J18.1 Perth to Esperance

This post is part of a series called Journey 18 ● PolArt 2015

Day 1 of the epic Journey 18 has wrapped up with a great start to the trek and no issues along the way, though there was a brief worry when my car started rattling beneath the driver’s seat, as it turns out, it was just a stick that had lodged itself to the underside and tangled up in wiring – good thing it was easy to remove and no damage.

At the Kondinin Motel had an early ‘burger with the lot’ for lunch and it was well timed as we never really paused for lunch from thereon in.

There were a few low-key highlights on the way, some in the gallery below including a Santa made from a re-purposed gas bottle and a truck that somehow got positioned high on a sand mound just 12km north of Lake King. Another highlight was in Brookton when some of the ladies presented us with our very own Road Trip Report Cards – more on this later – while good friends Josh and Louise shared the driving duties with a very happy Louise cranking the Taylor Swift tunes, while I couldn’t get my earplugs in fast enough :p
One unwelcome surprise was the out-of-order pump for 98RON Ultimate fuel at BP Ravensthorpe, luckily I prepared for longer distances between fill-ups but worth keeping in mind if travelling this way soon.

We skipped Wave Rock due to time constraints, which was previously the furthest east I’ve travelled within Western Australia, so the drive from Hyden to Esperance presented uncharted roads with a few bumps and turns plus a gusty welcome into Esperance where the maximum temp of just 22 got us donning our new hoodies for Kukuleczka, but a hearty warm campsite dinner and chillout set the right mood for the next day!