Mike and Alana's big drive: Friendships, more amazing stuff and some much needed girl time!

I've found a rare opportunity - alone around camp for the morning while Mike goes off to an antique bulldozer show with Glendon (explain soon) here at Esperance. We've been here over two weeks now, just relaxing and cruising and enjoying staying put for a while.

You really know some serious disconnection is happening when you don't even think of the internet for days and days. Just being in the present in this beautiful part of the world. But as we are getting ready to pull up stakes and head on again, we thought we should update our travel log and fill the rest of the world in (our world at least) on what we've been up to.

We've had the great pleasure of spending the last week in the company of our good friends, Glendon (antique bulldozer lover) and Rachael, who after many stops and starts, made it across the country in time to spend some time with us before we each head off in search of our respective adventures.

In the last week we've had many a happy hour and many a meal together and managed to take in the Anzac Day footy match over some beers at the local (where my team beat Mike's team by one point). We've also been swimming, snorkeling (Cape Le Grande again), cycling and playing uke together (I finally took mine out of its case and can play almost two songs now). And Rachael and I have had some great girl time too (having coffee and cake and going shopping), which we both appreciated very much.

Anzac Day footy match at the local

Lucky Bay, lucky people!

The jam

Esperance lies due south of Norseman, a town that marks the end of the Nullabor. During the crossing we decided to visit Cape Le Grande National Park (east of Esperance on the coast) before we set up camp here, and wait while the Easter holiday makers were done with Esperance for another year. We came into town, got supplies, scoped out the caravan park and booked ahead, then headed for Lucky Bay.

You know I love words, and feel I can string a sentence together okay, but I really do find it hard to put words to a description of the Cape Le Grande National Park and the three bays we visited while there (Lucky Bay, Thistle Cove and Hellfire Bay). The three days we were there the weather was perfect - warm, sunny, with little wind to speak of, and then lovely cool nights for sleeping. After setting up camp, we made our way down to the foreshore where kangaroos laze on the sand and on the weed that gathers at one end of the bay. There stretched before us was a perfect aqua, crystal clear bay with white fine sand stretching around to the rocks at the eastern end of the bay. We walked all the way round (a bit of a hike) and found a small baylet where we swam and frolicked in the pristine water. We felt as though we'd been transported to a magical land where great rock formations rose out of the water in the distance protecting the bay from the southern ocean. The rocky islands off Cape Le Grande form the middle reaches of the magnificent Recherche Archipelago that stretches from Cape Pasley in the Cape Arid National Park to Butty Head west of Esperance.

I know we will probably say this over and over again before our trip is done, but so far, Cape Le Grande stands out as one of the most beautiful places we've seen.