Esperance

We set off for Esperance on a dull day. It's 473 km from Albany to Esperance which is a bit of a drive so we made an early start. Once again we had a strong wind blowing us across the road so it was heavy going. We could feel the car being buffeted again by the wind gusts.

Mike saw another big snake by the side of the road. I have never seen so many snakes, even living in the mountains!

There are large wheat growing areas all around Albany and big silos or bins as they call them at regular intervals.

We arrived in Esperance at about 3.30pm and found a caravan park away from the coast as it was blowing a gale down there. It was a bit better but not much.

The next day we set off to explore Cape Le Grande National Park which is about 60 km east of Esperance. We visited some of the most spectacular beaches and bays of our trip, which is really saying something.

You are allowed to drive on the beaches over here so we did so on Le Grande Beach which was the first one we visited. The sand was superfine and white and very firm so no chance of getting into trouble!

There were only about six people on the whole beach and I think one other car so we really had the place to ourselves. There were huge headlands formed from huge smooth rock.

The next bay we visited was Hellfire Bay. It was also stunning and we climbed around the rock headland and sat and watched some people fishing. The water colour was a deep teal and it was so deep and clear.

Hellfire Bay and the rocks we climbed around to the point.

Little Hellfire Beach around the point

The next stop was Thistle Cove named after John Thistle, Master on the HMAS Investigator.

Overlooking Thistle Cove on the headland there were these unusual rocks which of course were huge!

We visited Rossiters Beach which was the furthest away and found huge piles of sea grass all washed up all over the beach.

It was really thick and very spongy to walk on. We took a walk up to the headland and found some interesting rock pools and plants. Again the water was so beautifully clear.

We also found a monument for Matthew Flinders who named Lucky Bay when he found safe anchorage here on his voyage in the Investigator.

Last but certainly not least was Lucky Bay which was our last stop for the day. The pictures tell the story. There were even kangaroos on the beach and........ a place to get a cup of coffee!!! Who'd have thought?

We saw lots of great wildflowers again too.

This plant was so soft and fluffy!

This is what they look like from a distance. We thought they were rocks at first!

A different kind of kangaroo paw.

Beautiful banksias

The bansias are very big and there are big clumps of them together.

The next day was not very nice weather wise but we decided to check out the beaches on the western side of Esperance. It was very blowy, overcast and cold but the views were worth it.

On the way back to town we visited a lookout which gave us a fantastic 360 degree view.

This is Esperance from the lookout.

Another great thing about Esperance is that it had a lovely fabric and craft shop called Create and See. Once again I bought some fat quarters as my souvenir of the town. It was a lovely shop.

From Esperance we are heading up to Kalgoorlie and then over the Nullabor so I dont imagine there will be  any more beach pics on our trip. I dont think I could see a beach that would better the ones we have had the good fortune to visit.