Brrrr – a chilly 3 degrees in the van come morning at Quagi Beach (according to our Gembrook calibrated thermometer). We continue to be surprised at how cold it can get considering our current latitude is supposedly closer to the equator than Auckland. With a full moon it had been a lovely clear night and with that came a brilliant blue sky in the morning. The sun graced us with some warmth in which to pack up with and we were soon heading north back to the main road to Esperance. Scenery along the way was once again significant farming, primarily wheat production. We were indecisive about whether or not to stay in Esperance and then Carol discovered there was a patchwork shop there – say no more – to the caravan park we went…
While Carol disappeared to the patchwork shop before it closed at noon, Ross went about working very hard setting up the van. He was however rewarded for his efforts by Carol making him some lunch when she eventually got back.
Once sorted and with the weather just perfect we headed off to check out Esperance and surrounds. The town itself has a rather small population of around 14,000 in spite of its excellent beaches and scenery generally. It is probably disadvantaged somewhat due to its remoteness to Perth and everything east. The town faces the southern ocean but is protected somewhat from its wrath by the numerous islands relatively close to shore. There is however evidence of stress being placed upon the waterfront by the ever rising tides with no real beach apparent and efforts being made in places to stem the erosion – something we have seen all along this coast.
The scenery is however very impressive with white sand contrasting the clear blue of the ocean and the very rocky islands and headlands. Excellent surf breaks were apparent in numerous places close to the town. Our drive also took us to the Pink Lake. It changes colour based on levels of alga and a particular bacteria. We did not think it was overly pink while we were there but the local magpies were really friendly. The reason soon became evident as they check out visiting vehicles and pluck insect delicacies from the grills and radiators – a yummy dragonfly from ours for example. Take away for the birds perhaps.
Our last point of interest was the old “Tanker Jetty”. Basically a long curved jetty close to the town centre that among other things is the home to Sammy the sea lion. Sammy is a very well off (fat) sea lion that hangs around the jetty waiting for people who have caught fish off the jetty to throw him the scraps. Apparently other random seals and sea lions frequent the jetty but Sammy was the only one there during our visit. We really enjoyed Esperance. The town is a mix of the old and the new with the most substantial Norfolk pines we have ever seen lining the main street and its scenery is excellent. With our moving on further east on Sunday we will soon be crossing the Nullarbor Plain. It is only some 1200km wide and will see us back in South Australia at its end, but as there are no towns of any significance our phone and internet coverage will likely be marginal for the next week or so.
