March fly massacre at Membinup

As we were still loaded up with supplies for the proposed, but non-eventual, fortnight bush camping in Cape Arid we decided to try another free beach camping spot on our way back to Esperance. Membinup offered secluded camping spots behind the dunes of a large sweeping bay. Only half of it had weed on it so there was plenty of beach to enjoy. Alas the fierce March flys we had encountered at Cape Arid had followed us out and were even more vicious. Not sure if it is just a coincidence that it is the month of March and the March flies are the worst they have been since coming to WA. There are heaps of them and once they decide they want to bite you they are very persistent. We have all become very skilled at killing them with a swift slap. Jackson actually stalks them if they try to fly away and both kids rejoice in killing one, usually proudly carrying it by its wings to show either Daniel or I. Repellent works but as soon as you have a swim the 'Marchies' attacked you on the walk back to camp. We all did some funny slapping runs back to camp to try to get away from them.

Anyway other than the March flies it was a great spot and we stayed four nights. In that time we:

- went to the nearby Condingup pub for lunch on a cloudy miserable day.

- drove on the beach to a nearby inlet and played in the warmer water.

- feasted on large green lip abalone that Daniel collected.

- explored the many rock pools on the way to a secluded bay west of camp.

- spent an hilarious afternoon running from the waves then swimming in the clear turquoise water (Emilia is getting very confident in the waves and kept playing even after a quite a few dunkings).

There were some great tea-trees to climb in near camp and the kids enjoyed playing 'house' in the scrub. After so many busy days it was lovely to relax for a few days. We then headed to Esperance again as we all needed a shower!

The abalone haul from our time in Membinup (some awesome shells too)

What a nice spot for an early evening bath (our own secluded bay for a nudie wash).

Having fun with their toys in the warm shallow water of the inlet.

It was perfect to sail boats on.

Our over friendly visitor, a large Bungarra (watch out Barbie).

Our secluded campsite in the tea-trees.

The little track to the beach.

Jackson's bug friend.

Getting brave with the bug (apparently it was very ticklish!).

Wharton Beach (on the way towards Esperance) - amazingly beautiful.

All day on a boggy road..............our adventures in Cape Arid National Park.

The beaches of Cape Arid National Park have the potential to be some of the best in WA but unfortunately our visit coincided with some massive dumps of seaweed caused by abnormally large swells and strong southerly winds. The usually pristinely white sandy beaches and turquoise water were disappointedly covered with ribbon seaweed on all beach areas facing south. Luckily we were able to find a few lovely bays that only had seaweed on half of them but they were all a drive from our camp spot. We ended up only staying 3 nights as the weather was also not in our favour. We had cloudy, drizzly and windy days. We made the best of it though and used our time to thoroughly explore the park and take advantage of the many 4wd tracks available.

We checked out a few nearby beaches and whilst the kids and I played in the sand and Daniel snorkelled for abalone and a dolphin came close into the bay and did some huge jumps. It was very exciting to see. We also attempted the beach drive to Mt Arid (the only way to reach it), however with all the rain of the previous few days, coupled with high tides, the beach was very boggy and we stopped about halfway. Storm clouds were also coming towards us and I didn't fancy being bogged on a beach in a storm in a remote location!

That morning, whilst we were getting ready, the kids showed how much they had learnt from watching Daniel fillet fish. They were playing with toy lizards and picked up small sticks then started to 'fillet' the lizards. They remembered to scale them first then fillet them from tail up. They got very involved in their task and it was hilarious to watch (though a timely reminder that they are watching and learning from everything we do, good or bad!).

The next day was spent doing the 4wd track to remote Israelite Bay to see the ruins of a Post Office and Telegraph Station built in 1895. It took us over 2 hours on a very muddy, boggy road and I was grateful we had decided against bringing the van in, as was our first intention. The ruins & gravestones were interesting and we reflected on how challenging bringing up a family would have been in such an isolated place. Unfortunately the beaches were also covered in weed so we didn't stay long.

