Water vs land - where the Southern Ocean and the Australian continent meet

We stood on the smooth sloping granite outcrop, strong winds trying to knock us down and huge waves crashing on both sides of us.  It was a loud, almost violent and yet beautiful scene – the magnificent Southern Ocean crashing into the unmovable Australian continent.  It was our first close up view of the Great Australian Bight, one of the most well known and dramatic pieces of water touching Australia.

A mob of emus forage for food in a wheat field

In a journey of amazing contrasts, only a few days ago we were in the hot dusty gold fields of Kalgoorlie and now we are being sprayed with sea water in cold stormy conditions. In some ways that sums up Australia – a huge place with every possible variation in land, water and weather if only you are out there looking for it.

Fitzgerald River National Park featured these bald granite domes that sloped into the sea

We had arrived at the sleepy coastal town of Hopetoun after a beautiful journey through nearby wheat fields which covered the rolling hills and seemed to be carved out of the surrounding inhospitable scrub.  We then ventured into the nearby Fitzgerald River National Park, famous for its wildflowers this time of year but even better for its vast beaches, unique granite domed mountains and crashing surf.  Waves that started thousands of kilometres away near the frozen Antarctic coastline were washing up on a beautiful but barren shoreline with the two of us as their only spectators.  It was a mesmerising and spectacular scene and we almost lingered too long before racing out of the park and finding a place to camp right at dusk.

Twilight Beach near Esperance - no less than the 2006 Beach of the Year

We immediately liked the nearby town of Esperance with its beautiful beaches with fine squeaky soft sand.  The coastline featured the unusual look of high granite cone mountains which dramatically sloped down into the churning surf. They frequently made unique bookends to the long white beaches and it was great fun to walk out on some of these points to take in the sweeping coastal views.  We did the scenic drive along the coastline
and amongst many sights loved Twilight Beach which was named the 2006 Australian Beach of the Year (who knew about this award?).

The steep climb up Frenchman's Peak provided great views for miles around

That night we entered Cape Le Grand National Park and camped at Le Grand Beach, somewhat protected from the brisk winds, and enjoyed our first showers in four days.  The next morning we walked up the largest and most significant mountain of the park, Frenchman’s Peak, which is a huge granite cone mountain standing out on a flat plain.  This was a vigorous and somewhat startling climb up the steep bald mountain, being blown sideways by the wind but taking in the sweeping views of virtually the entire park around us.  There was a big cave at top and a huge hole which went right through top of the mountain, creating a unique window frame to a series of similar but smaller granite cones that looked like giant eggs half submerged in the earth.

We made it! The summit of Frenchman's Peak

Lunch on Lucky Beach, unlucky for us as it was a bit too cold for a swim

Cape Le Grand is a showpiece of the Great Australian Bight and has a reputation of providing some of the most dramatic coastline in Western Australia.  Most of the national park, like all the land in the region, was what they call coastal heath which is just low lying hearty bushes with windswept shapes, sort of a barren beauty.  Our favourite spot in the park was Hellfire Beach with its soft sand but unfortunately the wind was too cold for us to swim.  We drove onto Lucky Beach for a picnic lunch with the long weekend crowd of locals.

Little Hellfire Beach, our favourite on this coastline that was almost an endless stream of beautiful spots

Reluctantly we moved on down the coast to Cape Le Grand’s poor cousin, the much less frequently visited Arid National Park, which was recommended to us by a fellow traveller and is sold as more of a wilderness experience than a national park.  And a wilderness experience it turned out to be!  Heavy clouds moved in, the wind picked up and the temperature dropped, turning the whole place into an edgy adventurous experience that only a few hearty travellers endured.  We had heard about roads being closed due to recent heavy rains and other tracks being very soft and boggy so we pulled into the first camping spot at Thomas Creek to set up for the night.

The domed granite rocks sloping into the ocean produced some beautiful scenes

That afternoon we explored a number of the nearby beaches, including Dolphin Cove with its storm waves crashing into more of these unique granite domes.  These were stunning views and we were in awe of the ocean and its ongoing battle with the shoreline, the whole scene accentuated by the stormy conditions, high waves and strong cold wind.

It looks fairly peaceful now but wait until the wind howls and the rain falls!

That night it rained for first time on this trip, sometimes quite hard, and our rooftop tent was put to the test. It was a miserable morning as we packed quickly in the light rain and left slowly on the muddy and slippery tracks.  Our quick exit due to the weather and lack of time meant we didn’t get to see much of Arid National Park but will definitely come back for more ‘wilderness experience’.

We are frequently reminded that this is a unique place

We would follow the Great Australian Bight for the next couple of days but we had a fantastic introduction to it through these three national parks.  It was also another great reminder about the rich offerings of unique and beautiful places in Australia for those who are able and willing to reach out to them.   This coastline does not get a lot of visitors due to its isolated location but it certainly rewards those who make the effort.