Two More National Parks - Cape Le Grand and Cape Arid

Cape Le Grand National Park - Lucky Bay Campground

25 - 27 November 2018

As of 1 November 2018 campgrounds in the popular Cape Le Grand National Park must be booked online so we did just that once we had settled on dates. There is also a park entry fee. The smaller Le Grand Beach campground was fully booked so we booked a site at Lucky Bay. Some people had told us Lucky Bay was the best campground, while others favoured Le Grand Beach. We arrived early - before lunch - and chose our site. There are more than 50 sites, and not many unoccupied from which to choose. We settled on one with a view of the bay - WOW it's gorgeous!

The beaches are stunning.

A double rainbow at Lucky Bay! You would think that could be a good omen... not for birdwatching as it turns out.

Lucky Bay from the road.

The beautiful Lucky Bay again.

Lucky Bay campground has been redeveloped fairly recently and boasts warm (solar) showers as well as "camp kitchens" with BBQs, tables and washing up sinks with hot water. The downside is that it is somewhat like a large caravan park with very little vegetation and all sites are very exposed.  

The water at Lucky Bay, and many other beaches and bays that we visited during our time on the south coast of Western Australia, is spectacularly blue. It's also really windy and we had to put extra ropes on the camper trailer awning to secure it against the forecast high winds. During the night the wind howled and blew but our little home held fast. We heard on the radio in the morning that gusts of 54 kilometres per hour had been recorded not far away in Esperance. 

We decided to do some exploring so drove to have a look at Le Grand Beach and the campground, with a view to maybe having a couple of nights there too. It looked more like the sort of campground we prefer - with lots of trees and sheltered camp sites nestled in the bush. We could only get one night so decided against it.

We also visited Hellfire Bay, Rossiter Bay and Thistle Cove. Thistle Cove has an amazing natural feature in Whistling Rock, which echoes the sound of the waves. It's hard not to keep taking photos of all these beautiful spots.

At Rossiter Bay, we had a short walk to the beach through flowering heath.

Birds were a little scarce on this leg of the trip but I did have a fly-past by this Caspian Tern at Rossiter Bay.

Whistling Rock

Looking towards Thistle Cove.

Thistle Cove

Cape Arid National Park - Belinup Campground

27 - 28 November 2018

We wanted to visit Cape Arid while we were in the area so headed there next. It's only about 120km from Lucky Bay so we knew it wouldn't take too long to get there. Our neighbours at Lucky Bay had been down for a drive and told us the unsealed road was in good condition. We found our way to the park entrance (entry fee payable at the entry station) and noticed some warning lights had come on in the car. Bugger! We decided we might as well keep going the short distance to the campground anyway as the car was still driving OK and the brakes were working. It would only be a one night stop though so we would have time to stay in Esperance again if needed.

The campground on the Thomas River is just what we like - sheltered spots with lots of bush. There are even a couple of spots for larger groups. There is self registration at the entrance to the campground so we paid our fee and settled in. Late in the afternoon we noticed a couple of Carnaby's Black Cockatoos had settled into the tree on the edge of our camp. While Mick was getting his camera, a few more came in, and then more and more! Eventually there were so many it was impossible to count them. Lots of photo ops there!

Carnaby's Black Cockatoo.

Carnaby's Black Cockatoos.

On our way out the following morning we called in to Dolphin Cove. There is a walk from the car park over rocky outcrops that provides views of the cove, but it does not go down to the beach. On the way back towards Esperance, we stopped and called the local Toyota dealer who were happy for us to bring the car in as soon as we arrived in town. The problem was located and a fix identified. They had us back on the road in under two hours. We appreciated the great service.