I had read up on Esperance before setting out on my trip. One of the
bays, Lucky Bay, had been scientifically proven as Australia's whitest
beach (the sand that is). So i had an idea in my mind but nothing
quite like what i found upon arrival! The beaches are bleached white
with waters so clear you can quite easily think you are on some
tropical island in the indian ocean. Esperance is in southern
australia so the seas are quite cool, somewhere between 18 degrees and
21 degrees celcius in the summer, and somewhat lower in the winter. It
is quite a windy place too, with the southerly wind coming in straight
from the antarctic. So the temperatures were quite a relief compared
to what i experienced in Perth, but found it somewhere on the chilly
side at times. Esperance itself, as in the town, is somewhat average
as towns go but it is the surrounding parts that are quite
interesting. The Cape Le Grand national park is a half hours drive
east along the coast, this is where Lucky Bay i mentioned earlier is
located. Along with it is Thistle Cove and Hellfire Bay. Thistle cove
is by far my favorite, the beach stretches some way and just beyond
the rocks on the far end we found a secluded section of beach that
felt like our own private beach :) Truth be known we never encountered
more than a handful of people on any of the beaches in the park which
i thought pretty amazing. I swam at this cove and the water was cold
but not unbearably so. Unfortunately, i did not apply any sunscreen
and payed dearly for it (the next day i looked like a lobster, bright
beacon red *sigh*).
Close to the cove is a mountain, called Frenchmans Peak. We saw that
there was a path leading to the top so we decided to climb it. It was
listed as a hard walk and it was challenging, quite steep at places
but when we reached the top it was worth it. At 350m odd tall it was
quite an amazing view. At the top is a cave, there is probably a
better word to describe it, cavern maybe? Anyway this cave cuts
through to both sides of the mountain, each side with a view to ocean.
The wind at the top is quite incredible, you had to be careful not to
be blown off, literally. Have a look at the photos :)
