A roadtrip to Esperance and Albany – Part III
Dunn Rocks is a day use area east of Esperance. In a previous version of this post, I wrote that it was fine to camp there but I have since been made aware that this is not, or no longer, the case. It’s not allowed to camp at Dunn Rocks so please refrain from doing so to protect a vulnerable part of National Park. It is allowed, however, to drive a 4WD vehicle onto the beach to spend the day. Please check the Western Australia National Park website for further information.
The turnoff to Dunn Rocks Road is about 30 kilometres east of Esperance. A 10 km dirt track, which is quite rough in some parts, leads down to this vast stretch of beach. A new and clean bush loo house is situated just before the entrance to the beach.
We parked up somewhere quite far down the beach, next to an inlet with a little lake or river. We made sure to park quite far back from the ocean because we weren’t entirely sure how far in the tide would come in. After chatting to some fishermen, they assured us that were absolutely fine and we had made sure anyway that we were at least as far away from the ocean as the other visitors.
We set up our awning and Liam parked the car so it gave us some shelter from the wind. Then he went off to try and catch some dinner in the fuming waves of the wild Southern ocean, and I joined him on a picnic blanket with a little beer for sunset.
It didn’t take Liam long to catch a few herring which ended up in the pan a little later. As I was waiting for Liam to pack up his fishing gear, I could see two dubious looking guys in a ute that looked quite rusty stopping and starting to chat to him. When they hadn’t moved on after a while, I went down to say hi. It turned out that they were kangaroo hunters.
To give a bit of background: The Australian government permits licence holders to ‘cull’ or shoot kangaroos in response to the growing kangaroo population, however it’s a controversial matter: Whilst kangaroo is considered a very sustainable meat source because of the high numbers of wild-living animals, who are seen as a pest by some farmers and therefore need controlling anyway, it is in spite of the permits very difficult to ensure that kangaroos are killed as ‘humanely’ as possible because widespread culling usually takes place at night, among other things.
Meeting these kangaroo hunters was a bit eery, mainly because their vehicle not only had traces of blood all over it but also featured a pile of kangaroo feet on the ute’s trailer. As we went back to our site, I felt a bit queasy thinking that we’d have these two characters around with their guns while we’re relaxing but thankfully, they just went fishing and didn’t take any interest in us. Not long after, we saw them catch a massive salmon out of the sea.
En route to our next beach destination, we stopped at the Condingup Tavern. We only wanted a little take away coffee, but this quickly turned into a coffee and scones as well as a pint and wedges. The tavern has a lot of character and features charming pub facilities as well as a beer garden and even a little convenience store. Then we went on to Wharton Beach. This beautifully scenic and hugely popular beach is probably one of the most beautiful bays I’ve ever seen however, just like in Lucky Bay, many people drive their cars onto the beach merely for parking. We didn’t spent too much time there, since we were towing our little tinny boat and hadn’t even used it yet. There was a boat ramp at the nearby Duke of Orleans Bay, so that’s where we were heading.
We dropped the boat in quite a bit later than anticipated but we still managed to cruise along the nearby bay and around the little islands for a bit before the waters got too choppy. In hindsight, we probably wouldn’t take the boat down there again because it can get very windy, and the southern ocean is really not to be messed with as it can get quite rough.
When we pulled the boat back in, I noticed a shadow underneath that water that was moving. I got closer and realised that it was a stingray! As it turned out, several stingrays would come up very close to the beach to feast on some dead fish that the fishermen had left in the water.
Thinking that Lucky Bay might be more windshield, we headed back that way to give it another go with the tinny but found that it was just too late to drop the boat in. Instead, we decided to drive back to Dunn Rocks the quick way, via Rossiter Bay, along the beach.
The issue with that is that Rossiter Bay is just a thin stretch of beach, and driving it over to Dunn Rocks is really only recommended in low tide. It was now coming up to high tide, so Liam and I weren’t convinced at all if driving back along the beach was a great idea. At the same time, we didn’t fancy driving back to Lucky Bay and on to Dunn Rocks via the main road because it was a much longer route. Ultimately, when we had pretty much decided to just go for it, we bumped into a ranger who strongly advised us against driving the beach at that time of the day, in high tide AND towing a boat, so we took his word for it and turned around, albeit gutted.
We ended up doing the drive the next morning, back from Dunn Rocks to Rossiter Bay, which was not only a lot more sensible but also a lot more fun because we were able to enjoy the scenery in bright daylight instead of rushing it in high tide and fading daylight. It’s arguably easier as well to do it this way because the turnoff to Rossiter Bay is signposted when exiting Dunn Rocks Beach. It’s an 8 km stretch from Dunn Rocks to Rossiter Bay along the beach, and the sea still came up just close enough for comfort – despite the lower tide. Cars can get swept away in as little as 30 cm of water so it’s better to be mindful of the risks than doing something stupid just because it seem quicker at first glance.
After a delicious pancake breakfast at the – almost luxurious – picnic facilities in Lucky Bay, it was time to head away from beautiful Cape Le Grand and westbound, towards the Fitzgerald River National Park for the night.
