Around this time last year Lucky Bay was a wonderful introduction to Western Australia so it seems only fitting that my last week or so in WA is back here at Lucky Bay. The camp host, Christopher, was also back here, and Richard, who I had met here, also made the journey from Perth. It was a bit like coming home!
And how spectacular it is! I’ve tried to capture the feeling with a new poem called simply, Lucky Bay.
First glimpse of Lucky Bay
Lucky Bay Western Australia
Love this beach!
Pristine beach and clear water at Lucky Bay, Western Australia
It was great having Richard camped nearby as we shared the cooking and ate our meals together – and Lucky Bay is certainly an experience you want to share. One of our neighbours launched Richard’s boat and we headed off on a fishing expedition one day. I wasn’t the champion fisherman this time. Actually neither Richard or I caught anything worth keeping but Rob, our companion, caught a decent size squid.
A friend of Richard’s, Jay, came from Esperance to camp for a couple of nights and took us out 4-wheel driving along Rossiters Bay and Dunn’s Beach and then up into the sand dunes. Just spectacular and something I’ve never experienced before. If you have a 4-wheel drive you can drive from Le Grande beach all the way back to Esperance on the beach,too.
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The sand at Lucky Bay and nearby beaches is pure white, and Lucky Bay didn’t disappoint, with the friendly kangaroos lolling on the beach and around the camp sites. One night a kangaroo polished off the remains of some very spicy salad dressing out of my bowl so I think their tastes are very cosmopolitan due to the number of people from all around the world that stop here. They were obviously comfortable enough to stop and feed the joey one night right under Richard’s table!
Time for a drink!
Richard had the view from his campsite so it was the meeting place for Happy Hour – nothing better than a glass of wine, a spectacular view, acrobatic New Holland Honeyeaters in the trees, and good conversation.
I fell in love at Lucky Bay
The camp at Cape Le Grande
Where the beach curves round to the Southern Sea
From Australia’s whitest sand.
Where kangaroos lay on the pristine beach
And gather around your camp site
And a lazy goanna wanders by
And a python might visit at night.
Where the air is filled with bird songs
As they flit between the trees
Seeking out the honey
They share with native bees.
Where the long white beach invites you in
It’s turquoise waters lapping the shore,
And the rocky islands beckon you
From the ink blue of the ocean floor.
Where the sun shines bright in a clear blue sky
And stars fill the black depths of night
And the lamps of the fishermen shine from the rocks
And the squid come up to the light.
Where your neighbours are from everywhere
Every corner of the earth
And the accents fly as they all enjoy
The sun, the sand and the surf.
Where the coffee van comes by each day
And parks right on the beach
But the rest of civilization
Is so far out of reach.
We’re 60ks from Esperance
No phone, no web, no news
But all of that is meaningless
When you dine with kangaroos.
At night you hear the gentle waves
As they roll upon the beach
And I think how lucky we all are
That Lucky Bay is within everyone’s reach.
Yes, I fell in love at Lucky Bay
I fell in love with WA.
After shopping for some supplies in Norseman I decided to head south towards the South-East Coast of Western Australia, with an overnight stop at Salmon Gums. (NO phone, NO internet). It is named after the beautiful salmon gum trees in the area.This is a small community run caravan park with hot showers, clean amenities, some powered sites and a laundry with washing machine. There was only one van there when I pulled in and no-one around but it wasn’t long before some caravanners, Bob and Carol, arrived. (No Ted and Alice!) It was only $5 for an unpowered site so I did some hand washing, hung it on the line and decided to stay.
There were no flies, which was a bonus, but there lots of little bitey ants. The next morning my washing wasn’t dry so I hung around and it wasn’t long before more vans pulled in. We all started chatting and I decided to stay for another night and enjoyed a great Happy Hour with new found friends. John and Helen were one of the other couples and Helen and I started talking blogging. Helen has a travel blog called www.magfowl.com which is really interesting.
It was Saturday when I left and headed to Esperance to stock up the cupboards and fill my gas cylinder to keep the fridge running. I shopped first – big mistake! After midday there is no-one that will fill a gas cylinder and the only changeovers available were 9kg and I needed a 4kg one. On the recommendation of a friendly customer in the last servo I went to looking for gas, I headed off the 65kms to a little place called Condingup. Yes, they would fill a gas bottle for me! I’m now on my way to Lucky Bay after a 130km round trip for gas. As I came over the crest of a hill Lucky Bay came into view and I thought, yes, this has been worth the hassle.
Coming in to Lucky Bay
The beaches along here have been voted the whitest sand beaches in Australia and it’s easy to see why. The pure white sand disappeared in to clear aqua waters, the bays curved towards rocky headlands, the Recherche Archipelago was just off-shore – it was picture postcard perfect. See what the WA Parks people have to say about Lucky Bay in the Cape Le Grand National Park here. There’s also some wonderful photos on this web-site and links to other bays in the area.
I enjoyed four beautiful days here for $6.60 per night (plus National Park fees). (NO phone, NO internet).There is a solar shower, a great camp kitchen and believe it or not a coffee van that sets up on the beach most days about 10 o’clock. John and Helen came to visit me while I was there and booked out of their Esperance Caravan Park and camped nearby at Cape Le Grande. My fitness neighbour, Richard, joined me for a walk along the beach one day and we shared Happy Hour that evening before I left the next day.
The other beautiful thing about this camp was the birds and I was really excited to see a stunning finch called a Red-eared Firetail. Typically I didn’t get a photo – all the birds I aim the lens at are extremely camera shy, but I found this one on the internet and can guarantee this is exactly what they look like.
As I was packing up my camp one of the camp ground kangaroos got upset with me and growled! Did you know they do that? I thought they only made Skippy noises and I got a hell of a fright. Anyhow, a few days later I wrote my first children’s poem called The Angry Kangaroo. I won’t include it here, but you will find it on the Poetry page of my blog.
Here are a couple of kangaroos that made themselves at home around the camp.
Lucky me – I had spent a wonderful four days in Lucky Bay!
all the birds I aim the lens at are extremely camera shy, but I found this one on the internet and can guarantee this is exactly what they look like.
The Snail Trail 