It’s just on 3 months since my last CRAPP report (remember its stands for Course Rating and Personal Preference). I have to say Albany Golf Course is one of the best conditioned courses I have played in the last few years, I think only Cape Wickham and Ocean Dunes on King Island could be considered better.

Situated on the beach of Middleton Bay, it is basically a Links style course. When the the course was built over 100 years ago, they sowed grass straight onto the Sandhills. This has reared very undulating fairways but they are covered beautifully. There were no bad lies if you hit the fairways. That being said they weren’t overly wide, so you had to be fairly straight off the tee and in the wind, that skill becomes all important.

The course is similar to a Port Fairy but not as open to the winds. There are trees and scrub separating the fairways but these are costal trees so the are not of great height. The greens were superb, reasonably quick but consistent roll, it didn’t take long to get a liking for them. I’d be happy to putt on those greens all the time.

So here is my rating:

Design – 17 out of 20

Condition – 19 out of 20

Cost – 19 out of 20

Visual Appeal – 18 out of 20

Facilities – 8 out of 10

Ambience/Appeal – 5 out of 10

So a final rating of 86, which is the best so far on my trip. It would have been higher but I was disappointed in the course etiquette of a couple of members. Crossing over the fairway in front of the tee, on a par 3 just as you are teeing off was a bit rough. Only for it to happen again soon after. Additionally, the club felt rather elitist to me, which is something I haven’t felt at all on this trip. Maybe I’m being unkind but there the reason’s I gave a low mark on Ambience/Appeal. If I play again next week, I might have a different opinion but for now 5 is the best I could give. In finishing the cost @ $37.00 for non members to play in the comp was a great price, especially for a course in that condition.

It’s seems like its taken forever but we’ve finally made it to Albany. We arrived yesterday afternoon and set up our new site at the Caravan Park at Emu Point on Middleton Bay. It’s a very modern and green park, its nice to have all green grass around us after 3 months of sand and dirt underfoot.

We have a severe weather warning for Sunday thru Tuesday, so we took the opportunity with beautiful weather today to travel west thru Denmark to visit the Valley of the Giants, which are extremely large “Tingle” (Eucalyptus trees). They were once called Karri trees but “Tingle” was the local Aboriginal name for these trees and now that’s what they are called. They grow to 70 metres tall and have a base up to 20 metres in diameter. We did the walk thru the forest, the metal walkway thru the trees is 40 metres high and the trees really dwarfed the walkway. It was truly a great experience, well worth seeing.

After the tree walk we called in on the Dinosaur, Reptile and Bird Park. This was a small park off the main highway and it was a gem, we really enjoyed talking to John the owner/operator who lived onsite and was very knowledgeable about the birds, most which he had reared from birth.

On the way back to Albany, we called into a Toffee and Cider place for lunch and then finished off at a Swiss chocolate factory. It was great to be out travelling the countryside and visiting places. Fortunately the tourist places are opening up and cafe’s are also open as well, so there is a resemblance of normality happening. We have a lot to see in the Albany region, so we are going to spend 12 days here and we’re looking forward to it after todays travels.

We ran the gauntlet again yesterday, we got thru the roadblock again at Ravensthorpe. We are free to roam all thru the south west of Western Australia and hopefully by the time we get to Perth, the northern regions will also be open so we can travel un-inhibited throughout WA.

From Ravensthorpe we travelled west to Jerramungup, where we stop for lunch. From we turned south on the South Coast Highway and came down to Wellstead, which is a very small town about 100 K’s north of Albany. Wellstead was named after a local pioneering family, its basically a general store and a school. Legend has it the school was to go to Boxwood Hill a further 20 K’s north but the truck carrying the original buildings become bogged so they set it up here and a town was born.

We are staying in a Bush Park, very much like a farm stay. It’s part of a large grain and sheep farm and Robert and his family (the owners) have been working away building it up. We are here for a couple nights before we head on to Albany on Thursday. It’s a great little place for quick stop and Robert loves to have a chat, I highly recommend it.

A bit of site seeing today, mainly Bremer Bay which is about 80 k’s east of Wellstead. Bremer Bay is very much a holiday town, it was very quiet, all be it because of the lockdown but the majority of homes were definitely holiday places. Whale spotting tours are done from Bremer Bay but special tours as the photo below will show you.

So Thursday is the big day to finally get to Albany, Susan’s old stamping ground. Looking forward to it as the Albany region has so much to see. We also have some servicing on the car and van to attend to as well and the weather looks promising for the first part of our stay. So bring it on!

Had a quick look at the golf course this morning, needless to say the drought has not been kind to the golf course as the photos below show. Also, seeing a Tesla charging station in the middle of country WA was a real surprise, let alone in the Caravan Park here in Ravensthorpe, which to be fair is like the golf course, not in the best condition.

It was different waking up to silence this morning after 8 weeks of Esperance traffic just 30 metres from our van. Today was our first day of touring after our Esperance hiatus but first we had to get thru the police roadblock to get into the next region of WA, where Hyden and Wave Rock was located. Fortunately our passes were correct and we got thru and also when we returned this evening. It was a 400 K round trip, fortunately without the vans as we left them in the park at Ravensthorpe.

After getting thru the checkpoint (it felt like we were in a WW2 war movie, “show me your papers”) we travelled to Hyden with a quick stop in Lake King, about half way to Hyden. The country side really reflects the drought conditions, its no wonder the farmers are doing it tough. We travelled thru the Wheatbelt of WA so it was mainly “grain” farms but we did see some sheep flocks but there was very limited food on the ground for them, unless it rains soon their future looks bleak.

