Day 34 – 16th February 2018 – Lucky Bay to Munglinup
The pack up went well and we left Lucky Bay and drove to see the Stonehenge Replica at Esperance. We had seen this on one of the 4WD shows that we watched and decided to go visit it. I wasn’t expecting much to be honest, as I thought it was a bit weird to try and build a replica of something like Stonehenge in Australia and so I expected it to be a bit lame. But we thought we would stop in and see it nonetheless. So very glad that we did. I really loved it!
We were the first people there so had it to ourselves briefly when we arrived. The replica is of how it would have looked around 1950BC and you can walk all through it. It had the most amazing and magical feel about it and gave me goosebumps instantly. There were Willy Wagtail birds calling to each other and the sound was bouncing off the granite rocks. The sound was incredible, it was like an amphitheatre. It would have been amazing to hear someone sing in there. I should have asked Col for his rendition of ‘Way out west’ haha.  I just wanted to sit in the middle of it and stay there. I would love to go back for the Summer Solstice sunrise or Winter Solstice sunset where the sun lights up the altar that sits in front of the tallest of the Trillithon Stones. The granite is Esperance Pink Granite and was quarried adjacent to the property where Stonehenge is now located. There were 137 stones in total, with the largest ones weighing up to 50 tonnes each!
Apparently the people who built it were not the people with the original idea or dream. A man had planned to build the replica Stonehenge in Margaret River and get the granite carted there from Esperance. Unfortunately he ran out of money before the dream was realised, and the quarry was desperate to get paid after working for 12 months without payment. Luckily the Beale’s had a property adjacent the quarry and the owner liked to build things. So he decided to complete the Stonehenge replica on his property which was completed about 6 years ago.
When my daughter Erin, Son-in-law Jake and Grandson Hamish went to the UK recently, they visited the real Stonehenge and took some awesome photos. One of a family handstand and one of Erin Jumping. We thought we would reinact these for you. Col was a good sport and did a stellar job!! He doesn’t have the same hair flowing in the photo like Erin, but it isn’t his fault!
I did spot this bit of artwork there which I quite liked too.
We stopped in Esperance to do a few errands and then headed off to Munglinup. The drive went smoothly and we have arrived safely. We chose Munglinup Beach Caravan Park because it had over 4 stars on Wiki Camps which usually means it is pretty good and a safe bet. Our first impressions are not that great though, and we are wondering how on earth it got those stars. The Camp host is really lovely, so that is a good thing, and the camp kitchen area is well stocked and looks like a bit of a social hub, also a good thing. But there are drop toilets and the bathroom block smells awful. Drop toilets don’t usually bother me in a bush camp, but when you are paying $30 a night it doesn’t seem quite right. We got a powered site, but they ask you not to use air-con, water heaters, heaters, hair dryers, hair irons etc, which is kind of why you pay $30 for a powered site. Also no mobile coverage here and 2km from the beach. They do have washing machines but no dryers. Anyway, not having a whinge, just voicing that this is the first camp that I don’t think is value for money.
A storm has hit and will last all day tomorrow too, so we won’t be up to much and will just have a chill out day. The storm hit just before I went for a shower… gulp. Reminded me of Norseman!!! but this was in a shower block so thought I would go (I did really need one!) and I am pleased to say there wasn’t anything too eventful happen, hahaha. Although I was dodging flying bark and gum nuts walking back through the rain to the van. But my clothes stayed on so that was a good thing.
We did go for a drive to check out the beach and there is a really great camp spot right on the beach if you do come this way. I think it is $15 per night per vehicle and there are toilets down there too. The beach has a really interesting reef to go snorkling and fishing and there is also a river close by too. Pity the weather is not going to be favourable tomorrow. If you do come down this way – don’t go driving on the beach as the sand is REALLY soft and there is a minimum call out fee of $2,000 for assistance to get your vehicle out.
Sorry this one is so long – lots to say today!!!
Day 36 – 18th February 2018 – Munglinup to Bremer Bay
We got away really early this morning, I think it is the earliest we have packed up and left camp actually. We were on the road by 7.25am. We tried calling ahead to book a spot at the Bremer Bay Caravan Park, but only got the message bank, so left a message to say we were on our way and what vehicles we were bringing. We tried a couple of times but couldn’t get through, so eventually just turned up.
