4 Stray Katz: Sparkling on the beach for my 45th birthday

Esperance

Monday 30^th January – Wednesday 1^st February

We’d been camping remotely for a week, so our time in Esperance was mostly filled with boring, but necessary, jobs – grocery shopping, laundry, blogs, errands and work. We’d tried to get 3 nights so we weren’t so rushed but, unbeknownst to me, the end of school holidays does not mean the peak, busy times end in Esperance. Apparently the caravan parks here are just as busy when school holidays end, just with a different demographic of traveller (those without school age kids who don’t want to spend their holiday surrounded by children!) Other than the jobs and errands we squeezed in the following- haircuts (Emilia and I), massage (me- so good), fun at the skate park (Daniel and Jackson), coffee on the foreshore (Daniel and I), roller-skating until she had blisters (Emilia), scootering around the caravan park (Jackson) and enjoying the pool (all of us).

Coffee and cookies on the foreshore at Esperance after we walked/scootered/roller-skated in.

I was finally able to get an appointment at a hairdresser- my first haircut for the trip. I was starting to look like a wild woman!! A decent chop and a supermarket hair dye later, I started to look a bit more respectable!

Emilia also loved having her first haircut of the trip.

Cape Le Grand National Park

Wednesday 1^st February – Friday 3^rd February

We managed to get 2 nights at this extremely popular place (it is booked out for months in advance and you just have to hope people cancel!) so, although I didn’t want to have to pack up/set up the caravan on my birthday, it was worth it to get to stay in this incredible spot. The morning started with presents then a walk along the foreshore for coffee and bliss balls, followed by a delicious breakfast (cooked by Daniel) that I ate at the camp kitchen overlooking the beach – delightful.

**A funny thing happened when Jackson was cooking the bacon and eggs for Emilia and himself. Some travellers from Canada came up and asked Daniel if they could take a video of him as they thought it was so cool to see a child cooking a bbq. They narrated their video with ‘And here is an Aussie kid cooking on the barbecue’. Jackson thought it was hilarious. We bumped into them again when we were climbing Frenchman’s Peak later that afternoon and they called out ‘Here’s the chef- Hello again' much to our amusement!

Anyway back to my birthday…after breakfast we packed up and headed to Le Grand Beach campground. Whilst setting up we all got a good laugh as an emu in the nearby scrub kept popping his head up and down, like he was playing peek-a-boo. It was still a bit overcast so we decided to climb Frenchman’s Peak . After the climb up the steep, rocky mountain we enjoyed the uninterrupted views over the national park. We’d built up our appetites again, and the sun was now out, so were ready for an indulgent platter and sparkling wine on the beach. After filling up, the boys went for quick dive, I went for a swim and Emilia relaxed on the beach. That evening we went in to Condingup Tavern for a lovely dinner out. To finish off a great day we had chocolate cake when we got back to the van. It was certainly a wonderful birthday.

The next day, after we all went running/riding along the beach (and I had also had a quick dip) we went exploring some of the other beaches: Rossiter Bay, Lucky Bay, Thistle Cove and Hellfire Bay before spending the afternoon jumping waves at Le Grand beach (just a short stroll from our campsite). That evening we enjoyed watching the sunset while sitting on the warm rocks.

Before leaving the next morning Jackson, Daniel and I had one more swim as the sun was out and it was just too inviting. We left wishing we could have stayed longer – Cape Le Grand National Park is a very special, and extremely stunning, place (although there are lots of snakes- Emilia saw 3 in the 2 days we were there!).

My birthday presents from Daniel and the kids - a new beach towel from everyone, hair ties and peanut butter cups from Jackson, and Emilia designed and sewed me a bag, a keyring and a hanging basket (filled with chocolates and lollies).

Emilia is getting so skilled at sewing- she is very creative. I love the gifts she made for me.

Frenchman's Peak

We climbed up to the highest point, up the right hand side of the rock.

Climbing up the steep rock face to the top

Under one of the hollowed out areas near the top (these hollowed out areas and the big cave near the top were caused by waves eroding the rock millions of years ago when this area was underwater).

We made it to the top (it was super windy hence Jackson's pose!).

You could see right out to some of the many bays at Cape Le Grand NP

Chillin' on the rocks enjoying the view.

The steep climb down

Late birthday lunch - an indulgent platter and some sparkling wine.

Followed by a quick dip - the water just looked so inviting that I couldn't resist.

The beautiful Le Grand Beach- the perfect place to spend my birthday.

While we waited for our meals at the Condingup Tavern we played a few rounds of Jenga

Emilia was pretty excited when it fell down on Daniel (it usually falls on her turn!).

The monkey of the family couldn't resist climbing while waiting for his turn at Jenga.

Birthday dinner.....

...then cake back at the caravan (there are 2 cakes as the first packet mix we bought from the gluten free section was actually a regular cake mix that had been put on the wrong shelf. We didn't notice until Emilia had already made it. Daniel dashed back to the shops to get a GF one, so we ended up with two- not that anyone was complaining!).

One of the small bays we found when we explored Cape Le Grand NP. The kids had fun climbing on the rocks but had to judge the waves correctly to get back in to shore without getting too wet.

Rossiter Bay was covered in tiny bits of seaweed - it made excellent confetti!

Lucky Bay- view from the start of the walk to Thistle Cove that I did (the others took the car and picked me up).

Some of the incredible rock formations on the Coastal Trail.

The whistling rock near Thistle Cove- it captures, and intensifies, the sound of the wind and waves.

Thistle Cove- even though it was cold I couldn't resist having a swim.

Emilia and I are on the rock near shore at Thistle Cove (see previous picture). The boys are fishing off the rock behind us. Daniel got a giant herring.

Hellfire Bay - I was the only one that swam here as well. While they were waiting for me on the rocks a lady said, "Look at that crazy woman swimming in this weather!". Jackson proudly replied "That's my mum!!"