Into Hyden for a quick lunch, it looked a nice and clean little town, obviously successful from the tourist trade to Wave Rock but certainly feeling the pinch at this time with limited tourism happening.

Wave Rock and the surrounds was great, certainly worth the hours of travel to get there. Wave Rock is part of Hyden Rock and its unique in its own right when you walk up on top of the rock, as there are large boulders sitting there. The whole place is like a mini Uluru and the Olgas combined on the one site. A few hundred metres up the road is Hippo’s Yawn, another interesting site. To finish of our trip, we travelled another 18 K’s further out from Wave Rock to Mulka’s Cave, a large Cave of Aboriginal heritage with cave drawings. Sunlight was diminishing, so we didn’t tour the whole cave, just the entrance area.

All in all it was a big day of travel but worth it. Not a place to miss if you are in the area (within 300 K’s) I would suggest.

Yes its true, we have moved on from Esperance after 8 weeks and we’re in Ravensthorpe about 200 k’s west of Esperance and 300 k’s north east of Albany. We’re here so we can drive up to Hyden (200 k’s north west) tomorrow to visit Wave Rock. We didn’t want to drive all that way with the van, so this was the best alternative. Big day of driving tomorrow, so hopefully it will be worth it.

Ravensthorpe is not a big town, one pub, one grocery store and some cafe’s, although it does have a great lolly shop. Its funny not hearing waves in the background but the park is covered in Kangaroo poo, so we might have a few friends visiting us overnight.

It’s hard to believe but our applications to move on from Esperance have been approved despite getting an email a few days ago stating we had to wait to next Monday to re-apply. Therefore this Sunday morning we will be moving on, re-starting our trip and hopefully getting to the places we hoped to when we started back in early February.

So next, we are off to Ravensthorpe about 200 k’s west from here where we will stay for a couple of days to enable us to drive up to Hayden (a further 200 k’s north) to see Wave Rock. Then we will head off towards Albany, where Susan lived (in the Albany area) in the 80’s for about 8 years.

To finish off our time in Esperance, I’ve added a couple of photos of beaches here in the region. It’s hard to believe there are so many beautiful places here. I can understand why so many of the people I have met and have not been born here but have come for whatever reason and stayed. As I have said before, we have been very lucky to have been locked down in Esperance. Thank you Esperance you have been very kind to us!

Hi all, yes we are still in Esperance and will be here for sometime yet. Everyone in the park was eagerly awaiting the WA Premier’s announcement re the relaxation of travel restrictions, only to be bitterly disappointed when he stated our region was excluded from any travel outside the region, at least until the 18th of June.

We intend to apply for an exemption but we can’t submit it until next Monday, the 18th of May. If it gets approved we will move on to Albany and the southern regions of Perth by the end of next week. If it gets knocked back then we will stay until the 18th of June when the next stage of restrictions come into play. If once again, our region is excluded, we have decided to make our way back east and forget about the rest of WA until its safe to come back. This would be very disappointing as WA was the main focus of our trip around Australia. Both Susan and I were very keen to see the WA coast north of Perth but that may have to be at a later time.

We decided to have a little get-together and drown our sorrows last night, so it was around the campfire with our “Bundy’s”, “Wine” and “Beer” bitching about the decision. I have a feeling there will be more campfire nights ahead of us!

Stay safe and healthy everyone!

Well after 6+ weeks the weather had to turn and today we had our coldest day yet with 16 degrees. Whilst is was cool, it was still sunny as the rain came thru overnight but it was extremely windy, with gusts well over 60 Kph. The wind was predominately onshore but the water was still exciting to see, with waves up to 10 feet crashing into the beaches. We took a drive around Esperance to check out the wave action, thinking there might be the odd mad surfer about but even they were not that game to venture out. The wind was so strong it blew me about on the lookout at Observatory Point. I can honestly say I was quite worried up there, I had to really hold on to the railing otherwise I was gone. Whats more it was just as scary coming down the walkway, not something I will do ever again. To be honest I was stupid to go up there in the first place but we all do stupid things at times!

As I sit here at 11 pm writing this blog the wind is still very strong and you can here the waves crashing onto the shore on Esperance Bay about 100 metres from “Be Brave”. Enjoy the photos.

PS. Big shout out to Lisa Cairnduff, we’re thinking of you Lisa!

Another fantastic day in paradise for us today. With a top temperature of 28, bright and sunny. So what do you do on a warm and sunny Sunday, you go for a picnic and that’s what we did. We travelled about 80 k’s west of Esperance to Stokes National Park and Stokes Inlet for lunch by the water. No sandwiches on this picnic, warm Quiche Lorraine (courtesy of Steve & Vicki) for mains, Yoghurt and a Banana for desert, a lunch for Champions!

It was an idyllic spot by the waters edge, watching the local bird life going about their own form of fishing. Susan got the bug as well and got her rod out but was not as successful as the birds.

Back in the park it was a beautiful evening so we lit the fire. Us and some fellow park neighbours sat around the fire for the daily happy hour drinks. Then the hot plate came out and we had a Barbie over the fire pit, under a clear and very starry night sky. Apologies to all our family and friends back in Melbourne suffering thru some cold and miserable weather this weekend. It could be worse though ………… we could be there with you!

So that was our Sunday, pretty special I must say. Although we really want to move on, we will miss Esperance when we leave. Stay safe and healthy everyone!