26th October to 29th October

Wednesday 26h October
A cold morning, but dry and overcast. Continued on the longest 'straight' road until coming to Balladonia RH. Known for the Skylab re-entry bits. Small museum there, quite interesting. They had no info on the Balladonia Track (south to Israelite Bay) which could have been a short cut for us and as there had been a lot of rain and storms forecast we played it safe and headed into Norseman. The Fraser Ranges just to the East of Norseman were beautiful and I was reminded of how unique the WA bush/forests are. Just love those trees. Eventually found The Pub in Norseman, It was rather depressing and had to go over the road to get a take away – at least we were allowed to bring it back to eat with a beer. Forecasts for storms and hail between Canarvon and Lancelin inland to Souhern Cross so we decided to head souh anyway. Michael had to go home so we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. Glen had told me of another of his little 'gems'. He is a mine of information when it comes to bush camping so we decided to check out this latest recommendation. About an hour south west of Norseman, but at least 50km of bumpy track. When we eventually spotted Peak Charles it was shrouded in a black rain cloud. Oh well, it will pass, and too far to go back at this stage. Was quite a statement of Syenite Rock (like granite but with less quartz). Managed to open up Djan in a break from the weather and grabbed a few snacks and drinks out of the fridge before taking shelter inside. Buckets of water. By the time it eased up again I had eaten too much cheese and biscuits to be bothered with cooking, besides I had found a packet of crisps inside and my bottle of ginger wine (what a combination) but still better than standing outside in the damp and cold to cook dinner. I think chauffeur would have appreciated a hot meal and about an hour later I wished I had made the effort. Oh well, we'd live. As we lay in bed with grumbling tummies we comforted ourselves with the thought of a cooked breakfast.
Thursday 27^th October
Bright blue skies, camped beside the magnificent outcrop of 651 metres of Peak Charles we were delighted, so were the flies – think they had been breeding like rabbits – worse than Tractor Beach in SA – even chauffeur resorted to putting on the bridal veil (fly net). Decided the Peak had to be climbed and as a few clouds had started drifting over quickly packed up and set off for he climb with rain jackets in tow. The views were worth putting up with wearing nets. Looking down into the campsite, Max and Djan looked very small surrounded by thousands of miles of bush and scrub – oh yes not forgetting the flies! Chauffeur had a dizzy spell, so we had to sit down and rest for a while – it will be a doctors check up for him when we get back. Stubborn as a donkey he insisted on continuing, which we did for a while, it was becoming more and more difficult to find the markers of the trail. We reached a point where I said no more, but the donkey continued without me taking with him the car keys. I decided it was too cold standing around near the top and started heading down. That is until I couldn't find the next marker so had to sit down and wait. Fortunately not for too long. Chauffeur had decided that the next part of the climb was too dangerous as the water running off the rock made things very slippery. We had to take shelter under a ledge at one point to let a heavy shower pass and several sections after that we had to squat down on our haunches and just let ourselves slide. Made sure chauffeur was infront of me so I could have a softer landing if things got out of control. By the time we reached the bottom we were ravenous and so were the flies. Bacon and eggs would have to wait. Trying to take a short cut back to the Coolgardie Esperance Highway we came to a sign “Track Impassable – sandy and boggy sections”. Bugger, that is the worse thing chauffeur needs to see, it is like a red rag to a bull. On we pushed – after I had declared I would not be helping if we got stuck. Of course we did get through, eventually. Plenty of boggy puddles to larger stretches of water crossings, but Max didn't hesitate once, he ploughed through without missing a beat. Phew! Just before the mainroad chauffeur aired up the tyres whilst I cooked us up a feast. Tummies feeling a lot happier we cruised down to Esperance. Haven't been here since the early 80's. The usual ports of call – info centre and groceries. Went out to Orleans Bay to check it out and stay the night. Fortunately for us with it being a long weekend there was space (only for Thursday though). Wasn't that impressed with the CP, although the coast is lovely.
Friday 28^th October
We had a mud map of all the DEC and Shire beaches and campsites so we set off to explore as many as possible. Made a mistake taking Merivale road instead of Fisheries thinking it was slightly shorter, well it is, but the condition of the road didn't make up for it. We went down that many tracks, and the beaches all just beautiful, it becomes a bit of a blurr. We ended up staying at Seal Cove. Very sheltered, nice level clearings, no flies, but a bit of a walk to the beach where chauffeur discovered the fish weren't hungry.
Saturday 29^th October
Checked out the tracks to either side of our camp. Definitely worth a revisit. Chatted to a lovely lady fishing who wasn't having any luck either. Whilst she and I were having a nattter Malcolm politely 'borrowed' her rod to see if he could tempt a salmon onto her lure. I was very impressed to learn this lady had been chased down by the ranger to be flown back to Perth to meet our “Lizzie”. She is the author and illustrator of a book that was presented to the Royals and got to speak to them in person, a painter of wildflowers. Chauffeur had no luck with the rod so handed it back and we headed East to Israelite Bay. I have often looked at this place on maps and was very curious about it. Now we're here I have to say I'm a bit disappointed. What a treck to get here. Horrible track, bit of getting muddled around the lake area and discovering a rabbit warren of tracks once we got to the coast. It must have been a good 2 hours to do 60kms. The beach is nothing to write home about, lots and lots of seaweed. There is a huge telegraph station ruin, which is interesting. Will stay the night as it is a bit late in the day to make the return comfortably in daylight – plus being a long weekend it might be hard to find a bush camp between here and Esperance. Guess what – the flies have followed us.