WEEK 9c ESPERANCE - PERTH

After plenty of straight road I finally see the sea, and I mean THE SEA! Very exciting. I arrive in Esperance, a small town with around 20,000 people which is 10 hours drive from Perth. I was very excited on the approach into the town as I could see some very handy stores - including big car workshops, 4x4 drive shops, restaurants, Target, day spas etc. Pretty much all the amenities which I have not seen for a good while. I dropped off the two backpackers as soon as I could (at the local backpackers), as I wanted some much deserved ‘me’ time. I on the other hand decided to splurge out at an award winning B&B as I was feeling pretty rotten and under the weather. So, as the clouds were coming in over the bay, I checked into the place and had a much deserved hot shower and enjoyed the fluffy towels. 6 towels for me! Nice!

The next next morning I was feeling much better and the weather had cleared, I headed for the ‘Great Ocean Drive’ which I can truly say is up there with the Great Ocean Road in Victoria or the Ocean Drive located outside Cape Town (South Africa) in therms of good driving scenery. The beaches where out of this world! I could not believe the blue water that I was seeing. I have never seen anything like it. The fishing is meant to be brilliant as well and it is very popular to go fishing off the rocks. However, as so called ‘killer waves’ comes in, there are bolted points that can be used when fishing off these rocks so that the trip does not end in tears. I decided to give the fishing a miss for now has I have far too much fish in the fridge already and have plenty more to see - Cape Le Grande National Park next.

I drove to the Park (40km) from Esperance and went to check out the no 1 voted beach in WA - Lucky Bay. Well, OMG, this is something to write home about! Any of you out there, let me tell you. this is not to be missed on a trip to Australia. The water was amazing, and as I have seen some pretty good beaches before in my life, this is not to be missed. The colour of the water is like it has come from a new colour spectrum, turqouise, my favorite colour. 

Having had a quick dip in the ocean and some lunch at the beach I needed to get going. I had 10 hours drive ahead of me to get to Perth Airport on time to pick up Maria, my friend from Melbourne, who is joining me for the Easter break. I get to a small town called Rutherglen just after dark. I was stressing, because I desperately needed to get some washing done before getting to Perth. I had forgotten the washing powder at the last place I washed. Doh! So, I head on an excursion into the town. Well, all shops (it’s a 1 shop town) are closed and all I can see is the local hotel/pub with men in illumines clothing (miners in safety clothing) and a petrol station. They did not sell much at this station, but the lady behind the counter sorted me out with enough washing powder to last me 2 washes. Nice lady!

The next day I am very excited, I have 500km ahead of me including stopping off to see the famous ‘wave rock’.  I gave Maria a call about 5 hours before she was due to arrive only to find out that I have got mixed up with the dates and she is coming the day after. Bummer! Never mind, I am sure I can kill an extra day in Fremantle, Perth. Luckily the hostel had a spare bed and I got booked in. 

Well, this place was a very typical ‘backpackers’ which I usually try to stay clear off. But, beggars cant be choosers, so I was glad to have somewhere to stay for a night in the centre of Fremantle at the epicenter of all the pubs and restaurants and just down the road from Little Creatures brewery where we were planning to visit over the long weekend. I went to bed early and started chatting to this woman in my dorm. She was staying there due to having recently gone through some domestic violence which had resulted in getting stabbed by her ex-boyfriend, got both lungs punctured and then the boyfriend had hung himself! He had been involved with drugs and other dodgy things and I locked my valuables into my locker and thought ‘good night Maria, sleep tight’. Luckily she was gone in the morning when I got up.