Quagi Beach and Esperance

Along the short drive to Quagi we stopped at Ravensthorp for a quick shop and to refill the water tanks before some bush camping.

 

We arrived before lunch and pretty much hit the beach straight away as the good weather was not going to last too long. The kids had an absolute ball playing in the dunes using the long plant roots to drag themselves up. The entire area is now closed for revegetation but our kids had a good time.

The water is crystal clear and surprisingly warm, I had a fish but found weed on each cast due to large incoming tide and southerleys that had been blowing previous days. That arfternoon saw the arrive of Darren, Stacy, Evie and Remy which we were all looking forward to. We set up camp and settled in for the evening.

The next day was mild with wind and showers, having set up the tarp next to a shelter we were able to still have a good fire to keep spirits up and stay warm. The winds were now northerlies so we had a go at balloon fishing off the rocks without any luck, in fact about 40mins into the session the heavens opened up and drenched us so we pulled the pin. The afternoon cleared up briefly so the guys took the kids for a walk along the beach whilst the girls got some deserved peace and quiet with their books in the sun.

 

Had another shot with a balloon the next morning and had a couple of good bites but none landed. We took the short drive to Esperance where we had planned to spend a few nights before heading down to Cape LeGrand NP for a few nights.

We were given ripper spots at the caravan park overlooking the water and playground. The first afternoon we spent around the park.

 

The next day the guys went for a fish in the morning and the girls went for a shop in the afternoon. Unfortunately in bucketed down in the afternoon so we found ourselves entertaining five kids in our annexe, they baked scones which they enjoyed. That night the weather had calmed so the guys headed out for some squid. We had just hooked a nice one but it got away as the height of the pier made it difficult (the next time we do this trip I will be carrying a drop pot) yet we still thought we were in for a good session. 20 minutes later I was in bed after being saturated and walking on a 45 degree angle to get off the pier as quickly as possible as a storm front came from nowhere, the pier seemed to go forever!

 

The weather forecast was terrible for the next few days so instead of waiting for good weather to go down to LeGrand we decided to tackle the Nullarbor early in the hope of good weather at the other end. It was also a Public Holiday in WA on the Monday so getting a spot in LeGrand was not guarenteed, in the end the decision to push on was a good one.