South: Esperance to Gibson’s Soak

Today was cloudy and misty, the sort of weather that happens close to the sea. I noticed yesterday that a coffee van parks outside of the caravan park, so after having a shower I walked to the gate for a coffee to have with breakfast.

Yesterday evening, with the Winnie once more on park water we went to turn on the electric hot water system only to find that it was already on. Yikes! We were plugged in the evening before but had left the water hose off because of the leaking. We have heard that we must have water on, either the pump or park water or we would burn out the element. I have argued that because the hot water tank is usually full, it gives the element a bit of protection should we be silly enough to forget. But, I didn’t expect the protection to last overnight and part of the next day.

We were lucky, the water was hot and I also used the water heater this morning, so all is well. We have decided to unplug the heater when not using it as an additional safety measure. It can be switched off inside it’s little panel as well.

We left our $45 per night campsite, thinking that it was mainly worth the money the first night when we had a view of the beach. Anyway, there are five caravan parks in Esperance, but no free camping unless you travel 21 kms up the Norseman road to Gibson’s Soak, where we are spending the night before heading off for the Stirling Ranges tomorrow. We will have a night in Ravensthorpe on the way.

We began by heading up to a local tourist attraction, a modern Stonehenge, based on the original. It is on a farm just outside of Esperance.

The owner told Stephen that they are sometimes quite overwhelmed by visitors, and it was pretty busy whilst we were there. It was hard to get photos without people in them, including us😊

Our next port of call was on our way here, Helms Arboretum. It was beautiful, especially the picnic area, mainly because of the pine smell and wonderful, echoing birdsong. I have a little video that needs processing before I can post it. I took it more for the sounds than the visual. Anyway, we do have a photo:

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e had lunch and a rest, then drove here for our overnight stay. It is a large area where self contained RVs can park for free next door to a hotel. There are public toilets available even though there is a local shire requirement that we be fully self contained. The forecast for tomorrow is 36 degrees, fortunately today has remained cool even as the sun came out this afternoon.