Before we even came to Australia, I was trying to decide if a trip to Esperance was really that important. It's an 8 hour drive from our house in Mullaloo. Not everyone goes. I even have a friend in Utah whose brother lives in Albany, only 5 hours to the west. I asked if he felt it was really that worth it, and he said he'd never even been there!
But Henry really wanted to go. I'm a sucker for seizing the opportunities "while we are here." And I'm a sucker for Henry.
By the way, it's pronounced, "ES-prunce."
We decided to rent a car. Our car is fine but it's 14 years old, and even though I pay a whopping $7 extra per month for road side assistance, I didn't want to spend any of our time sitting on the side of the road waiting for that assistance and miss the limited time we'd have to soak in the natural beauty.
It was a good idea. Someone else can clean that up.
DAY ONE:
I'm worn out with trip planning. So it wasn't until we had already left for Esperance that I decided to consult my list of day trip ideas. I calculated that it would only be 45 minutes out of the way to catch Wave Rock, in Hyden, on the way. Because I've never been, I don't know if it's worth it. But I suppose that's part of the adventure. And we're in a "now or never" state of living, and if we were to do it on a separate trip it would be 4 hours east. GPS makes it easy to redirect so we decided to go. We got a little nervous when we left the two lane road for single track.
Single track isn't really a problem because there are NO other cars out here. But it really got uncomfortable when we left the asphalt for just plain red dirt. That was *only* 13 miles or so, but we didn't know when it would end.
Renting a car was a very good idea.
Surprisingly, as soon as we got there, we found there were about 100 cars in the parking lot. I have no idea where they came from.
There was a sign explaining that this geologic beauty formed something like 45 million years ago.
It turns out it was a good idea to redirect. Henry loved it and it broke up the monotony of the long drive.
We had over 4 hours to go to Esperance. We knew there would be minimal civilization between here and there. We were hoping to find a petrol station soon because most businesses in the city shut down after 5pm, but here we are in the middle of nowhere. And it's a Sunday. Fortunately we did find a ghost station. There are no pay at the pump stations in Australia. You always have to go inside to pay. In this case, we had to prepay, but it came as close as possible to a pay at the pump as I've seen, and it was in the middle of nowhere! It had a little hut 30 yards away where we chose a maximum amount to charge our card, and then we were free to pump.
I had planned to cook dinner for ourselves when we arrived because (1) it is Sunday and I try to avoid going to businesses if possible, (2) I knew we'd be arriving late and can't depend on businesses being open past 5pm, especially on a Sunday. And (3) Henry doesn't really like much restaurant cuisine besides fish and chips. I honestly didn't even see the sign that asked us not to cook with our own appliances. I plugged in my pressure cooker, threw in the frozen chicken breast and the jar of salsa I had brought. When it was done we enjoyed burritos with the tortillas, tomatoes, and lettuce I'd brought. Henry was delighted.
Day TWO:
We could easily spend 5 days visiting all of the "essential" sites in Esperance. We decided to focus on a short list and enjoy those things, rather than rush through a longer list. We weren't interested in the Stonehenge replica, the history museum, and the fish leather shop.
We went to Twilight Beach where we knew there were rocks that Henry could jump off. We accidentally went to Picnic Beach on the other side of the car park for an hour. Fortunately Allen discovered the good jumping rocks before we drove off. The sun was out and the water color was amazing. The water was freezing, so I was perfectly content to be in charge of taking photos.
I witnessed two boys nearby trying to catch a pufferfish. I really didn't think they'd succeed but they did! It was really interesting, and they were happy to give us a demonstration of the pour thing's nervous reaction to being a "fish out of water."
That photo looks filtered but I promise it’s exactly as I saw it.
We headed back to town to get some lunch before heading off to Lucky Bay. We had already picked out Aurelia's Ice Creamery and Cafe. Allen and Henry picked out chips and "Southern Fried Chicken." I was pretty sure the "Southern" wasn't referring to the South Coast of Australia. I couldn't find anything for my dietary preferences, but eventually I considered asking them to adapt their chicken and "salad" wrap. "Salad" is their word for just lettuce. I told them I wanted no meat or dairy or mayo, and suggested tomatoes, roasted pumpkin, and avos (avocados). She happily said, "leave it with me," and went back to create something. It was a wrap with pumpkin, sweet potato, sun dried tomatoes, avocado, "salad," and sunflower seeds. It was perfect. And twice as big as I needed so I saved half for tomorrow's lunch.
After scouting out the park and playground scene, we headed off for the one hour drive to Lucky Bay. As *luck* would have it, we drove right past the fake Stonehenge along the way, and didn't feel bad about giving it a pass and saving the entry fee.
In 1802, Captain Matthew Flinders found his ship surrounded with rocky islands and reef. As evening approached, he turned inland hoping to find safe harbor for the night. Under the do or die circumstances, he named the beautiful bay with soft white sand "Lucky Bay."
Most beaches have quartz sand but also include "calcareous material," such as pieces of crushed sea shells which separate the quartz particles from each other. This sand is only the quartz. It is so clean is squeaks when you walk on it. It originally came from the surrounding granite cliffs. It has microscopic rough edges that make it appear white. In fact, it has officially been named the whitest sand in Australia. Perhaps it is the heavy granite nature that causes it to sink quickly in the waves, keeping the water very clear. The white color gives the water a bright canvas to shine a bright turquoise color.
