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Elephant Cove, Denmark, Western Australia.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Starvation Bay. WA.

Well I came home from work on Thursday, had a quick shower, shoved some clothes into a bag and put some food into the esky.  Then we was off!!  So easy and it saved us a few hours travelling on the Friday.

Hubby drove and the intention was to leave here, drive 'til he got tired and then pull over somewhere and sleep.  He travels the road we were taking quite often so knew of a few places suitable to stop and the one he picked was not far from Harrismith, across the road from the turnoff to Lake Grace.  No facilities of course but a decent distance off the road.
Then it was just a matter of sleeping, waking up and taking off again knowing we were nearly halfway there.  We stopped at Lake King for a coffee and something to eat and it was so easy to do with the way the van is setup.  Back into the car and kept going until we got to Starvation Bay.

Starvation Bay is about a half hours drive from Hopetoun, called Starvation Boat Harbour in the map book but we call it Starvation Bay.  It is a lovely spot on the coast with different areas for tents, caravans and vans/trailes.  There are composting toilets but no fresh water.  Fireplaces but you need to take your own wood.  Lots of different areas depending on which direction the wind (and rain) is coming from.  I really liked it.
The sign going in says that there are fees but we didn't see anywhere to leave them and no-one came collecting.  They may be a seasonal thing.

Once there we had a quick drive around, Hubby found a spot that would give some protection from the wind and we put up a tarp because it looked like it was going to rain.  
Friday Night Camp.



We found this table at another campsite so moved it over to ours.  It looks like it was left behind because it was broken.  The legs have been taped to some sticks to keep it upright.  It worked for us though and we left it for someone else to use.





After getting set up and having a coffee we went exploring.  The water is not very far from the camping areas and there are a few paths leading down to the beach.  The beach in front of the area we camped in is white sand, clear water and mostly calm while we were there but that depends on the wind direction.  Walk East to the point and the beach to the South is covered in rocks.
Some flat, with little crabs running and hiding under them.   Some not so flat...



And some funny shape ones.


 Some of the beach is covered in shells.
Some of the rocks are black and look like molten lava.  In places it looks like it has flowed over and through the other rock.

I found all the different rocks really interesting and though you had to be careful on the ones close to the water it was a fun filled couple of hours *exploring* them.



Down the far end of the beach there was a massive rock off the point.  It was an *island rock* and the water running between that and the coastline on Saturday morning was a crystal clear aqua.and so inviting it just made you feel like jumping in.  The wind and smooth rock walls was a deterant though.  On Sunday when we went back for another look the wind was coming in from a different direction and it was colder and the water was  rough and not so inviting.




We had a great time at Starvation Bay and will come again. 
If anyone is ever in the area call in for a look and check it out for yourself.  Be aware though that the road going in, Springdale Road, is gravel but not too bad but the road that we turned down to get the the beach,
Southern Ocean Road, was 10min of corrugations.  Not much fun at all but worth the roughness.

If you have been please leave a comment and let me know how you liked it

3 comments:

  1. Hi,
    Saw your post on SS site. You have some great photo's here.
    I enjoy reading about your travels on the SS site.
    Would be great to get away sometimes, so good on you for doing it! Look forward to reading some more from you and looking at your photo's.
    Bree (WA) from SS site

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  2. Hi Bree, thankyou for those nice comments. I appreciate it when people let me know what they think.

    Barb.

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  3. Thanks for the lovely page, Barb. I hope this finds you well. Do you know the origin of the name "Starvation Bay"? I'm not turning up any info, and that includes Esperance Museum!

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