It’s now May and we’ve been here in Esperance over 3 months, March, April and now May. Not how we thought our trip would go when we set off in early February. Oh well, the sun is shining bright and I’m off to golf, can’t complain really.

The reason for this quick post is in response to a number of you that could not see the video of our Sand Dune adventure last weekend. Therefore I suggest you go to “YouTube” and search for “The Esperance dunes” by Dennis Torode (Dennis was the leader). It goes for a 3 1/2 minutes and its pretty good, looks like a Top Gear episode.

In the meantime a couple of photos below from yesterday’s lunch on the foreshore park. Have a good weekend everyone!

Not much to report other than I played golf again today. Fortunately we are allowed to play golf in WA and now that we can congregate in groups of 10, competitions have started again, so its not just social golf., which is good. The WA Premier announced today that any change to lockdown will not be made until the 13th of May, so we still have 2 more weeks of waiting. Once we know what is going to occur we can then decide our next steps.

Further to my previous email re our adventures in the sand dunes, please look at the following You Tube link, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.

https://YouTube.be/JhV0cXon-o

Yes, we’re still here in Esperance. Whilst there has been some reduction in restrictions in WA from yesterday, we still can’t move. We are hopeful the regional borders within WA will open in coming weeks although the Government has stated the border with other states could be closed for a further 6 months. Hopefully we’ll all know on the 11th of May, that seems to be D day re lockdowns go.

So the last couple of days has been “full” of activity. After the Dawn Service on Saturday morning, I went and played golf in the afternoon. The golf club is open again and they are back playing competitions. It was rather windy and whilst I played better than the Tuesday, it could have been a lot better but at least I’m out playing. Afterwards it was around the fire pit and BBQing dinner on the hot plate sitting on the fire box. All in all it was a good day.

Sunday was housekeeping day, doing a few jobs around the site, prepping everything for the coming cooler and rainy weather and of course our daily Happy Hour!

Yesterday was one of those days that will stick in your mind forever. With the restrictions reduced about groups, 7 vehicles went off 4 wheel driving for the day in the sand dunes at the back of 11 mile beach. I’ve driven on the beach before but never on sand dunes, particularly such large ones. The photos below don’t really show how steep they were but I can assure you they were steep, so much so Susan had her eyes closed when we were going downhill. There was one particular hill that proved very difficult to get up and over and I tried without Susan. You really had to get the speed up to get up and over and trusty “RAYNSU” made it first time. The video below (if it comes thru) shows the run and how effortlessly RAYNSU made it look. It was simply a great day and I’ll have some other photos to send thru at another time, particularly the drone videos make make it look like we were doing a Top Gear episode.

Susan, Vicki, Steve and I finished the day off around the campfire (our now trusty fire box) with a few drinks and talked about our day’s activities. The neighbours joined us with their 3 young daughters and toasted marshmallows, it was there last chance to do so as they are heading back home to Melbourne tomorrow.

With the restrictions reduced (ever so slightly), there were certainly more people about today in central Esperance. We all received our flu shots this morning, so we are ready for winter now, we just hope it will be in other places than Esperance.

Well the ANZAC Day Dawn Service this morning was certainly different to past ANZAC Days under the current social distancing laws. It feels like yesterday but it was last year we were at Port Elliott in South Australia with Sue and Andrew Christie and you can see from the photo below the difference in the gathering then to this year.

There are a number of ex-servicemen here in the park and we could not do nothing on this day, so we decided we’d have our own small service in the caravan park on the front drive, with all the people here in lockdown in the park.

It was a great service, everyone was mindful of social distancing (even though we share the same toilets and showers). Some of the kids did Poem readings, we had Ash Williamson, a singer songwriter who sang his own composition which was excellent and of course the normal service activities, the Last Post, Minute’s Silence and Rouse. We finished the service with the National Anthem and then we had a gunfire breakfast in the camp kitchen. All up we had 70 people attend “our” service in the park but just outside the park was a coffee van and all the local people who ordered their coffees, stayed for the service as well, standing just outside the park fence. They commented to me after the service, they were a bit envious of the “community spirit” we have in the park

It was a great service, one of the best I’ve been too. Probably because it was a small community all in the same situation who banded together, young and old in remembrance. We were fortunate I suppose to be able to do such a service in “our” drive way, when so many others could not. It will be an ANZAC Day to remember for many reasons but my lasting memory will be the sounds of the waves crashing on the beach, 50 metres behind me during the playing of the Last Post, very moving!

Lest We Forget.

Hi all, yes we are still here and I think it will be many weeks before “Be Brave” gets hooked up to “RAYNSU” and we are on our way again. Although signs are good, we don’t have to queue at Woolworths or the Chemist, eggs and toilet rolls are back on the supermarket shelves and there has been only 1 new case of C-19 in WA in the last 2 days. I managed to play some social golf yesterday. The courses are open in WA but not for competitions, which is just as well because I played like shit! Hopefully I’ll improve on my next hit-out this Saturday. Fingers crossed after a few more weeks of lockdown, things might turn around and restrictions will be lessened.

The weather is still great, sunny days and low to mid 20’s, although once the sun goes done it does get a bit chilly. So we took the opportunity to pull out our small fire pit for the first time tonight. It’s always enjoyable sitting around an open fire and something Susan and I miss from Kallista (plus our great neighbours). I know once we get back home a fire pit will be on the agenda at our new house in Emerald. I invite you all to come and visit us then.

Keep safe and well and I hope you are able to commemorate ANZAC Day this Saturday in your own way.

Lest We Forget!