On our return journey we actually managed to get muddier as more cars had come in so the track seemed worse (to me anyway). The kids loved driving through the muddy puddles, especially when the filthy water splashed up to their windows! Whilst we were out and about we decided to continue exploring the park and ended up not getting back to camp until 6pm, after leaving at 9am. It was a crazy day but it satisfied us that we weren't missing anything if we left the next day. We awoke tired and sore from our long bumpy day in the car the day before so it was a slow and grumpy pack up. Cape Arid NP certainly has potential but the weather and weed meant we couldn't fully appreciate the natural wonders of the park (a return visit during whale and wildflower season would be great!). 

Walking down to Tagon Beach, where we saw the dolphin jump.

The waves were the perfect height for Emilia to frolic in.

Mt Arid in the distance (under the storm cloud), we decided not to risk getting bogged by driving any further.

'Filleting' their toy lizards - they have obviously been watching Daniel closely (check out Emilia's concentration).

Jackson getting right into 'filleting' his lizard (correctly starting from the bottom to get the fillet off!).

A salt lake on the way to Israelite Bay (and a mud splashed car).

Honeycomb from the many beehives in the old building (it still smelt like honey).

Checking out the old postal chutes (we still don't know who would have been posting letters in this isolated place!).

The extremely well preserved Postal and Telegraph Station (built 1895).

One of the many 'muddy puddles' on the 4wd track to Israelite Bay.

The burnt banksia (from the bushfire in Dec 2015) were a striking part of the landscape.

Poor kitty - a car wash is definitely needed!!

Stormy times in Esperance

And not just from the weather.....spending an extended period of time in a very overcrowded supermarket (mental note - don't do a big grocery shop on the Friday before a long weekend) then getting full stink eye and silent treatment from the checkout lady when I asked to pack my bags myself definitely created a stormy mood for me! 

We only stayed in Esperance for 3 nights to restock, shower, do laundry etc as we knew we would be back with Dave and Bec. It ended up being a very stormy weekend with a major downpour on both Friday and Saturday nights. The days were okay though and we managed (in between grocery shopping, welding the caravan spare wheel back on, doing several loads of washing and catching up on emails/phone calls/blog etc) to:

- spend a morning at the Adventureland Park, including a ride on the miniature railway which really impressed the kids.

- take advantage of the free jumping castles on the foreshore provided by the council for the long weekend.

- visit a few markets and eat the most amazing brownies both Daniel and I have ever tasted (couldn't believe they were gluten free).

- go to the Outta The Shed car show. A showcase of restored cars and bikes from around the state. There was a lot of ooohing an aaahing and a lot of self control needed from the kids (mainly Jackson) to refrain from touching the shiny vehicles.

- do the coastal drive, checking out Salmon and Twilight Beaches (you could see why this had previously won the best beach in Australia).

- head to a beachside cafe for a Sunday session of acoustic music, great food and local wine. 

By Sunday night we were exhausted and fully loaded up ready for two weeks in the rugged coastal wilderness of Cape Arid National Park before returning to the Esperance area to meet up with Dave, Bec, Xavier and Madi (we can't wait).

 

Excitement on the mini railway at Esperance

Into the tunnel....

....and happy once we had emerged.

 

Using the hired welder in the caravan park, don't know if thongs & shorts fit the safety requirements???

One of the best paint jobs at the car show.

Daniel in the background salivating over some of the Harleys.

Jackson and I loved this old Holden.

Admiring some of the islands off the coast of Esperance.

The gorgeous Twilight Beach

Twilight Beach - the sand was so fine and soft.


 

 

Sunday session in our flannelette shirts.  

Quaint art at Quagi

No wonder so many people recommended Quagi Beach to us (though no one could agree how to pronounce it). It was another protected bay with a rocky section perfect for fishing and exploring. The campsites were private and protected and we were lucky enough to get one with a great climbing tree that kept the kids entertained. The camp area even had flushing toilets and a cold bore water shower - luxury for us! 

Some regular campers have begun decorating the fences with shells, driftwood, fishing rope and anything else found on the beach. The fence on our camp was very well decorated and we enjoyed collecting treasures and adding our own 'art' to the fence. There was also a large piece of driftwood on a rocky section of the beach that had various items of beach junk hanging from it (including hats, thongs, floats, fishing nets etc). It all added to the appeal of this lovely place. 

