Betten On Bike: DAY 80 - 28TH JUNE 2013

Day 80 – 28th June 2013 - Esperance – rest day

So pleased that we can have a quiet day – Walter is struggling – his legs are very sore and so understandably he is not in good spirits at all. He has cycled 4 big days in pretty awful weather and in not the most favourable of winds. Add to this the fact that he is still coughing after the flu he picked up whilst on the break in Perth and this is indeed a much needed rest day for him.

After organizing the laundry we detached the tent ‘room’, lock the bike inside it and decide to head off to do some sight seeing. Walter was keen on a visit to McDonalds for breakfast so we popped in there before heading off to drive the famous and very scenic 40 km Great Ocean Drive which is a loop that starts in the town and follows the Southern Ocean coastline.

“This 40km drive embraces Esperance’s spectacular shores, sending you on an enchanting journey of tranquil bays, soaring cliffs and giant granite boulders strewn across the landscape” Samille Michell, Journalist The Western Australian Travel 2007, I read from the brochure. Yes this sounds great Walter can rest during the drive and enjoy tranquil bays as we drive this lovely coast line stretch. Yes well said as it is all just as wonderful as the journalist describes. One of the beaches we stopped at Twilight Beach was voted the best Australian Beach of 2006 – it was stunning.

We stopped at many of the bays & beaches and enjoyed gazing out over the aqua blue Southern Ocean and seeing the incredibly white sandy beaches and high sheer steep green cliffs which hugged the coast in many places. We saw a pod of dolphins at Observatory Point and the protected waters of Ten Mile Beach Lagoon which we thought would be a great place to swim on a warmer day than today.

Then back via Pink Lake (‘Not Pink by the way’ )according to the brochure and a stop at Section Glass Gallery where we had a big chat to Annaka the young lady who told us that all the glass items we could see in the studio were all made on site using various sheets of glass and various firing methods to achieve the beautiful jewelry / plates and assorted items – well worth a visit.

In town we had a quick bite to eat and then another drive this time to the east about 65kms to visit Cape Le Grand National Park – we saw picturesque Lucky Bay (voted The Whitest Beach), Hellfire Bay and Thistle Cove. This really was a very untouched and pristine national park and the clear blue aqua waters combined with the squeaky white white sand was well worth the drive from Esperance.

I dropped Walter back at the camping ground so he could relax and rest for a few hours whilst I did a huge shop in preparation for our upcoming 1200 km journey across the Nullabor. Walter felt like Chinese for dinner so we drove into town in the evening for an early dinner – a very early night and hopefully Walter will be in a bit better spirits tomorrow.