11th – 13th Sept. Esperance

The journey from Bunbury to Esperance is over 700 klms and traverses varying terrain types.  In the first stage to Bridgetown we saw sheep grazing, lobster farms, stone fruit orchards, cattle fattening and vineyards.  Bridgetown itself is a folksy type village with an accent in crafts and filled with historic buildings.

Then the route continued to change:

Bridgetown - Manjimup - Mt Barker: We passed through mostly grazing country mixed with timber plantations ending up in environmental reserves and marshlands. 

 Frankland – Gnowangerup – Jerramungup:  Commencing with some vineyards the country quickly changed to grazing, then wheat & canola crops.

Canola fields n full colour

 Ravensthorpe – Esperance:  The canola & wheat crops continued but then some mining appeared from sand to nickel.  The farming also took a twist in that the farmers here had to deal with a massive salt issue in the soils.  Land in this area has been inundated with salt over centuries to the extent that in some places there is 250 kg of salt below every square metre of top soil.  To deal with this, special trees have been introduced and planted around borders and road sides.  In some places trenches have been dug along the borders of fields to release salt affected groundwater.   The colour of the sandy soil compared to the yellow colour of the canola flower and the green wheat draws amazing comparisons.

We had heard so much about Esperance and we had made it a priority in our trip planner.  The promotional signs on the road entering town talked about having the best beaches in Australia.  Living on the Sunshine Coast we must confess that we were sceptical but we were in for a surprise.  Some of the photos will show why.

View of Esperance from the lookout.

The wharf / port area is out from the beachfront.

The view from the back verandah.  This moving around is fun.

Staircase to the moon - Esperance style

The weather during our drive and on arrival in Esperance had been marvellous.  We had spent a night on the road side enroute and arrived in town just before lunch.  That allowed us time to enjoy a quick orientation of the area. 

We stop at a road side camp and there is a garden outside the window.

A very unique Grass Tree

A unique tea tree.

Starting in the city and heading west is a tourist circuit named "The Great Ocean Drive". It is a real eye opener.

One of the coves along the Great Ocean Drive close to the city.

Then around the next bend.

A secluded beach around every corner.

Lots of islands here too.

The water really is this blue.

 Next day we headed off to Cape Le Grand National Park 60 klms to the east of the city.  This was a very special place.  A place where one could lose themselves for quite some time.  There are several small cove type beaches, cross country walks, beautiful views over a bay of islands and amazing blue water.  There were also some dolphins and a whale or two.

Mt Le Grand

Hows this for a cave.

Hellfire Bay, true to the picture.

Lucky Bay - what a view.  There is a great campground in the corner.

How secluded does one wish for?

Whistling Rock - the wind whistles through the crack in the rock.

Whartons Beach

How fast can an emu run?

Day three and the rain moved in bringing some cooler temperatures with it.  The change cut the viewing short but we had certainly enjoyed a great taste of the best beaches in Australia.