So after packing up and saying our goodbyes to the Ellis's and the 'Hard-Firms' we took off to continue our journey with the Cronans to Esperance. We were all so excited as we got closer, well l was!! Esperance is a place l had been forever dreaming about visiting, the pictures of the blue water and white sand looked just magical. We were on the outskirts of town when we passed the pink lake, what a fantastic shade of pink it was too. We couldnt stop this time due to our excitement of getting to our new camp spot which was to be at Cape Le Grande NP. We had been told by some fellow travellers that our chances of getting a spot was slim due to it being the peak season and you had to be lined up first thing in the morning to even come close to being lucky. We were feeling lucky though, so we were going to take our chances. If we couldnt get in then we were up s*** creek because everywhere else was booked out and there were no real close free camps, so this was a pretty big gamble.
We arrived in town, which was not what l picutred. Smaller than l thought but had the small town cosy feel which was good. We arrived at the Info Centre, and when l saw Nikki get out of the car l knew that she was a little tense. Little did l know that l would see it fly in a matter of moments. The chick in the info centre was rude and grumpy which didnt help the situation when the Cronan kids decided to play up a little. Before l knew it l was shaking in my boots when Nikki let go of her 'Cranky Cronan' voice. In a matter of seconds she had instructed the kids to sit in each corner, which they did very fast, and then turned to the grumpy info lady and continued to discuss the camping permits in a very sweet voice. Think the info lady became very helpful once she witnessed what trouble Nik could be for her!! LOL. The info lady too told us it was very slim that we would get a spot, lead alone two, at the NP. After a little chat Nik and l decided we had nothing to lose and to continue with our plans.
We both took off separately to get some supplies and our WA parks pass ($80- valid for one year to all NP in WA so not too bad value for money) and meet at the petrol station in an hour before making our way out to Cape Le Grande.
As we drove out l was praying that we would get a spot. When we arrived at the gates of Cape Le Grande NP we were informed that there were two spots available at Lucky Bay Campground. Hows that for luck!!! We were ecstatic to say the least and l think we deafened that lady with our screams of joy!! As we pushed onwards, we drove over this hill to be greeted with the most amazing picturesque paradise l have ever witnessed. The ocean was as blue as blue and the sand the whitest l have ever seen. The girls started yahooing with excitement as they realised this was our new camp spot for a while. Just paradise!!!
The camp grounds looked great, well spaced out and at $20 p.n it was great value for money, especially with the views we were going to be treated with. The facilities were good also with flushing toilets and solar powered heated showers. The campgrounds man directed us into our sites, which were opposite one another which was good. The sites had great views of the ocean and had a staircase leading down to the beach. There were plenty of trees around for shade and even a picnic table close which would be good to watch the day pass away while we did some school maybe? We had to wait for a couple of late leavers but that didnt matter, l stood in awe at the view and basked in the magic.
After we were set up we all packed our swimming and snorkelling gear and headed down to the beach. The kids were so excited to be near the water, been a while since we had stayed near the beach, think Perlubie was the last stop? Everyone got their snorkelling gear on and headed into the water where we were greeted with an undersea village of bright fish and starfish. We stayed in for what seemed like an hour or so, searching for the next colorful sea creature. The girls were screaming with delight over the huge bright red starfish gripping onto the rocks. Biggest and brightest l have ever seen in the ocean. After the kids had enough in the water it was time for them to explore the huge rocks. Kids always love climbing and seeing how far they can get up high. They decided to copy a few of the local aboriginal kids by jumping off these metre plus high rocks into the water. I had checked the depth prior seeing l am always such a p**** with that sort of thing. As our kids continued to plummet into the water with delight l sat and watched with curiosity as this family of aboriginals were scavenging the rocks and picking up loads of what looked like sea snails. Me being the shy person l am decided to head over and ask the woman what they were and what they did with them. Apparently they are called periwinkles and they take the shell off them and cook them up and put vinegar on them, delicious she reckoned. After relaxing by this amazing gallery of nature it was time to head back to camp and think about dinner. The kids were nowhere to be seen, off exploring around the campsite. Now this is what l envision life should be for our girls. In one with nature and enjoying what it offers. Eventually they came back to inform us that there were heaps of kangaroos around and that they had found an awesome big tree to climb... now they couldnt have gotten this at home. As the day came to a close l didnt think l could have been treated anymore, but then the sunset came upon us. OMG!!! Unbelievable. The colours were spectacular. Definitely no photoshop required here!! What was the funniest thing of the day was that everytime Marty went near one of the hundreds of kangaroos around camp, they would growl at him. Flipping hilarious, but dont think Marty was too impressed, think he had a complex by the end of it......lol.
