Pink Lakes Esperance

Fri 30^th  

Today we travelled from Kalgoorlie to Esperance.  Although we all started with full tanks of fuel, we topped up at Norseman because there is a shortage of Diesel in Perth and some areas in the south west due to some suspect fuel being tested by BP, which supplies fuel to Caltex, Shell, BP  Gull and some others, for suspected contaminants. Surprisingly, the price didn’t go up. Norseman was named after a horse that pawed the ground and dug up a gold nugget, leading to the establishment of a very rich gold diggings back in the day. We had a straight forward journey passing through towns with names like Salmon Gums and Green Patch. We are in the Pink Lakes Holiday Park for a couple of nights. George and Mick installed a battery charger to boost the battery power in our van because on overcast days our solar panels don’t quite keep up and then George and Bernie worked on solving a problem with Bernie’s water lines. “Thank God for George,” we all say. We have had a few days over the last week when the sky has clouded over several times. Today we drove through lots of showers. Apparently they have had rain in Perth for 20 days in a row (a record) and are expecting some tomorrow.  On Woody’s recommendation based on the last time he was here we had fish and chips for tea. The fish was magnificent – a big thick slab of juicy flake.

Sat 31^st    May  The Pink Lake

The day was a little cloudy, a good day to find out why our solar system is only barely keeping up. It seems that the connection that charges the batteries from the car alternator has been disconnected and we need to get a dedicated connection. Presently it only goes to the caravan fridge. It probably isn’t worth spending the money. As the fellow said, “Now you know the range of your solar system and you lean to live within it.” Good advice. We went on a lovely tourist drive to the (not so) Pink Lake. It is apparently a vivid pink on a bright sunny day – something to do with the beta carotene in the algae. We met a couple at one of the lookouts and they flew over it yesterday when the sun was shining and said that it was a vivid pink.



This is what it looks like when the sun is shining.

This is what it did look like.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The rest of the drive was more successful with stunning coastline views – each one a little different to the one before. We saw magnificent surf beaches, smooth rock formations, rock  shelves with waves crashing into them and fascinating cliffs, banks and vegetation. This area is certainly worth a visit.