successfully made a fool of myself, by stepping right up to the edge, before hearing the loud noise from below, and prompty falling backwards onto my bottom! After checking I was not spotted, I continued on to the Gap and Natural Bridge, the first of which, I'm a little confused by, as what is so special by a gap in the cliffs, the Natural Bridge was pretty cool, and definitely worth a look! Cable Beach (the blog pikkie), is also very pretty, and if it had been a little less windy, then would have made quite a beach for some sunbathing activity. I stopped by Misery Beach, and failed to see any beach at all, I think perhaps the sea had chosen to engulf it that day, so I made the trip to Isthmus Hill. It would or rather could have been a nice walk, but whoever decided to place a sign at the start warning me about the many tiger snakes along the way, successfully destroyed my fun, as I jumped at the slightest noise and practically ran back down, perhaps overkill, considering to this day, I have still never seen a wild snake in Oz! I then went to Albany, a popular tourist town in western Australia, why I don't know, as it's not even that nice a town. The only time I really spent there, was after struggling to find my required exit, and managing to go round the tourist drive twice, before making my escape! Before I did leave though, I made a few stops, including the Old Gaol, supposedly one of the oldest buildings in WA, but looked more like it was built yesterday, the full size Amity replica was tiny, Middleton Beach had far too much seaweed, Emu Point was alright and did have some showevers, sadly with no door, so I chose to pass, and the Mount Clarence Lookout, was a little disappointing on an overcast day! That may have seen a little rushed, but most of these stops, I didn't even consider it worthy of getting out the car. My final stop before vacating was the Princess Royal Fortress, it was nice to learn a bit of history, but it was also a little boring too! The highlight was when the Guard asked where I was from, as he claimed that my accent appeared to be from some strange foreign land, so after his guess of Swiss, I replied British, to recieve a look of utter disappointment, so perhaps I should be Swiss Jimmy henceforth. I then made the drive up to the Stirling Ranges, for my next campsite, the national park campsite was rather sad, and once again lacked showers, however this time the views were non-existent, so I braved the cost, a whole $10, and stayed at Mount Trio campsite, rather quaint bush camp, that had a kitchen and most importantlt HOT showers, proper toilet too, shame about all the flies (in the campsite, not the toilet I mean). I was fairly tired, and in typical camping style, was in bed by 9.30 pm, the darkness really does play havoc on one's body clock!

That is the end of Part 1, so please tune in again soon, for the enlightening part 2, in which I did go ever so slightly stir crazy!!!