Hopetoun Fishing

We called into Hopetoun to catch up with friends Rusty & Val.

Rusty asked if we would like to go fishing?

Now what religion is this new Pope bloke ???

We beat the sunrise down to the groyne & the sea looked "calmish".....

Now as we were going 20 nautical miles out into the Southern Ocean...

"there'll be a bit of a swell, but that's o.k." ! 

Now 3 plus metre swells that were travelling at 

12 to 15 knots were o.k. ?????

Anyway the fishing was fun but the results so-so.

What made it exceptional for us was the visits 

from the not so Shy Albatrosses.

With a wing span of between 7 to 8 ft 

it's an awesome sight to see them coming into land!

Does having these magnificent birds waiting for some more

 bits of bait to "fall off" the back of the boat classify

 as hand feeding them?They also managed to score 

a couple of Sargent Baker's which they scoffed down whole.

We moved off to try a different spot and they would turn up again.

A wonderful experience... 

We also had a visit from a group of Great Winged Petrels.

They would stick their heads under water to see what was about..

When we finished we chucked the left  over bait to them...

that was fun to watch them squabble.

Then we "surfed the swells" back to Hopetoun.

Thanks again Rusty, and he got us back in time

 to watch the Malaysian Grand Prix..

How good was that !!!!!

Stokes Inlet

After moving on from Esperance and not going to stay at Cape Arid..

we decided to go to another place that we always pass and say we would go to!

Stokes Inlet is a National Park with great facilities!!

After the first night of a hurricane strength winds we awoke to a millpond!

You can see from the Sea Foam what had occurred the night before..

is this a fish or a rock!!!

Stephen was the hunter and gatherer for the day..

all mine were under size..

3 King George Whiting and 3 Black Bream!!

Stonehenge

After three trips to the area we eventually found that the New Stonehenge was open.

Stephen had  met the owners while at George Day and we reintroduced ourselves.

In my old photo album there is a picture of me on the Alter Stone at Stonehenge.

Stephen thought it would be great to get me on the new stone alter.

The Blue Circle of Stones. (Google it)

Made from locally quarried Red Granite it is a full sized reproduction.

Must do if you are down there.

We have offered our services so that the owners can go caravanning...

and they are thinking about it..

watch this space!!!!

Lucky Bay

Sitting at Lucky Bay deep in thought for 

a dear man by the name of David Gregg.

Time 10 am 19th March 2013.

RIP.

Could not think of a better place to be to say my goodbyes.

The other end of the Bay..

we had never got this far before but stunning is the only word.

Toby enjoyed the beach drive again...

he seems to relish the rides along the beach!

Round to Hellfire Bay.

You don't see this combo too often!!

Caught up with the girls again..

Stephen liked the symmetry of this photo!!

...and still he tries to get the light on the water...

just right...nearly with this one.

..and then this walked passed..

what can I say..

dream on!!!!!

And a photo for the girls album!

Cape Arid

After the rush across the Nullabor we rested up at Esperance 

and Erica and Sharon caught up with us.

We had intended to move out to Cape Arid 

but the weather had become an issue...

so instead we decided to go for a drive

 and we took the girls with us....

This is above Tagon Bay

Round to Thomas River

Sharon took this and we may use it as our new profile picture...

what do you think?

Looking down to the Thomas River.

Toby playing in the Sand Dunes.

Then on to Condingup for their famous Hamburgers

...and out to Wharton Beach at Duke of Orleans Bay.

He did have fun !!!

Across the Nullabor

From there there it was a quick stop at Fowlers Bay and 

again the weather was not good so off across the Nullabor...

We were lucky enough to get a fellow traveller to 

take a snap of both of us at No.3 lookout.

I'm hoping one day to get a picture of a glassy sea, not today...

Just before Border Village the coast changes &

 I couldn't resist this advancing cloud bank !

A quick stop at the Madura Pass Lookout 

it is such a vast plain below.

I don't know what the rock is smiling about, 

unless it is all the "Ladies Bare Bums" that he must have 

seen with all the Toilet Roses in front of him......

You really have to wonder about people!!!!

Another Sunrise on the Nullabor.....spicie isn't it!

This is our "pit stop" just past Fraser Range, 

first time we'd seen this much water in the lake. 

Obviously  there had been a lot of rain.

I had to make a quick photo stop on the road 

to get these photos of the magnificent trees

 with the advancing rain in the background.

It was a portent of the drive onto Esperance.

Streaky Bay Museum

At Streaky Bay we had heard that the Museum had a section 

on the amazing pioneer woman Daisy Bates. 

She had dedicated much of her life to helping Aboriginal people.

We had both read about her previously and for Alison the follow up was a "must do".

Talk about varying opinions......

At one stage she was married to Breaker Morant.

The museum had a great collection of early "stuff" from the Eyre Peninsular.

Cars, Trucks & Agricultural Equipment.

Also a Doctors Surgery complete with early medical equipment. 

And an early "Pine & Pug" house moved onto the site.

We don't realise how well we have it  today.

Visit to Venus Bay

We left Elliston & stopped at Venus Bay for a coffee with the Girls

as we had missed it o the previous trip.

It is a great spot that we will stay at next time.

I had to do a walk out onto the jetty for a few picies...

Just one of those photogenic spots !

Westall Loop and Point Labatt

On the Sunday Morning we awoke to a Sea Fog, 

it was an awesome show of light.

After a lovely breakfast at Mocean a local cafe, we headed off to

 Westall Loop for more of this spectacular coast.

From there it was a dive down to Point Labatt 

to the largest mainland Sea Lion colony in S.A.

This is our third visit here and Alison was out counting...

in the end she spotted 80, more than we have seen previously.

The slept, they played & they discussed "family matters"

I couldn't resist the play of light in the shallow water around this guy....

double click on it & see if you agree.

A wide angle shot of the colony.

Haven't I seen this shot twice before?

Bloody Hell this car has seen some sights !!!

Our N.B.F's Sharon & Erica came for dinner we made 

a fish pie with some of our Snapper,

 some of their Salmon & some Large Prawns...yummo.