Down at the Duke

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Duke of Orleans Bay is situated between Cape Le Grand and Cape Arid National Parks. What we did not realise is that Duke of Orleans is quite close to Cape Le Grand and that half of Wharton Beach, the main beach we will play and explore, is actually part of the Cape Le Grand National Park. We are also so pleased that we took note of advice given to us regarding this spot as, WOW, it is more than we could have ever imagined. We are looking forward to playing in the water, driving on the beaches and exploring. The other advice one of our new/old friends shared with us, was that we should suck the marrow out of every day and not waste any time concerning ourselves with our return home. We think that is advice we are going to do our best in following.
 

E.C.S

Such beautiful flora. The only downside to this moment was that during the photography session Rob had an altercation with a march fly, the march fly won and Rob was left with an incredibly swollen right hand. Oh the lengths he goes to secure that perfect shot!

The beach we were blessed with.

This is looking back down onto Wharton Beach, from the cliffs protecting the bay from the prevailing south-easterly wind.

 We discovered that by the late afternoon we got to enjoy this beach almost all to ourselves and no-one in our family was ever in any rush to leave. We rediscovered the benefits of the eco pot as we would prepare dinner in the morning and let it cook during the day whilst we were out playing....too easy!! 

How beautiful!

The kids are absolutely loving boogie boarding. Timna has had a few issues with a new fear of sharks, but even her fear can't compete against the pull of this enchanting bay. 

It is such a hard life, time to catch up on some journal writing with a nice cold beer. It is while we are chilling out on the beach that we decide that perhaps we should just soak up the last of coastal WA here in Duke of Orleans and leave Kalgoorlie for another day on another trip. Linda accepts there will be no superpit and Robbie no first hole of the Nullarbor Golf Links. We all agree to stay here in Duke of Orleans for a total of 4 nights and the added bonus is we move into the unpowered section for 2 of those nights. Linda is so happy as she loves a basic bush camp experience. Anyway, the unreliability of the power in the powered section has been such that we had ended up running most things on battery or gas.  

Robbie looking very relaxed and pretty impressed. He was actually watching the boys out in the bay catching waves on their boogie boards. After a few lessons with Robbie the kids are now showing pretty good talent for reading the waves. This particular day we are  on the beach with far more people, and therefore cars, than on previous days. But with such a wide beach you hardly notice so you just have to be a little more careful when heading to or from the water.

This is not an optical illusion, Benj is really sitting in the drivers seat and yes he is actually driving, pedals and all. We think we made his holiday after this little experience along the beach. It was  not an unfamiliar sight seeing little people in the drivers seat along this beach. This was one time he was pretty pleased he was the oldest sibling in this family. 

The winds were blowing for pretty much the entire time we have been travelling through Western Australia, and Duke of Orleans Bay was no exception. We have been trying to capture the sand blowing off the dunes for weeks now, and we think we finally got it with this picture.

Our site in the unpowered section. We really felt like we were back in the bush alone as we were much further away from any neighbours. 

Looking back at the van from the sand dunes within the caravan park. The christmas tree in flower has been one of Rob's favourite trees of the west.

After a hard day at the beach followed by an exhausting effort of toasting marshmallows by the fire, Linda and Timna take a well deserved rest.

Some incredibly beautiful flowering gums.

Some interesting ground cover.

Not only live trees can be interesting and beautiful.

The morning we drive out of Duke of Orleans we prepare ourselves for the short westward travel back to Esperance, followed by 200klms north to Norseman and then the long haul east. Actually, we are all pretty excited at the prospect of crossing the Nullarbor. What is it going to look like, how long will it take and will it live up to its name; null = none,  arbor= trees?????