Next day we decided to head over to the famous 'Squeky Beach' at Hellsfire Bay. Wasnt too far away, and when we arrived l couldnt have thought that there would be a better beach than what we were treated to yesterday at Lucky Bay. Boy was l wrong. The sand was straining to the eyes if you didnt have your sunnies on, it was so bright and white. Fine as dust too. When you ran across it digging you front foot into the sand quickly it made that famous squek noise. Charlotte and Meg thought it was great, but it soon became annoying to the ears like nails down a chalkboard. The water was a lovely light turqoise and so clear. The surrounding boulders around the bay were covered with mineral stains of bright orange. Just beautiful, no other way to describe it. We all headed in for a swim even though it wasnt the warmest of days. Lets just say it was refreshing! Matty, Wil and Harry went straight into body boarding on the small waves. Seeing l had never given it a go, Matty tried to teach me. After a number of sinkings l have come to the conclusion that some people arent born to body surf!!! Think l gave the tourists something to giggle about for sure. The girls had a ball making their mud/sand cakes on the beach. We enjoyed peace sunbaking for a while. When everyone had had enough, we all drove back towards camp but called into Thistle Cove on the way. Its nicknamed 'Whistling Rocks' because of the noise it makes when the wind blasts through some cracks. Pretty cool. Kids couldnt have given a hoot, they just wanted to climb it. We drove into check out Cape Le Grande and when driving on the beach we saw these two kids running about. We were shocked to see it was Jordan and little Zachy. They took us into the campgrounds and showed us where everyone was set up. Ellis's and Hard-Firms were stoked to see us as we were to see them. They had just arrived and were setting up still. Arranged for them to come over to our camp and meet us at the beach in the arvo for a swim. We got back to camp and had some lunch and lazed around for a little. Definatley love this side to life, chilling out and reading a book. The kids however just wanted to head down to the rocks and snorkel again so off we went with all the gear again. Wasnt long before the others turned up. So good to meet these fantastic people on this trip. Have really made some life long friends. Plus they came with grog, so was a nice place to have a few and have some laughs with great mates. Funny how all the kids get along and play together, all split off in their groups, which change all the time too.
Day three at Lucky Bay was a bit hit and miss. Quite stormy in the morning with thunder around. Meg started off a bit scared but lightened up in the end. By late morning the storm had passed thru, but not enough that the beach would be any good. So it was back to reality a little. There was no reception out at the camping ground and we were starting to have to think about jobs and where we were going to settle for a little. Hence, we needed reception to do some research and start putting our name out there with our resumes. So we decided it would be a great day to head back into Esperance to do some research and we bribed the kids with chip sangas for lunch if they were good. After the boring stuff was done we headed to the wharf for our chip sangas. Along with the seagulls, the Cronans, Ellis's and Hard-Firms ended up finding us as well. The weather had started to get a little better, clouds were disappearing and no sign of rain on the horizon. So after lunch, the Cronans and us set off to do the beach drive. Such a lovely drive it was too. Around every bend and corner there is an awesome beach with that famous blue/turquoise water and white sand. The drive took us around an hour by the time we got out for happy snaps. The last stop was to check out the Pink Lake, which wasn't so pink due to the clouds back again :( Still had a few glimpses of the color for a few seconds but not enough to catch it on camera. Apparently it gets its color from the high salt content, amazing how nature and chemistry work..... The kids had done well sitting in the car for a while so we decided to head down the foreshore of the main beach cause the kids had been nagging us about jumping off the jetty and swimming over to the pontoon. Now this was no ordinary pontoon, it had a water slide on it!! After a bit of coxing, Charlotte and Wil were first in. Meg climbed down the ladder on the jetty, braving the swim out to the pontoon in her lifejacket. Emma and Hazza were last in but were the quickest to get over to the pontoon. Kids had a blast going up and down the slide, no sign of sharks so that was good. After a fun day, kids were a bit worn out so back at camp they ended up just chilling out while the adults enjoyed a wine or two......