Whilst at Quagi:

- Daniel (the hunter gatherer extraordinaire) had a lot of success in the ocean, getting a haul that included whiting, herring, abalone and a lobster. Again we ate like kings.

- We explored the nearby Stokes Inlet National Park, including Fanny Cove (a lovely protected bay), and the old Moir homestead. Most of the limestone buildings are still intact and it was interesting to walk through them. The highlight though was a huge fig tree at the front of the homestead. It was the most incredible tree we had ever seen, huge and with such an interesting exposed root system. Kangaroos grazed under the tree and bees hummed above from the many hives in the tree. It was a magical place.

- The kids and I spent a lot of time exploring the rock pools and fossicking in the sand collecting gorgeous shells to fill up the gin bottle.

- I had a few good boogie boards.

- We met a lovely family from NSW and we enjoyed chatting with them whilst the kids played. 

Another wonderful beach on the south coast, onwards to Esperance as we need food and a proper shower!

Scaling his first few of the day.

So many rock pools to explore

Please don't eat me!!!!!

The rocks were so interesting, smooth granite interspersed with black volcanic rock sections.

At the other end of the bay were these cute 'mermaid house' rocks (as Emilia described them)

A successful afternoon diving.

A short 4wd took us to these rocks out to deep water where Daniel fished while we collected shells.

 

Whatever it was, it was so big it broke the line.

A morning of art appreciation.

Feeling proud of their own art work.

The complete piece ' Treasures from the Bay'

Yeah, pretty cute. Emilia hurt her eye so Jackson helped her go for a walk!

Another wall of art at Quagi.

The gin bottle is nearly full of the gorgeous little shells we found.

The lovely friends the kids made, Ruby and Daisy.
 

Our fill of fish at Starvation Bay

Well we certainly didn't starve at Starvation Bay. Daniel and the kids had great success fishing and we had fresh whiting for dinner for several of the nights we stayed. They also caught a lot of herring, we ate some and kept the smaller ones for bait. Both kids had turns with Daniel fishing off the rocks and fishing from the kayak and they both beamed with excitement when they got to reel in a fish. 

Starvation Bay has lots of rocks and rock pools on one side and we found such wonderful, perfectly formed little shells around the rocky areas. We have decided to fill an glass gin bottle with all these colourful little shells so we spent lots of our time trying to find the most beautiful ones. I laughed every time one of the kids ran up to me with a shell yelling 'this is definitely going in the gin bottle'. 

We went exploring one day (when the wind picked up and our bay was a bit wild) and found a great waves beach. We spent an hilarious few hours trying to outsmart the waves and run just before they touched our toes. We all got very wet and had a heap of fun. Unfortunately our few hours ended in tears as Jackson had buried Emilia's favourite Barbie clothes in the sand (Barbie comes everywhere with us at the moment and she got changed into their bathers at the beach). Jackson then couldn't quite remember where he had buried them. After about half an hour of digging by all of us we gave up, with Jackson promising to get the crying Emilia 'new clothes just the same' when he went to the shop! The disasters of childhood :(

That same day we also found a gorgeous rocky bay with a perfect swimming area. We ended up coming back the next day (which was 39deg) and spent a few hours sitting in the cool, crystal clear water. 

After 5 wonderful nights we decided to move on to what is purported to be an even better beach about 50km down the road (though we had to backtrack 40km to go to a store as we have run out of some staples). The beaches along the south coast are certainly impressing us, with the most amazing ones apparently still to come. 

Playing chicken with the waves - the waves won!!

We had such a fun time running from some of the huge waves.

Even Barbie joined in.

Emilia's photo of Starvation Bay.

The rocky section of Starvation Bay after the storm.

The storm clouds contrasted against the bright blue sky.

Fishing for the big stuff (he had his line broken several times by some big fish but none made it in).

One of the secluded bays we found just near Starvation Bay, it was protected when it was windy back at camp.