Day 18 - Salmon Gums, Car Wash and Local Hospitality

NORSEMAN TO ESPERANCE

We woke up to the sound of a freight train clickety clacking down the line that runs down the back of the caravan park. 4AM had only just rolled around and everyone was up within the hour so we got an early start on the day and we packed up and out before 8AM excited about getting down to the region south of Perth. 

We were fascinated when we started driving past these amazing coloured trees that looked like they had been painted in bronzer. Turns out they are called Eucalyptus salmonophloia, common name Salmon Gum because of it's salmon coloured bark. They are local to WA and more densely found near a town called...Salmon Gums. Fun Fact: It is quite a durable timber and was used for making railway sleepers during the gold rush.

We attempted to book a camp site at Cape Le Grand but was fully booked so we instead settled for a caravan park in Esperance. We checked out the extensive adventure playground on the beach front and made roast chicken rolls the side of the road. 

Clint was keen to arrange a thorough wash for CRUZIE and Sandy as the salt, sand and dirt had been caking up for a week now. So we hit up the local self serve and unloaded our mud, grit and grime from the past week. Clint described it as feeling theraputic watching the red earth, sand and salt getting blasted away. 

One clean CRUZIE and Sandy later we dropped off the trailer at the caravan park and drove down to Steve and Jenny's house, close friends of Andy and Sherrin. We hadn't met them before but they were so welcoming and were set up for entertaining little ones having grandchildren of their own. The boys played and played while we exchanged stories and also received some local tips of what to see and do while we were in this region of WA.

We appreciated the warm hospitality. It was nice to have a connection to give some guidance and provide a little bit of homlyness to our otherwise lengthy camping adventure. We said our goodbyes but were welcomed back for a BBQ before we departed Esperance. The boys were loving playing with new toys and would have been happy to stay and play all night but it was now after bedtime and they had still not had dinner. Some Weetabix and honey on the ground when we got back was the number 1 request and then promptly off to bed.