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Published: November 29th 2011
Esperance
...From the Rotary LookoutThis Blog entry covers our stay in Esperance to the 22nd Nov.
We came to see the 'best beaches in Australia' but first a few words on the town itself. Esperance has all the facilities that you would expect to find in a town that supports a strong community and region, car dealerships, Hardware, light and some heavy industrial enterprises as well as new big brand supermarket and numerous retail shops within a defined shopping precinct on the Esperance foreshore. We did notice that there were no 'coffee shops', but the cafes and restaurants were more than adequate to meet our needs. The retail shopping gave the distinct impression of catering to a holiday clientel much as you would find in any major beachside tourist town. Trish found a very nice little number in one of the many clothing outlets and was well pleased with herself !
But we came to see te 'best beaches in Australia' so where better to start than by driving the Great Ocean Drive, a circular loop drive that is 38 klm long and includes some of the region's best known attractions. First we come to West Beach, apparently a favourite with surfers, being
Esperance
Taylor Street Jetty Cafe ...great coffee spot. an old board man I could not see that it would be high on my agenda although the pools behind the reef (between beach & reef) looked good for swimming. But Australia's top beaches it was not up there on my list ..plenty to go though. Next we rounded a headland and saw Blue Haven, this was what we had come to see, pristine blue waters and a sheltered swimming corner with white sandy beaches. Salmon beach was next and followed by Fourth Beach. Both had off shore reefs protecting them from the swells but exposed to the southerly weather, not bad at all though. Around the next corner we came to twilight Beach, voted one of WA's most popular beaches and you can see why, it was fantastic. Spectacular to look at, the beach curves to the south west and becomes increasingly protected (like Blue Haven). Patrolled by Surf Lifesavers in summer this is a popular beach with crystal clear waters and magnificent white sand, yep it makes the list. Next is Observatory Beach, where alll the seagulls and sand had Jackie in a most agitated state so off we went for a quick walk to calm her down,
Esperance
Coast near Observatory beach she is just like a child on staright Rasberry cordial when she hits the beach and loves it, great to watch. After Observatory we went on to Ten Mile Beach where a rocky off shore reef protects the beach and creates a long shallow lagoon between the beach and the southerly swell which is popular with swimmers. This drive was a great introduction and we selected Blue Haven for our destination tomorrow, a day on the beach, well, some one has got to do it !!
Observatory Point Lookout gives a great view across towards the Archipelago and is opposite the cove where the two french frigates took refuge in 1792. Another good lookout was the Rotary Lookout on Wireless Hill. We had spectacular views here of 'The Bay of Isles', Pink Lake and the Esperance township. The Pink Lake was out past our Caravan Park, on Pink Lake road. It is a salt lake that is harvested for salt at the eastern end. It is pink in colour, hence the name, and this colour is attributed to high concentrations of salt tolerant algae, dunalella salina.
Our day on the beach was as you can imagine,
Esperance
Fourth Beach relaxing, enjoyable and basically OK..Jackie loved it, so much so that we may come back here later in Feb, (whilst waiting for the wet season to pass up North) to see the beaches and region to the west of Esperance and do a bit more 'sand sitting and swimming' on some of the best beaches we have seen.
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