Cape Le Grande & Cape Arid by ground
The weather has been ‘interesting’ for a while now – windy, overcast and cool, with a little rain. Which made our first few days at Cape Le Grande a bit bland.
But our last day there was bright and cheerful, sunny and warm. We drove to Hellfire Bay then walked over to Little Hellfire Bay with our snorkelling gear. It was a beautiful snorkel – anyone who has been here would know how clear the water is and how white the sand. A paradise. Tim hunted for some greenlip abalone which we had lightly fried for lunch. We climbed Frenchman’s Peak in the afternoon and slept well that night…
Onto Cape Arid NP next. It is not that much further from Esperance – the entrance to the park is only about 100 km away – but far fewer people and it feels more remote. We only saw a couple of cars/other people in the four days we were there.
We camped down at Thomas Fishery, just near Cape Arid and Mt Arid. It was a fairly rugged track getting down there – the first time we’d really tested the camper trailer. And despite losing the handle from the jockey wheel, it was all good!
We had the campsite completely to ourselves and spent our time exploring the beaches and the coast, as well as the nearby ruins of Hill Springs - a short-lived farm/station at the turn of the century. The stories of the handful of people who tried to settle this area from the 1860s onwards has really fascinated me. Tim found a book for me in Esperance which is a locally written history of all of the early settlers of the Cape Arid/Israelite Bay area. It is woefully written, but I’ve still been captivated by the stories.
The country here is expansive. You need to stand somewhere and take a wide sweeping view to soak it all in. It is hard to capture in photos.
But our last day there was bright and cheerful, sunny and warm. We drove to Hellfire Bay then walked over to Little Hellfire Bay with our snorkelling gear. It was a beautiful snorkel – anyone who has been here would know how clear the water is and how white the sand. A paradise. Tim hunted for some greenlip abalone which we had lightly fried for lunch. We climbed Frenchman’s Peak in the afternoon and slept well that night…
Onto Cape Arid NP next. It is not that much further from Esperance – the entrance to the park is only about 100 km away – but far fewer people and it feels more remote. We only saw a couple of cars/other people in the four days we were there.
We camped down at Thomas Fishery, just near Cape Arid and Mt Arid. It was a fairly rugged track getting down there – the first time we’d really tested the camper trailer. And despite losing the handle from the jockey wheel, it was all good!
We had the campsite completely to ourselves and spent our time exploring the beaches and the coast, as well as the nearby ruins of Hill Springs - a short-lived farm/station at the turn of the century. The stories of the handful of people who tried to settle this area from the 1860s onwards has really fascinated me. Tim found a book for me in Esperance which is a locally written history of all of the early settlers of the Cape Arid/Israelite Bay area. It is woefully written, but I’ve still been captivated by the stories.
The country here is expansive. You need to stand somewhere and take a wide sweeping view to soak it all in. It is hard to capture in photos.
posted by Tim and Nic at
8:37 am
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