BT at Esperance WA

Submitted: Friday, Jan 14, 2005 at 14:06

ThreadID: 121724 Views:8518 Replies:4 FollowUps:2

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eff trucker

G'day everyone,

There seems to have been a bit of a BT invasion of this beautiful area of south eastern WA over the past couple of weeks. We went to stay over in the camping area at Cape le Grande National Park and the first bay was taken up by a 'Tracker from Queensland, so we tried bay 2, another Queenslander, another Bushtracker! And they weren't travelling together either. Unfortunately the campsite was full there so we tried the nearby Lucky Bay camping area in the park. Blow me down if there wasn't another one there and also from Queensland, as are we - that made four Qld 'Trackers in the one area. Might have to be some sort of a record. Seriously though this part of the coast is well worth a look. Fantastic turquoise water rolling onto beaches of squeeky white sand interspersed with granite headlands. Fortunately, Leigh and I are working here for a few weeks and will have a chance to get back to Cape le Grande for a better stay. Plenty of good fishing for those who like to do that, and some stunning scenery along the hiking trails in the area.

The past couple of days we have been out about 100 km to the west of Esperance to a place called Skippy Rock. No signs to let anyone know the place existed so we had the place to ourselves. The 21 foot van followed the Effie in the 7 km track off the access road (Springdale Road) to a very nice camping area with prepared sites big enough for us to get into. There was about 1 km of softish sand on the track in but we got through that without even having to drop the tyre pressure.

All along the coast between Esperance and west to Hopetoun, there are various points of access to camping near the beach. The nicest one we found on a day trip yesterday was at Masons Bay. Truely a beautifu place and quiet, safe place for the kids. Most sites at the free camping area allowed water views. If you are intending on heading over this way and want a little more information, let's know and I'll pass on anything I can. For a few photos of the area (photographer's paradise here) take a look at some I have posted at http://community.webshots.com/album/244834927PYECKg/1

Wherever you go, go safe

Pete

Efftrucker BT = Built Tough

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Reply By: Grumblebum & Dragon - Friday, Jan 14, 2005 at 22:43

Friday, Jan 14, 2005 at 22:43

G'Day Pete,

Good to hear you are enjoying our 'sandgroper' country down south. Enjoy the fishing - if you rock-hop whilst casting a line - beware the 'king waves' that frequently claim the lives of rock fishermen all along the SW coast line.

Enjoy

John and Jean

AnswerID: 565666

Reply By: The paca people - Saturday, Jan 15, 2005 at 01:29

Saturday, Jan 15, 2005 at 01:29

Hi Pete,

Just prior to Christmas, on the way back west on our "pick-up the new secondhand BT from the far East Coast trip", we too stopped off at Cape Le Grand NP camping area for 2 nights.
The temperature was a moderate (!) 45 deg C and we just lolled about in the bay with fly-screen hat, T shirt, bathers etc as the van temp was also 45 deg inside.

On the second evening Don & Shirley (did not get their last name) from Q'ld pulled in next to us in a 19' with F250. So BT's at Cape Le Grand is quite "normal".

Watch out for bushfires over here in the far west. Whilst we were at Cape LG, lightning started bushfires which were still burning out of control about 9 days later. Luckily there was no loss of life unlike the disaster in South Aust earlier this week.
Hope the P.M. jumps to with as much speed to provide some aid and nurture for the destroyed farmers in the fire district as he did for the overseas people who now want our military aid providers out of the country. Bring 'em home to help in S.A.

Pete, if you are passing up the Old Coast Road from Bunbury towards Perth then feel free to drop in at Rosedene Alpacas (backs onto Old Coast Road at Bouvard 25km south of Mandurah) to compare BT's and to swap stories.
Happy BT-ing,
Martin Bunny

AnswerID: 565667

Reply By: Bushtracker - Saturday, Jan 15, 2005 at 01:52

Saturday, Jan 15, 2005 at 01:52

You all make me jealous.... Wish one of you would take over for me at Bushtracker so I could go join you...

