Esperance WA – Oz Half Lap 2018

About Esperance

So much of the Western Australian coastline, particularly the coastline washed by the Great Southern Ocean, is idyllically beautiful. Turquoise waters, beautiful white sands, granite rocks edging the beaches. It is hard to imagine a more sustained area of beauty than the beaches which lie just to the west of Esperance – West Beach, Chapman’s Point, Blue Haven Beach, Salmon Beach, Fourth Beach and Twilight Beach.

The impossibly white sands, the gently rounded granite cliffs, and the ocean changing from aquamarine near the shore to a deep blue out near the islands of the Archipelago of the Recherche, is a combination of nature’s beauties which make Esperance one of the true wonders of the Australian coastline.

The sand dunes, pushed to fantastic heights by the unforgiving ‘Esperance Doctor’, are 50-60 metres high. They are so white and so battered by the winds of the Southern Ocean that there are places where the sand has drifted across the road like snow. Below the road the white sands of the beaches and small bays are edged by smooth and dramatic granite rocks and glorious displays of wildflowers. This is one of those areas where the beauty is so overwhelming that it really does take your breath away (sourced from the Aussie Towns website – click for more).

Esperance Caravan Park

It was quite a long 530km drive from Denmark to Esperance (maplink) but the location we selected to stay at, Seaside Caravan Park made the distance worth it. The CP is located right on the beach with ocean views out of our van’s front windows. As in previous stops we will use this as our base for the next 3 days.

The Great Ocean Drive day trip

First trip was the Great Ocean Drive to the west of Esperance visiting…

The Pink Lake – which is no longer Pink due to the construction of a railway line blocking the flow of salt water plus environment changes in the area (more on Wikipedia)
11 Mile Lagoon – vividly blue water and white sands; absolutely stunning
The Esperance windfarm has nine turbines positioned at Ten Mile Lagoon. In 2004, six more turbines were built at Nine Mile Beach. The two wind farms now generate enough to meet around 20% of Esperance’s power needs.
Observatory Point – were looking for whales but saw none but the view is still pretty good
Blue Haven Beach – We had lunch here with amazing azure blue water and stunning white sands as a backdrop along with it’s strange looking granite island.
Rotary Lookout – located at Dempster Head, it gives you a 360° view of the town of Esperance

The following day we took a stroll along the foreshore in front of our caravan park and eagle-eye Merrisa spotted dolphins about 5 metres from the shore.

Esperance Pink Lake?
Observatory Point
Observatory Point
Esperance Wind Farm
Wind Farm bird
Blue Haven Beach
Esperance Wind Farm
Twilight Cove
Twilight Cove
Great lunch spot
View from Rotary Lookout
View from Rotary Lookout
Rotary Lookout
Esperance Beach
Esperance Beach - with dolphin
Esperance Beach
Esperance Beach
Esperance Beach - with dolphin

Cape Le Grand National Park

Cape Le Grand NP is a short 46km drive from Esperance (maplink) and wow is it worth it! The landscape changes from massive granite outcrops to freshwater pools and unbelievably white sandy beaches with views over many islands. We spent the day here having a look around and visited (maplink)…

Hellfire Bay – a scenic, secluded bay nestled between sea-swept rocky headlands
Whistling Rock – as the name suggests; there is a large rock that whistles in the wind. Must have been blowing in the wrong direction when we were here as we heard nothing and it was windy enough to blow you hat off. Still a beautiful place with lots of granite, wildflowers and crystal clear water
Thistle Cove – Captain Matthew Flinders named Thistle Cove in 1802 after the ship’s master John Thistle
Frenchman Peak – just had a look at it as it’s a 3 hour return hike rated as a level 5.
Lucky Bay – the star of the trip. The water is the most azure blue and sand the whitest you could ever find, and of course it squeaks! This was voted the best beach in WA and it is easy to understand why. We drove down onto the beach and had lunch next to the car (out of the wind) just up from the Lucky Bean Cafe van. Kangaroos also came down onto the beach to say hi to everyone – pretty cool.