This was our longest day trip so far. We even shared the driving. Mick asked – “Why are we going to Hopetoun?” I was actually asking myself the same thing, but I knew it was because it was on our way to our next destination – Esperance.
Regardless, it was an interesting drive.
Ever since we’d arrived in Western Australia just over two weeks ago, Mick had been recalling some “interesting facts” he new about the state from his primary school education. He kept asking where the wheat fields were, because as he knew, WA was the ‘breadbasket’ of Australia. Even though Wikipedia actually states that the Murray-Darling Basin is the ‘breadbasket’, Mick was definitely on the right track.
Wheat is the major grain crop produced in Western Australia (mainly on family-run farms) making up 65% of the annual grain production each year. WA is responsible for growing about 50% of the Australian wheat production, with most of its production being exported to Asian markets.
There was very little traffic on the road during our Sunday afternoon drive, except for huge trucks carrying either two or three bins behind them. We wondered what they were carting, but that question was eventually answered for us as we came into the small community of Gairdner where we saw silos and huge mountains of wheat (and perhaps other grains), as well as open bulkheads.
I tried to take some photos of the huge paddocks of wheat we then later passed, but at speeds of 110km per hour, the photos don’t really show what we were seeing. Some of the paddocks stretched for up to 2 km in length.
As we entered the small community of Ravensthorpe, we were excited to see some silo art. Looking somewhat faded since it was painted in 2016, this artwork is listed as part of the Australian Silo Art Trail.
It was here we turned off the road towards Esperance and headed towards our overnight destination of Hopetoun, located on a beautiful beach and point, with a population of around 900 (based on 2016 figures).
And it did have a pub, where of course we had our dinner, as it was the only place open on Sunday evening.
The pub had a prize location, as you can see from this photo from the front bar window.
We sat next to a photographic history of the biggest shark ever caught off this point. In fact it was caught in nets off the coast and drowned before the fisherman found it in their boat that was 30 cm shorter than the shark. They had to weigh the poor thing in pieces as they did not have scales big enough. It weighed just over 1000kg.
Now into something a bit more pleasant.
We were pleased to be able to try a bottle of wine from this vineyard, as we had been advised to visit this Albany winemaker during one of our cellar tastings in Margaret River.
We did drive past it on our drive today, but with more than 250 km ahead of us, we decided not to stop.
Esperance tomorrow!
Jane and Mick's Holiday Adventures 