Tag 44: Esperance - Fitzgerald River National Park (Hamersley Inlet)

This morning it's time to refill everything. We want to go to Fitzgerald River National Park and stay there at the bush and national park campsites (without electricity and water). The Maui will be made ready for travel at the campsite and then we will go to Woolworth in town, to the bottleshop and to the ATM. Michi is no longer interested in the beach. He has seen enough lonely white beaches in the past few days, so we start heading west.

From now on, we will travel along the southwest coast back to Perth. We have 2.5 weeks left for this route, and then we will return home via Dubai. We found a great offer for Dubai yesterday. As a crowning touch to our trip, we will spend 3 more nights at Atlantis on the Palm. We are really looking forward to it, as we liked it there very much 2 years ago. Especially the kids loved the huge aquarium and the water park.

We drive to Ravensthorpe and make a refueling stop and a small lunch break with ham and cheese toast. From there, we head south to Hopetoun. In Esperance, it was sunny this morning, but now the sky is quite cloudy and there are occasional drops of rain. For the first time in a long time, there is no wind, so we don't find the measly 17 degrees to be that cold.

We arrive at the national park around 3 pm. Neither the park gate nor the campsite are staffed with rangers. Everything works here on a self-registration basis. We weren't sure if this park is suitable for us (we asked at the visitor center in Esperance), because our guidebook says that there is only a track. That is not entirely true anymore. After a flood, many things have been rebuilt, and now the Hamersley Inlet Road from Hopetoun to the inlet is asphalted. The drive is very scenic. Quite unusual for Australia, it is very hilly and winding. At the park entrance, we see many pelicans and other water birds.

There isn't much going on at the Hamersley Inlet campsite. There is only one caravan besides us. When we start our walk, we immediately spot three kangaroos right next to our campsite. We walk down to the inlet and stroll along the shore. Back in the camper, we have roast pork with potatoes and sauerkraut.

25.10.2018

Overnight: Campground Hamersley Inlet / Fitzgerald River National Park (1 night 10 AUD, simple bush campsite with a pit toilet and BBQ, 14 sites)

Weather: sunny & cloudy in the morning, 17 degrees

264 kilometers today out of a total of 7,390 km