Agate & coastal adventures
Back through Kalgoorlie, and south to the coast.
At Norseman, T fails to find gold dust, but the dendritic agates at the free fossicking site out of town are more than good for her. Another market stall pays for some stones to be shipped back east for future polishing.
Esperance has the first grassy campsite for what feels like a long while. The beaches along the WA south coast are renowned for their beauty. At Lucky Bay we play beach cricket. While T & D2 swim in the surf, D1 and I walk up the sands, and are flagged down by some stuck 4WD drivers. They have pretty much done everything wrong for beach driving: tires still fully inflated, front diff not functional (so only 2WD working), no recovery gear, no shovel, their towbar is rusted on and digging into the sand, and no idea of the tides. Very luckily, they are stranded above the tideline. Some locals pull them out. We climb a peak on the way home.
Now we head west along the coast. An overnighter in the Fitzgerald NP is illuminating. The flora here is really like nothing I've seen before, and is internationally significant.
Then to Bremer Bay, staying at another bush camp (Tozer's). This was farming land, which has reverted to bush. Another scuba diving day, this time with D1 in tow, to do a “try dive”. This went well, including an encounter with a pair of curious sea-lions. Bremer Bay is lovely, but the nearest decent shop is 200km away.