Esperance - Day 3 - Great Ocean Drive

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Oh, dear, another small drama at the house this morning – NO HOT WATER!

The couple late to rise were cursing the early birds for using up all the hot water but discovered when they ventured downstairs that the couple out of bed first had not enjoyed showers with hot water either. So, we had another round of looking in fuse boxes and trying to resolve the problem ourselves before calling the owner.

Bernie thought that he recalled the hot water switch in the fuse box being in the opposite position to the rest of the fuses in the box so switched it downwards. Tracey opted for a sponge bath and Bernie decided to brave a quick cold shower. We boiled a kettle to wash up the breakfast dishes but, after an hour and a half, there was still no hot water. How long should an electric hot water tank take to heat up?

Before heading out we contacted the owner to let her know that we had no hot water and could she let us know if there is something we should try, that we hadn’t already tried, to get the hot water service heating up.

Our first stop this morning was the bakery again to pick up some sandwiches and cakes. The hot bread bakery on The Esplanade has so many sandwiches, rolls and cakes ready to go before 9.00am in the morning. Almost too many, it was difficult to make a choice, ha, ha and we so didn’t need the cakes!

Next to Stop 1 on the Great Ocean Drive, the Cannery Arts Centre & Lookout. The art centre was closed, but we climbed the steps at the rear for the panoramic view of Esperance Bay and, if you looked the other way, the water treatment plant.

We left the vehicles in the car park and walked across to Stop 2, the Esperance Jetty Headland, taking a turn out the jetty in a brisk breeze. While we were on the jetty Bernie was texting back and forth with the owner about yesterday’s power outage and this morning’s absence of hot water. She advised that she would call a plumber and then have the cleaner call round to make sure the hot water fuse is on.

The original jetty has been replaced with a modern version and the foreshore has been redeveloped to create a beautiful parkland area with a playground, BBQs and public conveniences for locals and visitors to enjoy. We had read about the iconic ‘Sammy the Seal’ sculpture while reading the info boards on the jetty. It took us a while, but we did eventually find him.

We skipped Stop 3, the home of the Whale Tail sculpture, since we had walked through that area already. We popped in at Stop 4, the Taylor Street Jetty, to view the clocktower again. Added bonus this morning, the Esperance Miniature Railway was running. We chatted for a while with one of the volunteer operators who told us that the clocktower was built with funds raised by the miniature railway.

Stop No 6 took us up onto the headland to enjoy the spectacular 360-degree view of the town and, out to sea, the Recherche Archipelago. With the sun shining again this morning the near view was excellent although a little hazy as far away as Cape Le Grand. We took the time to complete one of the trails that wind around Dempster Head and we were rewarded with many outstanding views of the turquoise waters.

Onwards we drove with Stops 7 to 11 at Lovers Cove, West Beach, Chapmans Point and Blue Haven all of which we had seen from the seaward side during our cruise on Thursday. Viewing from the landward side we were able to gain a broad perspective of the islands we cruised past a couple of days ago, Cull Island and Charley Island with Rabbit and Button Islands nestled in front of them.

Ha, now we were onto Twilight Beach Road heading along part of the coast we had not seen before - from the land or the sea! We stopped in at Salmon Beach (#12), Fourth Beach (#13) and Twilight Cove (#14), one of Esperance’s most famous beaches. There were some intrepid souls enjoying the surf at Twilight Cove, but it was much too cool, not to mention far too windy, for us to consider swimming. And then there’s the fact that it’s an unpatrolled beach and there could be white pointer sharks lurking??

After checking out Dolphin Cove (#15) on the other side of the headland we drove along to Observatory Point (#16), Island and Beach (#17). Observatory Island is famous for saving the French crews of ‘La Recherche’ and ‘L’Esperance’ commanded by Admiral d’Entrecasteaux. Instead of coming to grief on the islands of the archipelago during westerly gales in 1792, the lookout was able to guide them into the lee of Observation Island to wait out the storm.

They ran out of ideas for naming the last few stops giving them the utilitarian names Nine Mile Beach (Stop 18), Ten Mile Lagoon (Stop 19) and Eleven Mile Beach (Stop 20). We presume these names reflect the number of miles out of town that each is?? We ate our sandwiches at Eleven Mile Beach and then reversed our journey back into town with one last stop at a lookout with a view over Twilight Cove.

On our return to the townhouse, we were delighted to find that the hot water tap now produces hot water again. Thank goodness the owner was able to sort this out on the Saturday morning of the long weekend.

We have walked or driven past Aurelia’s Ice Creamery & Café a couple of times in the last two days. Unable to resist the siren call of the ice-creams any longer we walked from the townhouse down to the corner of The Espanade and Emily Street at ice-cream o’clock. We were confronted with a vast array of flavours (three dozen or more?) but no vanilla??? Bernie asked if they have vanilla? Yes, but apparently, it’s so boring they keep it in a freezer out the back rather than having it on display in the front of house freezer cabinet.

We ate at the townhouse again this evening. Bernie and Steve did a run to IGA for some coleslaw and then to Red Rooster for chicken and chips. Even with a full kitchen at our disposal it’s hard to get motivated to cook something healthy on holidays.

After dinner we fitted in a couple of games of Blobs with Steve and Bernie the victors. Cathy and I finished off with a game of Quiddler. It’s been a week since I played so I was just about suffering withdrawal symptoms, ha, ha. Cathy hasn’t played since she last played with Kerry and me back in December, so she needed a bit of a refresher.

Back on the road again tomorrow … and, hopefully, we can all have a hot shower before we leave.



Steps: 13,716 (9.62kms)

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