We were hoping to find some kangaroos on this beach. Signs nearby make it clear you should only observe them, keep a respectful distance, and not try to feed or touch them. Unfortunately, some other visitors disregarded all of those requests and the roos soon retreated into the trees.
Oh well, the beach was beautiful and we had fun making it squeak. We enjoyed the sunset on the way back to the hotel, where we had round two on the chicken burritos.
Day THREE:
We had already seen the most essential sights, and with the weather being a little too cool for beaches, we decided to check out the parks and shopping in town. There was a park and playground on the bay, a cute mini lighthouse, and a slooooow train. The wind was whipping through the ropes of the sailboats in the marina making a high whistling sound.
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| At the end of this long jetty was a lower level. |
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| These are vertebrae bones of whales. |
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| This crane was giving off strong "Thomas the Tank Engine" vibes. |
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| This is a concrete feature in the playground. I want to figure a way to make a soft version for my living room. |
We went to a couple of shops in town for souvenirs and a few gifts. The best thing was a photography book featuring photos by Dan Paris. I was afraid if I looked at it I'd feel compelled to add more locations to my "essential" list, but it actually featured lots of places that were too distant anyway and this gave me a way to still see them.
We decided to go back to Twilight Bay and jump the rocks some more. Allen decided he was going to jump in this time.
Because the sun sets early at this time of year, we decided the only thing to do in the evening (after having chicken burritos again) was to go to the Fenwick 3 and see the Super Mario Bros Movie. Henry was thrilled with that plan. And I was thrilled it was almost half the price of seeing it back in Joondalup.
Day FOUR:
After watching an enormous cargo ship enter the harbor, we took off for Albany, about 5 hours west. Along the way we stopped in Ravensthorpe, population 2,085. It had excellent chips for Henry's brunch, a beautiful blossom covered gum tree, and the best tasting "gourmet" Kit Kat I've tried so far.
We only had this one day to see Albany, so we headed straight to Misery Beach. It was cloudy, and started to sprinkle when we arrived. The cliff face is almost black and looks like a demon lives at the top.
It really did look kinda miserable. But then I saw rocks to climb. That always gets Henry interested. And then the sun came out.
After spending lots of time recording minute after minute of the waves crashing on the rocks, we left so we'd have time to explore The Blowholes.
It's about a mile long walk down from the car park that finally opens onto a huge rocky area overlooking the ocean. It feels like you could just fall right off the cliffs into the huge waves swelling below and never be seen again. The blowholes shoot out powerful gusts in rhythm with the waves. Because you can see the waves at 270° around you, and then see the blowholes, it felt like my body was moving with the rock. It was so relaxing and I could have stayed there a long time just listening and feeling it.
As we drove back to the town of Albany, we kept our eyes open for familiar scenery from the TV Show, "Itch," which was filmed here. We saw "Green Corp," and the high school.
We had another lovely little cottage to stay at for just one night. Fish and chips for dinner was just a short walk down the street. The bed was so comfy. The one at our Airbnb in Mullaloo is a little stiff and my left hip is not healthy from it. This place was extremely quiet. I woke during the night and noticed how completely dark and peaceful it was.
Day FIVE:
We got Henry breakfast at Macca's (McDonald's), of all fancy places. He still has good memories of a desperately needed pancake breakfast in the Melbourne airport and was happy for a repeat. While he ate, I walked down to Coles for driving snacks because the local Woolies is only open from 12-5pm. Really weird.
Back in January, we visited the Dave Evans Bicentennial tree. Allen's sister, Ashley, and I climbed to the top. Henry had decided to go only halfway, but now he wanted to go all the way to the top. Allen wasn't thrilled about his little boy climbing 213 feet up on widely spaced metal spikes, but was trying to not deny Henry's wishes. Fate was on Allen's side because rain was in the forecast. That makes the rungs slippery so we decided we would not do it and just drive straight home.
We stopped in Williams for petrol. I wanted to get something for Henry to eat but he didn't seem interested in anything there. His face lit up when he saw the "Fart Bombs," which made the cashier laugh. We went a block away and found Chatterbox Cafe was charming. While Henry looked at the menu the shop owner came out. I told her we were still looking to see if anything "fit the bill." She asked what the dietary restrictions are, and I said, "oh, just whatever he's in the mood for. He's 10." We laughed, and then Henry seemed happy with the ham and veggie quiche. It was warm and smelled tasty. We took it back to the car. He had one bite and decided he didn't want it.
Costco was on the way back so I was glad to stop in. It's a 30-45 minute drive from our house so it isn't worth making a trip just for a bag of chocolate chips and fruit bars. This will be our last time to go to this Costco because we leave for the US in just 8 weeks. (Fun fact: Costco is literally 60 seconds from our house in Utah. NOT FUN FACT: When we get back, there will also be a Macca's 55 seconds away and I'm not happy about it.)
Even though I'm kind of sick of sightseeing, it really was a perfect trip. Just the right length, and we didn't stress about trying to do *everything.* Henry is very satisfied now that he has seen Esperance.
Esperance video:
Albany video:
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