Keep up the good reports for us that can't get away so often... Ha!

Cheers, Bushtracker

AnswerID: 565668

Reply By: Motherhen & Rooster - Monday, Feb 07, 2005 at 04:46

Monday, Feb 07, 2005 at 04:46

So pleased to see you discovering the delights of WA. We have just returned from our first trip with the BT, and being January, looked for the cooler spots so skirted the coast to Cape Arid NP, then across the Nullabor and explored the Eyre Peninsula. We found Lucky Bay and Cape Le Grande camps full, so headed inland and camped in the bush for the night before heading up to Balladonia. As we're pulling with a Nissan Patrol 3ltr TD, we didn't tackle anything we thought might be sandy.

Who did we see near Esperance with a BT? On Tues 11 Jan, we were heading East around 70 k West of Esperance, and saw an Eastern State vehicle with BT heading West. Tried calling on Channel 40, but no response.

Motherhen

Red desert dreaming

Follow our travelogues, bush camping and other travel hints at www.australiasomuchtosee.com

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AnswerID: 565669

Follow Up By: MattandLana - Friday, Mar 25, 2005 at 20:52

Friday, Mar 25, 2005 at 20:52

Hiya Motherhen,

First: many, many thanks indeed for steering us to Bushtracker18's advert. I may have missed it otherwise because we were not actively looking for a second hand van due to the relative rarity of 4 berth setups. I'm flying to Brissie on Tuesday to inspect and I expect to buy it. You did us one big favour so: we owe you one!

Second: Re your calling the ES BT and not getting a response: we travel with a number of CBs. We have the built-in one in the car set to whatever channel we want to use to talk to our travelling companions, usually an "unusual" one so our idle chatter doesn't clutter the airwaves. But we also travel with handheld walkie-talkie UHF CBs for fun and safety when we are walking around in the bush, and we keep these switched on in the car, one on Ch 18 for caravanners and one on Ch 40 for the truckies. These things are cheap as chips - my inlaws just bought a 4-pack (four!!) of rechargeable ones for less than $100. It doesn't matter if they have bad range because you can just use them for listening, and the main car unit for responding. Better than the scan mode of the car unit because it can miss half or all of a transmission. (BTW if you do do this make sure you have the handhelds stowed in physically different places (eg. one in the centre console and one on the right corner of the dash) otherwise when they crackle you can't tell which unit (ie. which channel) just made the noise!!

Third: When we've got our new unit I'll get in touch and maybe we can meet up and compare BTs.

Matt and Lana

PS: So we buy the van. Now we have to decide do we leave it in Qld until I can get 2 weeks off work to go and collect it (fabulous trip but it would mean several months' wait) or do we whack in on a truck and so get it over here much sooner to use for weekenders!? Good dilemma to have.

FollowupID: 844224

Follow Up By: Motherhen & Rooster - Saturday, Mar 26, 2005 at 06:58

Saturday, Mar 26, 2005 at 06:58

Hi Matt & Lana - I'm sure you will be delighted with your purchase. Anthony is a technical wizard, and i'm sure you'll find the caravan better than new. Would love to catch up and compare vans when you get it.

When we decided to purchase ours, as soon as we found one that suited our layout requirements, i begged a few days off work to extend Easter (April last year), and off to Bundaberg. It took us four days to get there; started out each morning at first light, and stopped at dusk. Took a different route through Qld on the way back, and stopped to look around a bit more often and travelled a bit slower so it took us 6 days to get home.

We went on our first holiday in it January this year. We are now making all the modifications and getting all the gear we want for the next trip. Wish we could hit the road permanently.

Regards, Judy

Motherhen

Red desert dreaming

Follow our travelogues, bush camping and other travel hints at www.australiasomuchtosee.com

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FollowupID: 844225