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It started off as a coast-to-coast four-wheel-drive odyssey across Australia's top end.

4WD Odyssey

Nickjenkins
2003-11-20 16:52:02

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tree we could find. Then we got the soap out and while one of us retired to a safe distance the other one got clean. Showering buck-naked under the stars with nothing but lather between you and the cosmos is a moving experience, I can tell you.

The next morning we were eager to get on the road before the heat of the day and rose at dawn to a cold breakfast and a quick start. Deciding we'd had enough of inland sunshine we headed for the coast again and went south-east 100km to Esperance. We stopped in a park in Esperance for a second breakfast (no hobbit jokes please) and a cup of tea and then headed out to Cape Le Grand, east of Esperance.

Cape Le Grand was far more populated than any of the other spots we'd been to, due to its proximity to Esperance I suspect. Eventually we found a secluded spot near the beach and settled in for our seventh day on the road. Our new campsite at Cape Le Grand was suspiciously well appointed, due again I suspect to the higher levels of patronage. The camp site had gas barbecues, a shower block with solar hot-water heaters and the most salubrious camp toilet that has ever been built. It was a flushing toilet in a shack made of jarrah with a tiled floor and it even had a little tap outside to wash your hands. It hardly felt like camping at all.

Wildlife as usual was in abundance. There were wallabies scouting around the campsite and splendid wrens in the bushes and the usual evidence of our little scaly lizard friends. The beach was also inviting but the weather was inclement so we skipped the usual swim and resorted to the solar powered but still chilly showers. Having a bit more time on our hands than usual I went the extra mile and whipped up a spaghetti carbonara. Given the fact that this involved a basically raw egg and bacon that had been sitting in the car (in ice) for six days it wasn't surprising that we both suffered a little indigestion ...