On parle francais sur Frenchman's Peak

Anh-Dao's parents Madeleine and Phuc have come from Switzerland. What better way than family bushcamping to spend christmas time the ozzy way?

To escape the masses, we decided to leave Perth a few days before the general holiday time. Packed with the essentials only, the six of us headed East through the endless plains of the Wheatbelt, stopping in York and at the Wave Rock in Hyden before seeing the Southern Ocean for the first time at Hopetoun and the nearby Fitzgerald River National Park. We reached Esperance on the second day and spent the next few nights in a comfortable villa near the first beach along the famous Ocean Drive with its breathtaking views onto turquoise waters.

One day we ventured out to Cape Le Grand National Park to visit some historic sites at Lucky Bay and Rossiter Bay and climb onto the top of a huge granite rock, called Frenchman's Peak. Having seen the beautiful campsites in the park, we had the choice between spending the second half of our holiday setting up camp in one of these, or gently heading back West to explore new places along the Coast towards Albany. The family chose the latter, and so we filled our car with essential supplies and headed to the St. Mary campsite near Point Ann, a pretty remote area in the middle of the wilderness of the Fitzgerald River National Park. Camping in Australian National Parks is such a privilege. The number of visitors is often restricted by the limited number of available campsites. This way, you get a truly intimate experience with nature. At St. Mary's we were lucky to find a site surrounded by trees that offered protection from sun, wind and extreme temperatures. With only one or two cars visiting every day, we had the feeling everything in the entire bay belonged just to us: the rock that provided wind shelter and warmth after a bath in the cold ocean, the beach with the fine white sand and dark pebbles, the kangaroos and birds that dropped by to say hello, the untouched mountains at the Northern horizon. Where have all the other people gone?

One day we did a 4WD exploration tour to Gordon Inlet and Doubtless Bay. Perhaps already a bit 'blasé', we weren't very impressed by the beach at Bremer Bay. But we did find public showers and a general store with cold beers just on time, a day before christmas. It made our "wild camping" experience so good that we ended up spending five instead of three nights at the same spot before packing up and heading back the 840kms to Perth on a single day. That epic trip involved three restaurant stops along the way, plus three sightseeing stops at Tondirrup National Park in Albany, at stop at the Elephant Rock and Greens Pool near Denmark and a last stop at the Treetop Walk near Walpole. The closer we got to Perth, the more holiday traffic we encountered. It was good to get home. Camping among these frenzy crowds wouldn't have been the same 'outback' experience any more.

Wind conditions were unusually poor for the season. Nevertheless we were lucky to experience some decent side shore conditions with 3 metre swell at Twilight Beach (Fourth Beach) in Esperance, followed by another memorable onshore wave session at Point Ann. The satisfaction of riding good waves in remote areas was definitely worth the effort of carrying all the kitesurfing gear on the roof of the car. Now back in Perth, we enjoy air conditioning and several showers a day to survive the scorching heat with daytime temperatures exceeding 40 degrees C. But we miss waking up to singing birds, the humming of the wind in the trees and the sound of waves, and the great sensation of having endless and lonely beaches at the doorstep. What's left is the sun tan (not for long...), some nice memories, and pictures to watch on our TV screen. And we are hoping for the Fremantle Doctor to pick up work soon again so we can enjoy the rest of the summer in Perth as intended: kitesurfing afterworks... Our latest picture set on flickr: Click here!