Hi all, well not much has changed since my last post, although Rebecca is one year older! The weather has stayed kind to us again and after staying in the park all week we decided to go back to Cape Le Grand National Park today, once we found out the park was open. Another plus was the temperature at 31 degrees, so a picnic lunch and swim at Lucky Bay was the goal.

It turned out to be a magic day, swimming and body surfing (or trying too) at Lucky Bay was most enjoyable. I was standing on the wide expanse of the beach, drinking wine and drying off from my swim and it hit me what we were doing! No thoughts about C-19 or lost super or anything else, it was just enjoying the moment, doing what we set out to do, see Australia and have a good time. Hopefully we’ll have more days like today, ahead of us!

After Lucky Bay we drove to Rossiter Bay about 6 K’s of corrugated dirt road from Lucky Bay. In all honesty not a highlight but then again its very hard to beat Lucky Bay and Thistle Cove, Hellfire Beach which we saw 3 weeks ago on our first visit

Then it was onto Cape Le Grand Beach, which is 22 K’s long and we drove all the way to the end at Wylie Bay. That is the longest stretch of beach driving I have done in “RAYNSU”. I didn’t lower my tyre pressures, which I should have done but RAYNSU handled it without any concerns. All in all it was a great day! We feel very fortunate to do this as I know most of you are locked up at home putting up with some miserable weather, bored stiff and unhappy. Therefore I have included a particular photo below, that I’m sure will add a little bit of fun to your day.

Stay safe and healthy everyone!

Hi Guys, I hope you had a good Easter in all this madness, although Easter was probably no different to every other day, whilst we are all in lockdown.

Just thought I’d let you know what Susan and I are doing whilst in lockdown. Yes, we have been able to travel to the local beaches but we have done all that now, so we have tried to settle into a routine, its a bit like Groundhog Day every day. Other than a visit to Woolies for food a couple of days a week, basically we are spending 90% of our time in the park. I’m trying to perfect the perfect golf swing, I’ve failed for the last 30 years so maybe C-19 might be the catalyst for improvement. Also I’m doing my online course (when the internet works). Susan is busy doing her craftwork in between her nana naps (oops not supposed to say that).

So whatever you are doing, I hope your getting though with these times with good humour. One day we’ll all laugh about this but I suggest that day is a bloody long time away. If you need a suggestion to keep busy and make you happy, try watching the Richmond 2017 & 2019 Premiership wins, always puts a smile on my face!

Happy Easter everyone!

I’ve received a few comments and questions back as to how we are seeing all these sites whilst in lockdown, so I thought I’d explain. Unfortunately the rules across Australia are not the same, for instance, here in WA all the beaches are still open (just as well, Perth had its hottest April day on record yesterday at 39 degrees), social distancing rules still apply, as the beaches are patrolled by police (not one fine has been handed out). In the eastern states the beaches are closed, apparently in Victoria your allowed to travel to your holiday homes but elsewhere your not. There are many inconsistencies across the nation on what you can and can’t do!

Here in WA, the state has 9 regions and you are not allowed to travel into other regions without a permit. Our region is the largest in WA, about the size of Victoria. And within the region its been segregated in the shires, and the Esperance shire is closed. We are allowed to travel within this area and fortunately the great beaches you have seen in my photos are all within the shire and in fact all but a couple are within 10 k’s of our park. We have spent the majority of our time self isolating in the park, although the self isolating can be a bit overstated. There are no cases of C-19 in Esperance and only 3 cases in the region (remember its the size of Victoria) and that’s Kalgoorlie, 400 K’s from us. Everyone in the park has been here for at least 3 weeks, so we are basically C-19 free here.

So the bottom line is we are adhering to the WA Government’s rules and the local ones here in Esperance re travelling and social distancing. Whilst we have seen some local sites over the 3 weeks, we are still spending 90% of our time in the park. Like everyone we hope normality isn’t far away.

We woke this morning to 30 degrees, it was very warm. So we decided to go down to Twilight Beach (below) for a quick dip and so did the rest of the park it seems. Enjoy the rest of your Easter break!

Happy Easter everyone and I hope you have had, or are having a good “Good Friday” in isolation. We started the day with the traditional Hot Cross Buns for Breakie with an Easter Egg just to finish it off.

After our morning exercise and a couple of house keeping jobs, we took off on a quick drive along the coast. Whilst is was pretty quiet there where a few people about, 50 – 50 between inter-staters and locals but all seemed to be keeping a safe distance apart. Stopped off at a few beaches and the Pink Lake, which is not Pink anymore. Hope you like the photos below.

It was another bright sunny day although much cooler than yesterday’s 33. We are expecting warmer weather over the next few days, low 30’s on Sunday so we are going to head off to the beach for a swim. It will probably be our last chance as we expect the weather to turn. Its mid April and still having mid 30 temperatures which is not normal. Then again, 2020 has been far from normal.

I hope everyone has a safe, healthy and enjoyable Easter.

Well it’s Good Friday eve and we’ve done all our Easter shopping. We’ve bought the main requirements for the weekend, Choccy Eggs, Hot Cross Buns and Alcohol and in true Walton tradition, Fish for Friday!

We’re now 18 days here in Esperance and we have another hot spell of weather coming up over Easter. It was 30 degrees yesterday and will stay that way until Monday, when it will drop to the low 20’s. Certainly a lot better than what Melbourne is putting on at the moment.

It’s interesting being here in WA, I have forgotten how parochial the locals are. It’s a bit like living in another country, WA this, WA that, its very WA centric. Tasmanians are also parochial but not to the level of “Sandgropers”! I suppose it’s admirable to be proud of where you live!

In the lead up to Easter “Huey” has given us a good start with a “Pink Full Moon” last night. It was very impressive the moon rising over Esperance Bay, hope you like the photos below.