Good Morning Norseman!
Low 10°c (50°F) – High 16°c
(61°F)
A fairly quick packup this morning and unfortunately to get to
Esperance we had to drive back through Norseman again. It didn’t look any better in the morning
light.
Wind and rain, especially the wind, was the key highlight of today’s
200km journey and it was lucky we had left maybe just a little earlier than
usual because that wind kept getting stronger and stronger with me at times
sitting on 75km/hr because that was as fast you could travel without the van
getting a little sway up with the constant side wind trying to push us off the
road.
The red dirt gave way to a more yellow shade, the scrub became trees
and before we knew it we were back into pastures again. There are lots of little lakes, some with
water and some dry sand bed, all along this section. There were also acres of dead trees. It’s hard to tell if they were dead as a
result of bushfire or drought as there were only a few that appeared to be
blackened and some of the branches were very thin, I would have thought a
bushfire hot enough to kill a tree would have singed off those completely. But the trees make an eerie spectacle against
a stormy sky and in some areas stretched as far as the eye could see across the
landscape. The canola fields are so vivid when the sun comes out, which didn’t
happen often and is the main reason why there were very few photos along the
way. The rain just kept coming; at least
it gave the car a bit of a wash.
As we approached a little town called Grass Patch we noticed their
entry sign and immediately laughed and said “come on Margaret River – lift your
game!” and Grass Patch only had a combined Post Office and store and that was
pretty much it. Great sign though!
We pulled into Esperance at the RAC Caravan Park right on the shore to
find they were having their own experience with the rain – their entry area was
completely under water and I had to have a quiet chuckle to myself as they have
a car recharge point and it too was under water. Possibly not a good spot to charge your
electric vehicle today! I was sitting
waiting for Shane to check in, secretly hoping we wouldn’t be allocated a spot
way up the back of the park, and as luck would have it he returned to advise we
were going to be in the front row of the park.
The only thing between us and the ocean is a row of cabins but you can
see the ocean between them and even better – hear the waves. I love the sound of the ocean at night when
you are sleeping in a van.
After getting set up and having lunch and a much needed coffee, both of
us felt extremely tired and the aches and pains won. Shane’s back has been quite painful, as it
always does in cold weather, and so I encouraged him to take some painkillers
and lie down for a while. In the
meantime I nursed an aching hip which plays up from time to time, and sore
shoulders from fighting the wind for over 2 hours and just spent some relaxing
couch time looking through and getting photos ready to post.
The rain continued and the light was bad, so we decided to call it a
lost day and booked in for another night with the promise of slightly improved
weather tomorrow to look around the area.
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