DAY 125 – GREENS POOL AND ELEPHANT ROCK & THE BEACHES OF DENMARK….

We have a big day planned for today so that means an early start.  The weather still isn’t the best which is a bit of a shame as we are heading out to explore Greens Pool and Elephant Rocks today.  I was so hoping to see it all in sunshine…..

 

Our caravan park in Esperance

Camp Kitchen

Our site

The weather forecast was for improving conditions throughout the day with the sun supposedly appearing sometime in the afternoon, so we decided to go and visit the  Woodturners of Denmark 

Visitors Information Centre in Denmark

and then the Denmark Cheese Farmhouse in the morning in the hope that by the time we got to the beaches, the weather might have improved.  

This is a family owned and operated Cheese factory that not only produces cheese but boutique wines, farmhouse preserves and also tantalising fudge and nougat.  All cheeses, fudge and preserves are hand made on the farm, complimenting the reputation of Ducketts Mill Wines as a premium Great Southern producer.  Their wines are all made from grape grown in the vineyard on the family farm. They also have a stunning array of cheese to choose from including camembert, brie, feta, creamy blue and Havarti, just to name a few.

We sampled some of their cheese, enjoyed a hot chocolate on their verandah, and then indulged in  buying some of their baked cheese, and some of their speciality fudge….

We had also planned on checking out the Toffee Factory, but decided to give that a miss in the end as we had already indulged in sweet treats at the Denmark Cheese Farmhouse.  Afterwards we found out that it serves the best and biggest ice creams in the whole south west corner…

It was close to lunch by now so we headed out to Greens Pool.  It was still quite overcast and I was praying for some sun just to take some photos of it.  

Greens Pool is an extraordinarily beautiful beach located in Denmark’s William Bay National Park, about an 18km drive west from the centre of Denmark.

As far as swimming spots go, Greens Pool is about as good as it gets – especially for families with young kids.

It is basically a huge, natural ocean swimming pool of glassy-clear water, edged by a pristine beach of pure white silica sand and enclosed by rows of dome-shaped granite boulders.

The off-shore rocks, along with the tall headland behind the beach, provide complete shelter against the waves and wind. The swimming area remains calm and tranquil – and perfectly safe – no matter how stormy the ocean. 

Greens Pool is pristine and natural and stunningly picturesque to look at, but the one thing that makes it really special are the interesting rocks.

The pool is encircled by lines of massive sloping granite boulders clustered close together. The most interesting rocks of all though are the ones up on the headland along the eastern edge of Greens Pool, where a massive bank of granite slopes down onto the beach and into the water. You can easily walk up onto it from the beach.  It curves around to meet the shoreline, sheltering the “swimming pool” area completely from waves and wind.

This whole area is stunning…. With crystal clear water surrounded by the granite boulders… I could only imagine how magnificent it would look with the sun on it.  God was good and we did manage to see the sun over it a couple of times and I did get some photos, but probably still no where near as green as it would look on a cloudless sunny day….

Not only do the smooth rocks of the headland provide a nice warm place to lie down in the sun and view the scenery, but if you walk a little bit further around you’ll find an area of tiny coves, beachlets, channels and gutters in amongst the rocks.

Aeiral view of Greens Pool from the Drone

Steve had put the drone in the car today, so I encouraged him to drag it out and take some footage as it wasn’t that windy and he did manage to get some really good shots….

From Greens Pool we walked around to Elephant Cove to view Elephant Rocks,  the well known landmark in Denmark.  With a small stretch of the imagination, these tall rounded boulders resemble a herd of elephants bathing in the cold Southern Ocean waters.

Elephant Rocks

Although you can see the Elephant Rocks from down on the beach in Elephant Cove, from our vantage point on top of the headlands,  they resemble a herd of elephants more strongly then when viewed from down on the beach.  From this vantage point on top of the headland, the views of Elephant Cove, the rocks, and the Southern Ocean beyond are 

spectacular.

 Steve descended the staircase down onto Elephant Cove and walked between the two massive boulders out onto the beach, where he was able to  view the rocks from a different angle.  It is a long, rectangular shaped bay cut deep into the land. The huge sheer-sided boulders that surround the small beach make it feel peaceful and secluded. 

Madfish Bay, was the next beach we visited along this stretch of coast and  is yet another stunningly beautiful beach (or more accurately, a set of beautiful beaches) in the William Bay National Park near Denmark.

Madfish Bay has lots of small beaches in amongst the rocks and also over on the island. You can always find one that’s nice and sheltered. These beaches have some of the squeakiest, most powdery silica sand you’ll find on the south coast. And unlike the more popular beach at Greens Pool, Madfish Bay almost never gets too crowded with people.

 It was off to visit Waterfall Beach next.  It is where a freshwater stream cascades down from the dense heathland, cutting its course to the sea through the powdery beach sand.
The waterfall is only small, but it’s worth a visit for the novelty of being able to bathe in a freshwater waterfall at the beach!

The waterfall varies with the seasons, flowing strongest in winter and spring. 

Waterfall Beach is more open to the ocean than Madfish Bay. It is protected somewhat by a couple of submerged rocks directly off shore, and by Madfish Island to the south-west.

The wave height at Waterfall Beach is almost always low (less than a metre), but the waves can be surgy. Although the water isn’t crystal clear like at the more sheltered Denmark beaches enclosed by rocks, it still has a beautiful blue/turquoise colour.

As we made our way back towards Denmark, our next beach to visit was Lights Beach.  It is a wild and scenically spectacular set of beaches.   Despite it being a short drive from town, and relatively easy to get to, it is a lonely secluded beach that not too many people visit due to the fact that it is not really a swimming beach as it has huge relentless crashing waves which break close to the shore.  

As it faces directly into the huge Southern Ocean swells, Lights Beach is awesomely wild and treacherous. In places the massive pounding waves feel incredibly close as they crash onto rocks and sand right next to the beach.

From the very first views of Lights Beach from the carpark and tracks down to the sand, you can tell that it is a very special place on the coast.

While Lights Beach is  really beautiful at any time of day, one of the best times to visit  it, is late in the afternoon, just before sunset.  It is one of the few west-facing beaches along the South Coast of Western Australia (actually, south-west to be more accurate) so it is one of the only  beaches where you can watch the sun setting over the ocean and where it is not too gloomy and shadowy late in the day.  In fact we met an elderly couple that come down nearly every week to enjoy a sunset over the ocean here.
  

We had been down to Ocean Beach the previous afternoon, but decided to duck back there again this afternoon on our way home to take a couple of photos that we missed taking the previous day when it was too cold to hop out of the car.   It is incredibly scenic and the views from the beach extend far across Ratcliffe Bay to the massive sand dunes and towering cliffs of the Nullaki Peninsula, all the way to West Cape Howe (Western Australia’s southernmost point).

We grabbed the couple of photos we missed taking yesterday and headed back to our van.  Another beautiful day in paradise.  I just love this town and could easily live here if it were closer to family.