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Hi All,
We just got back from a fantastic 10 day trip down to Esperance and the surrounding National Parks and WOW, what an amazing place to visit. We hired a Camprite camper trailer from Crikey Campers and ventured off on Boxing day - 5am. First stop was Wave Rock (Hyden) and I have to say that I wasnt really expecting anything special but was mighty impressed with the rock. It was much bigger than I expected and theres a nice walk trail around the base leading up to a walk across the top - well worth the effort.
Next stop was Esperance for a quick top up on fuel and then straight to Cape Le Grand National Park. We tried to stay at Lucky Bay but it was full up so we spoke to the ranger and drove out to Dunn Rocks (about 20 minutes east) and found a nice spot on the beach. It was very windy but the fishing was good (caught a good size Salmon but lost my hat in the wind - it was worth it!) and it was a good base to explore Cape Le Grand over the next few days.
We then drove through Duke of Orleans bay - spectacular beaches... and on to Cape Arid National Park and the Thomas River campsite. There are actually two campsites and we luckily found an awsome site at the National Park Campsite which had a view over the entire river and bay. Campsite facilities were brilliant with new pit toilets and BBQ and tables, with rainwater tanks also. The DEC have really stepped up to the plate and done a great job. We spent a couple of days here and fished at Tagon Bay - very soft sand getting onto the beach but nothing too difficult. Generally the beaches a hard and compacted but as you travel further along them they soften up quite a bit. We helped resuce a damsel in distress after her 2WD Rodeo got bogged tot he axels! Maxtrax and few snatches sorted that out, but we nearly lost one of the Maxtrax in the soft sand (Note: Have a spotter keep an eye on them).
We then continued on to Poison Creek and spent a couple of days there. Again, facilities were good and the sites were clean. Fishing was good in this spot with several large Tailor hooked. Stay on the entry to the beach as we found out the hard way that the sand gets very soft quickly on the eastern side of the bay. It went from fine, hard, compacted sand to soft, coarse, car swallowing sand in about one hundred meters - yes, we spent about 30 minutes digging out and driving the length of the Maxtrax - repeat 10 times until youre out! We day tripped out to Israelite Bay from here and that's a really fun track to tackle. It has everything from soft sand to muddy holes, to corrugations and gravel. We got a bit lucky after bashing the front guard a bit too much and just missed taking out the aircon condenser - lucky!
Last stop was Stokes Inlet to the west of Esperance once again with awesome campsite facilities and beautiful views. The fishing wasn't as good but if we had a tinny, the inlet was deeper in the middle and perhaps we would have had more luck. We spent a few hours tackling the Quagi Beach track which is easy up unitl the campsite, then gets very narrow and technical from then on. Lots of limestone steps and rocks to negotiate, but the views of the bays are fantastic. If you ever get the chance to visit, do it.
The Camper Trailer performed flawlessly. Easy to set up and a dream to tow. It probalby weighed in around 900kg with water on board and the Prado pulled it with ease. I found that at 100kph - 5th gear, 2000rpm the torque converter locked and kept the trans temps down even on small inclines. On steeper inclines I kicked it back to 4th and it had no problem holding speed up the hills while keeping the temp around 75 degrees. I'm glad I installed the trans fluid cooler though as the temp would quickly climb if I left it in 5th and the toque converter unlocked - it would easily reach 100 degrees.
Hope you get a chance to see it some time.
VXWesty
We just got back from a fantastic 10 day trip down to Esperance and the surrounding National Parks and WOW, what an amazing place to visit. We hired a Camprite camper trailer from Crikey Campers and ventured off on Boxing day - 5am. First stop was Wave Rock (Hyden) and I have to say that I wasnt really expecting anything special but was mighty impressed with the rock. It was much bigger than I expected and theres a nice walk trail around the base leading up to a walk across the top - well worth the effort.
Next stop was Esperance for a quick top up on fuel and then straight to Cape Le Grand National Park. We tried to stay at Lucky Bay but it was full up so we spoke to the ranger and drove out to Dunn Rocks (about 20 minutes east) and found a nice spot on the beach. It was very windy but the fishing was good (caught a good size Salmon but lost my hat in the wind - it was worth it!) and it was a good base to explore Cape Le Grand over the next few days.
We then drove through Duke of Orleans bay - spectacular beaches... and on to Cape Arid National Park and the Thomas River campsite. There are actually two campsites and we luckily found an awsome site at the National Park Campsite which had a view over the entire river and bay. Campsite facilities were brilliant with new pit toilets and BBQ and tables, with rainwater tanks also. The DEC have really stepped up to the plate and done a great job. We spent a couple of days here and fished at Tagon Bay - very soft sand getting onto the beach but nothing too difficult. Generally the beaches a hard and compacted but as you travel further along them they soften up quite a bit. We helped resuce a damsel in distress after her 2WD Rodeo got bogged tot he axels! Maxtrax and few snatches sorted that out, but we nearly lost one of the Maxtrax in the soft sand (Note: Have a spotter keep an eye on them).
We then continued on to Poison Creek and spent a couple of days there. Again, facilities were good and the sites were clean. Fishing was good in this spot with several large Tailor hooked. Stay on the entry to the beach as we found out the hard way that the sand gets very soft quickly on the eastern side of the bay. It went from fine, hard, compacted sand to soft, coarse, car swallowing sand in about one hundred meters - yes, we spent about 30 minutes digging out and driving the length of the Maxtrax - repeat 10 times until youre out! We day tripped out to Israelite Bay from here and that's a really fun track to tackle. It has everything from soft sand to muddy holes, to corrugations and gravel. We got a bit lucky after bashing the front guard a bit too much and just missed taking out the aircon condenser - lucky!
Last stop was Stokes Inlet to the west of Esperance once again with awesome campsite facilities and beautiful views. The fishing wasn't as good but if we had a tinny, the inlet was deeper in the middle and perhaps we would have had more luck. We spent a few hours tackling the Quagi Beach track which is easy up unitl the campsite, then gets very narrow and technical from then on. Lots of limestone steps and rocks to negotiate, but the views of the bays are fantastic. If you ever get the chance to visit, do it.
The Camper Trailer performed flawlessly. Easy to set up and a dream to tow. It probalby weighed in around 900kg with water on board and the Prado pulled it with ease. I found that at 100kph - 5th gear, 2000rpm the torque converter locked and kept the trans temps down even on small inclines. On steeper inclines I kicked it back to 4th and it had no problem holding speed up the hills while keeping the temp around 75 degrees. I'm glad I installed the trans fluid cooler though as the temp would quickly climb if I left it in 5th and the toque converter unlocked - it would easily reach 100 degrees.
Hope you get a chance to see it some time.
VXWesty
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