It was a beautiful day yesterday (Sunday) – sunny and mild with very little wind. It was a perfect day for exploring the beaches and coastline around this region.

Esperance is blessed with magnificent beaches and beautiful scenery. it is 720 kilometres to the south east of Perth. The population of Esperance is about 10,000 with another 3,000 people living in the neighbouring local government area. To the north of the town is the Great Ocean Drive which follows the coast and provides access to many beaches and scenic lookouts. We started at the Rotary Lookout that provides a view over the port and the town. 

The coastline is characterised by many small islands. It is the location where flights to, and from, the eastern states cross the coastline after flying over the Great Australian Bight. I have often noticed the many islands on my flights to, and from Perth. The area just looks as though it is peppered with little blobs of rock.. Seeing these from ground level provides a different view entirely. The local bay on which the town sits is known as the Bay of Islands. A good place to practice some land / seascape photography!

Near its end, the Great Ocean Drive took us past a large lake named Pink Lake. It wasn’t very pink yesterday, probably because it is the wrong time of year for the algae that causes its colour to be  blooming. Everyone seemed interested in taking a photo, however, perhaps just to imagine what the colour could have been.

After lunch, we drove down to the Cape Le Grand National Park. This is a very scenic area of granite peaks and smooth granite outcrops at each of the many beaches around the Cape. It is a bit reminiscent of Wilsons Promontory. The beaches were beautiful – long stretches of white sand with attractive rocky headlands at each end. We pottered around a number of them as we explored the area during the afternoon.

We travelled back to our hotel  late in the afternoon, just as the animals were coming out to feed. We saw several groups of emu and a few mobs of kangaroo in the scrubland by the road.