When we got here the lady was a bit frazzled and said she had turned away over 20 people today because they are fully booked. We said we would be happy to take an un-powered site if they had one, and they did! Just turns out to be the best site in the whole park I think!! Everyone is packed on top of each other but we jagged the site in the back corner of the property, so don’t have any neighbours at this point. Feeling very lucky!! We are settling here for the next four nights and if the weather allows we will do a little more fishing.  It is meant to be raining over the next two days so will see how we go.
We are allowed to have a campfire here too, so very happy with that considering it is in a caravan park. They dropped off a fire pit for us to use, as ours didn’t meet the required height.
The beautiful view from where I am sitting under the Annex. And the firepit where I plan to be sitting a little later on this evening!
We went for a walk to have a look at Bremer Bay this evening which is walking distance from our campsite. It was really beautiful, with a Pelican posing for the shot.
Day 37 – 19th February 2018 – Bremer Bay
Col has finished editing another video, his skills are improving exponentially! Hope you enjoy it, this one was done on the Nullarbor Plain when we went driving through the National Park. His new nickname might be Col Attenborough 
We went for a drive around today to check out Bremer Bay and the surrounds to see what is around. The photo below is of the beach closest to the Caravan Park where we are staying and is near the mouth of Bremer River. Bremer River connects to the Ocean only a few times a year apparently. The other times you can walk across the River mouth as it is completely dry.
We then went for a drive to check out the boat ramp which looked quite good.
People were fishing for Tommies (Herring) off the rocks nearby.
There were some good fish cleaning tables at the Boat Ramp, as well as at the Bremer River near the Caravan Park.
We went to a site overlooking Native Dog Beach.
We then tried a couple of tracks to get to some more remote fishing beaches. The first one was to Reef Beach which got very soft and narrow very quickly. We decided it wasn’t smart to keep going. The second one we took was to Fosters Beach and was about 15km long and we ended up stopping 2km short of the goal. It took us about 40 minutes one way and had some challenging parts. Again it was very narrow and some sandy and rocky sections.  Not many points along the way that you can turn around and go back. I got a little nervous when we lost mobile coverage. But Col handled the driving well. When we got 2km from the beach it got quite soft and steep and the car was threatening to bog. Col didn’t want to let down his tyres, so we decided we needed to head back. Unfortunately we couldn’t turn around for sometime, so Col had to drive it backwards, using the reversing camera in the rear-vision mirror of the FJ. It felt like playing a video game! Thankfully we made it to a spot we could turn around and do the rest of the track going forwards!!
We saw quite a few Kangaroos hopping across the road and also a beautiful black cockatoo which we believe is a Carnaby’s Black-Cockatoo.
Also saw some beautiful wild flowers along the way. It was a beautiful drive, just a little adrenaline filled!
This pic is of our scrumptious dinner last night by the campfire. Life is tough I tell you!
Day 38 – 20th February 2018 – Bremer Bay
We decided to go fishing Bremer River today and went to a spot called Harry’s Rock, which is a recommended Brim fishing spot. It was down a fairly long and chewed up dirt track. I would not go down this track after a decent rain as it looks like it would be very slippery and boggy. It was not suitable for a 2WD vehicle. Right at the end of the track there is a fairly steep section down to the river.
We managed to catch two good sized Black Brim and a few undersized Black Brim that we threw back.
It was a beautiful spot to sit and watch the Pelicans and the river go by.
We also had a bit of excitement after we arrived as Col had tucked his fishing top into the plastic holder in his passenger door. When he pulled it out to put it on he found a good sized black scorpion had been living in it! Thankfully it wasn’t in his top when he put it on, and that it couldn’t get out of the holder in the door! Col fished it out using two sticks and we both jumped when he flicked it out onto the ground. Got some video footage of it too.
After an afternoon of fishing, we returned to the Caravan Park crossed the road to clean the fish, then cooked it up for dinner along with one of the pieces of Calamari. Yum!!
Col has decided to do some “Catch’N’Cook” videos, to show the steps for catching, cleaning, preparing food and some suggested recipes as well. So we will post them once edited.