Albany to Esperance and Fraser Range Station

Albany to Esperance was a five hour car ride - our first real long one.  The children were great in the car, mostly as they wanted to go to an actual campsite with the possibility of children in (WA school holiday had just started) and they wanted to get there asap - unlike myself... but it's not all about me (apparently!).

Our Albany to Esperance car ride was the first time that we actually took advantage of the time in the car with a bit of homeschooling.  Spelling, times tables and collective nouns really broke up the journey and to be honest I don't even think they realised they were learning - will do this again as it'll take the pressure off of schooling upon arrival.

The beaches are amazing, the coastline breathtaking......but more importantly, at the caravan park; the showers are hot - simple pleasures!  Although it's been raining pretty much since we've been here and we really are keen to head North again to warm up.

Lucky Bay Esperance

The whitest of white sand

Esperance Coastline

Kids just being kids

We went fishing at Salmons beach one morning, we didn't catch any salmon....BUT we did spot of the the children's school friends dads cycling past!!  Hubby looked up and thought 'That guy looks like Jim....Then.... "OMG it IS Jim!!!" Small world!  Jim and family were here for the school holidays and we said we'd catch up for a drink that night. The children were stoked.  Not only could they finally meet up with some children, they were children they knew!

That afternoon, we set off for Lucky Bay which is a 'must' for visitors of the area. It was some way into the trip that I realised I needed to research a bit more before setting off!!  We had about two and a half hours before we were going to catch up with the family from school, so I suggested we 'pop' to see Lucky Bay before we got together.  Well!  It turns out it's about 70kms away!!  140 km 'round trip'.......that we thought we could 'fit in' before we caught up.......ANYWAY!!!!!!  (I think the long car ride from Albany to Esperance had given us a new perspective on distance!)

We spent a lovely night catching up with the family and it was nice to be able to have a chat, drink and relax with people we already knew.

Now whilst this is the most beautiful scenic coastline, I don't really feel we embraced it as much as we should have done due to the fact......we don't like the rain.  I know, I know, we 'need' it, but frankly...not for me.  But to me, it just makes everything look dreary.  Yes green the NEXT day, but on the day, dreary, so, we need to revisit this area when the sun is shining.

We were done with the cold and rain though and thought it time to head North.  We got the heads up from some fellow campers about at spot called Fraser Range Station and even though it was a bit off of our route, we headed there. 

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Fraser Range Station

Fraser Range Station

It felt good to be warm again and out in the middle of nowhere. It is a working sheep station of 437,000 acres. An amazing oasis at the beginning of the Nullabor Plain.  It was a 180kms round trip out of our way!  But when you are traveling the distances we are, what's a few kms out of your way??!  There was a nominal fee for the night - and you had to pay for your showers, but it still worked out cheaper than a normal caravan park.

Then we found out that Fraser Range Stations hosts the 6th hole of the Nullabor Links Golf Course, the longest golf course in the world! As luck would have it hubby had packed his and Master J's clubs (essential items for camping ...... apparently!)  And so we all headed out to play the hole.  It's a par 3 (It can be done in 3 strokes - for all you non golfers like myself)  I managed 7, hubby 5, Miss L 10, Master A 11.  BUT all those lessons paid off and Master J 'parred it'!  (is that an expression??)  He got it in three!! 

Master J scoring his Par

Golf outback style

The station gave him a free cap!  So excited.  So now of course our mission is to do the whole course, next stop Norseman for a hole, then Kambalda for two holes and then Kalgoorlie for another two there, where normally the course ends, but we started near the end so no doubt will have to finish next year when we revisit the Nullabor on our way back.

As mentioned before the Fraser Range Station is the sort of camping I love (children not so much) so, when they mentioned that they needed a couple to run it for a couple of months, it was tough to walk away. So we drove instead!! (Boom Boom! - Ha Ha!)

Next stop  Kambalda, Kalgoorlie and Niagara Dam.