Walpole to Albany

The big heat has finally arrived! It has been 40 degrees C for the last 3 days! Our only way of surviving is to get up at 5.00-5.30am, start cycling before the sun rises, stop before 10.30 and find a shady spot where we can wait for 4.00pm when the heat is a little less intense.
Leaving Walpole we visited the Valley of the Giants, a place where you can see karri, marri and tingle trees from a tree top walk , a small platform 40 or 50 m above the ground. It was magnificent. The road there though was very hilly and left us exhausted. Instead of cycling on, we collapsed in the near camping site which in fact turned up lovely. It was very quiet, in fact so quiet we were able to see many wild birds and a little quokka, a shy little creature, bottom half kangaroo and top half teddy bear and marmotte. We were very lucky to see one because introduced foxes and feral cats have nearly wiped them all out. Introduced species are such a problem here. Little did we know that the next day would be very traumatic!
We had planned to spend Christmas Eve and Day on the beach. Why not? So we cycled on to Parry's Beach, which looked on the map very inviting and quiet. When we arrived it was idyllic, a pristine white beach and although quite a few campers already, they were mostly happy families and we managed to find a secluded shady site right at the back. After supper (tin of sardines of course... there was no food or water there) we even had an informal country western concert. We felt very happy. But... we were sound asleep when bright headlights, much swearing and a growling dog woke us up. Some horrid people had arrived and had found us in *their* spot -apparently they came here everyday. Well, John used the dog dazer (wonderful piece of equipment!) to stop him biting him (he was a bulldog!) when he got up to go to the toilet!
Anyway, we survived the night and left very early, saw a flock of spoonbills on the way and looked for a more peaceful spot which we found in Denmark, by the river mouth. Spent 2 lovely days there, with pelicans soaring above our tent and 2 skinny dips in a lovely cove complete with small hut. Bliss! Good things always seem to come out of bad things.
Another good thing coming out of bad things has been meeting Gunyar and Dhyana in the youth hostel in Pemberton, where we had to stay because of the pouring rain. Gunyar and Dhyana very kindly invited us to stay in their lovely home near Albany and we have been luxuriating: eating home cooked food, talking and sharing life experiences and sleeping in a lovely caravan in their garden. They also took us canoeing today in a beautiful bay, resting our legs and using our arms for a change! We are so grateful for their kindness.
All good things come to an end, will leave tomorrow (early because of the heat) and head towards Esperance, 480km from here with only petrol stations in between! I can safely predict more sardines and avocados!