-- From Albany to Norseman

On February first I left Cosy Corner by a sunny beautiful morning to visit Torndirrup NP, one of the seashore parks in the WA more visited. Indeed it conceals some beautiful natural sights, Natural Bridge, see the Gallery of pictures, The Gap and Blowholes. The most spectacular was Natural Bridge whose erosion continues and specialists envisage, in a few million years, its destruction to become a channel like The Gap. Blowholes make hear a horn noise intermittently when the sea is engulfed violently in the underground caves. Frenchman's Bay show a dramatic landscape.

I gave up this paradisiacal place with a turquoise sea to head to the close city Albany where according to the weekly practice I published pages of my website. After a frugal lunch I strolled in this strange city to stage on the neighbouring hills in sea front. Some buildings dating back to the 19th century remain duly restored. The best old building, as in other colonial cities, is the gaol built in 1852 by convicts.

At the end of the afternoon I drove towards Kalgan River at the edge of which a pleasant Caravan Park was.

While leaving Kalgan River Caravan Park I saw wallabies lazily lengthened in grass under trees. On the way towards Esperance I headed a detour to Bremer to consult my mailbox. I read a message from the consulate-general of France in Sydney announcing that my driving licenses, national & international, were arrived and that they were transferred to the consular agency in Adelaide where I could withdraw them as from February fifteenth.
I returned towards the South Coast Hwy to bivouac in Boxwood Hill at the intersection of the roads. It was a rainy day without interruption. I noted that the work of filling of the leakages of the accordion of the connection between the cabin and the body was without success. Although very useful this device is a weak link.

On February 03, it was one link day on the move towards Esperance. I bivouacked on the rest area at Munglinup Resthouse.

On Thursday February 4th, I moved towards Esperance by driving along Pink Lake then Great Ocean Drive with the beaches of Butty Harbor and of Twilight Bay. Alas the sky was covered not emphasizing the beauty of the sites and the turquoise sea.

After a rapid passage at Visitor Centre I headed to the Cape Le Grand National Park to have rest during two days at Lucky Bay. By way making the weather improved, and by arriving about midday at the camp-site a resplendent sun flooded the bay. After having lunch I walked up to Thistle Cove. The landscape was stunning. Back to the camp-site I have the surprise to find two young French met in Perth, as Australia is small! We dined together.

The next morning I left in excursion by bicycle to climb the Frenchman's Peak -262 meters high- At the top a tunnel was dug 40 million years ago when the sea was 250 meters above the present level. The climb was not difficult, the trace is marked. At the top and from the interior of the tunnel the view of the surrounding countryside and of the seacoast was dramatic.

I had wished to go to Peak Charles NP for climbing the eponym summit. Alas the weather was very stormy what dissuaded me to go there. I stopped little before the crossroads for the park to station on a Rest Area. Beforehand I had shopping in Esperance in preparation for the long road from Norseman to Ceduna approximately 1200 kilometres in the Nullarbor plain –Without tree, in Latin–.

Norseman is a small town which was on a goldfield discovered by a horse. It is now a gateway to Nullarbor Plain and to the border with the State of South Australia. It was the last city before Ceduna to publish the pages of my website in Telecentre on Monday morning as from 10 a.m.

In 1894 Laurie Sinclair tethered his horse to a tree. Legend has it that in the morning He found his horse lame, and on inspecting it found a sizeable chunk of gold-bearing quartz stuck in its hoof.

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