Another day of rain and storms predicted for our forth day at Lucky Bay. Nik and l couldn't be bothered hanging out in the vans with the kids, so after breaky we got organised to go for a hike together. We decided on tackling the 4km trek to Thistle Cove, meant to be a medium difficulty walk with some awesome views along the way. Half way on the walk, after already passing some cool cliff edges, high friendship rock stacks and endless ocean views it started to rain lightly. Niks phone then rang, and you guessed it, we got caught talking to Amanda Woods on top of the rocks in the rain. We did get some shelter under a small shrub which only kept half of us dry. Still it was great to catch up with her, feels like forever since we saw them. After the rain passed, we headed off again and made it to Thistle Cove lookout. We both stood and soaked up the glorious views without the noise of kids in the background, a very rare moment when travelling these days. All in all, a great walk, glad we did it. Good to be out in the great outdoors. The rest of the day was ordinary weather wise. We had a lazy arvo tackling some much needed school as we had been a bit slack for the last few days. Then later on l took all the kids down to for a boogie board at the beach. It looked awesome with the fluoro pink rashes against the clear turquoise water. The kids were catching some awesome waves. They really are great kids. If only you could have seen the awesome big sand sculptures they did on the beach. Hazza took charge in leading the kids and instructing them of their jobs. The shark was so cool, great teamwork shown by the kids too. All in all, another great day in Lucky Bay!!!
Sadly today is the last day in paradise. Started off with conquering my C25K run all along the beach to the other side and back, another place on my bucket list that l wanted to run on with the Nullabor!!! Running on the beach wasn't too bad either, lucky for me there was hard sand. After the run it was school time again and the kids did well, surprisingly seeing all they wanted to do was play. The weather unfortunately was again poor with clouds and coolish winds. Our first two days were the only good ones, but so glad we got to do some snorkelling. We also knew that this might happen and were already mentally prepared to face the poor weather in a great location. All the boys decided to try some fishing off the rocks which left only the girls at camp, nice and quiet....... No luck for the boys though, no fish on the menu tonight :( I still hadn't managed to take my camera down on the beach to get that famous "kangaroo on the beach" pic that advertises WA. So off l went in search of it. Guess what? This is such a Lucky Bay. Got that magical photo of kangaroo lying on the white sand with that amazing water in the background. I was so excited. Just my luck that there were a few kangaroos down on the beach when l got there, because after a little while heaps of backpackers came down and frightened them off trying to pat them. They just cant stand and watch can they? Always trying to get that bit more out of everything... Anyway, happy that l have my photo that l was hoping for. After my peaceful walk back to camp it was time to head over to Cape La Grande campgrounds to have dinner with the Ellis's and Hard-Firms. When we arrived and had a few quiet ones we all headed down to the beach to watch the sunset and for the kids to do their concert. Yes, another bloody concert. These kids are obsessed with performing together. I suppose its not that bad, they learn a lot of things while having fun and putting themselves out in the spotlight as well. Pity we left it a bit late for the concert and it was too dark after we got all our sunset photos, so we moved the concert back to the campgrounds. Cooked up some snags and sat back and enjoyed the show. Great way to end our stay in Esperance. Food, friends and a show.......

Bell Xxx