All throughout our trip, we have had people telling us we “must” visit Esperance. This has included WA locals and other travellers alike. It is home to beaches voted among the best in the world, some amazing National Parks and is a nice spot to slow down for a few days.
We were convinced and decided to make a bit of a longer stay in the region to see what the whole area had to offer.
Hopetoun and Fitzgerald River NP
Hopetoun was on our way into Esperance from the Wheatbelt. We’d been tossing up if we should stay there or not, but once Abby finished her research on the neighbouring Fitzgerald River National Park it was decided. Our trip would be two nights in the National Park before moving onto Esperance.
Bookings made we were well and truly looking forward to this one. The best laid plans can fall apart quickly. In the days before our arrival a dry lightning storm ignited a bushfire in the Fitzgerald River NP. The park was closed and evacuated for obvious reasons. Fire was beginning to be a bit of a theme for our travels in WA. This fire was shortly followed by the crashing of a 737 Fire Fighting Plane while helping with the fire. Fortunately, the crew survived, but the Park would be staying shut.
It was decided to head to Hopetoun and hope for a spot in the free camp or caravan park. We scored a free spot and spent our lost days on some schoolwork and exploring locally. We got as close as we could to the National Park. It looked every bit as enticing as we had expected, but no visit for us.
The highlight was probably the local beach. It had both a jumping platform and a waterslide. A swim offshore got you to the first platform before a second swim took you deeper to the slide. Hannah and Christian gave it a go the first night. It was a long swim for Hannah but she was determined. Abby joined them on the second night and it was some good consolation fun.
Esperance
Esperance seems to be the town that is always bustling. It is fully booked up year around. There was no accommodation available while we were there, so extensions of our stay were just not possible. It’s not hard to understand its popularity; pretty beaches, a relaxed atmosphere, National Parks adjacent and a great starting point before tackling the Nullarbor. We gave it a good go, booking five nights, before heading to Duke of Orleans Bay for two nights and returning back to restock before the Nullarbor.
Our highlights from Esperance itself were the waterfront and the Coastal Loop drive. We were lucky that we could walk large section of waterfront from our accommodation. We walked it a couple of times, seeing the whale tail, jetty and playground. On another occasion we drove further down explored a different playground and spent some time in the swimming area.
The Coastal Loop drive is a must see. The beaches are all very nice, it’s obvious why they feature so highly in the rankings. There were so many, you could really take your pick depending on what you wanted. 11 Mile was our pick. We liked it on our first visit and returned for more.
Overall it’s a lovely place, there is plenty to do and see and we could have easily spent longer enjoying and relaxing.
Cape Le Grand National Park
Let’s be honest, Cape Le Grand National Park is the big-ticket item in the area. It’s a must do, whether you stay a few nights or make a day trip. Abby had spent quite some time trying to score a couple of nights in the National Park, but it proved too popular and we couldn’t get a spot. Turns out you need to be booking six months in advance.
We generally toured most of the park, stopped and checking things out as we went. We realised that some of the walks were one-way monsters. They were not happening in our visit, so we picked some highlights for the day.
We started our visit at Cape Le Grande Bay, it was pretty, had a camp ground and was one end of the Coastal Walk Trail. We did snoop at the campground (out of curiosity) and it would have been our preferred spot. Much smaller than Lucky Bay, it felt more like a National Park should.
We also stopped in at Thistle Cove and Whistling Rock throughout the day. The drive to Rossiter Bay seemed a bridge too far and we skipped it. Certainly though, there were other highlights.
Frenchman Peak
After leaving Cape Le Grande Bay, we decided we would climb Frenchman Peak. It’s one of the most different climbs we have ever done. A big granite peak, complete with caves and overhangs. What makes it most interesting is that the climb is pretty well up the granite face. It’s very challenging and the warning signs are pretty accurate. The way to the top is a barely marked trail, up a steep uneven slope. Find you own foot holds, sometimes handholds and generally path between the signs.
The caves and overhangs on the way up are huge and a spectacle themselves. We didn’t explore them too thoroughly as we had enough to do. The view from the top is why you climb it. A 360 degree view over the entire park, the bays, the bush, the ocean and further along the coast. We thought it was worth every challenging step.
Hellfire Bay
After climbing Frenchman Peak, Hellfire Bay was our next stop. We thought we’d call in and see it, before continuing onto Lucky Bay for lunch and a relaxed afternoon. It was a stunning beach, far from busy, white squeaky sand, little rock pools and a creek at the far end. But, still Lucky Bay was calling, we thought it would be better. We came, we saw, we liked it but we left.
Very, very shortly after we were back. We didn’t like Lucky Bay one bit and this was by far the best bay in the park. We lunched then hit the beach for the afternoon. The kids spent hours in the rock pools and we all braved the cold water for a dip. Abby and Christian walked the length to the creek, finding it teeming with huge tadpoles. Throughout the whole afternoon it felt like there was never more than a few groups to share it with.
Our opinion was confirmed when we chatted with a former local that evening. He doesn’t go anywhere else.
Lucky Bay
Lucky Bay is famous. Seemingly in both international beach competitions and amongst those travelling Australia. We have heard so much hype about this place, it was some kind of paradise in our minds. Our impressions were not great, it seemed to be over-loved and over-rated.
From a distance, it is certainly pretty. A huge, sweeping bay, protected at one end by a rocky headland and seeming to go on forever the other ways. The sand looks a brilliant white and the water turquoise blue.
Up close it’s far less appealing. There are sixty campsites on its doorstep, plus the day trippers, so it’s busy. You are allowed to drive on this beach (something we almost hate), especially when it serves no purpose. That has meant the sand at the main access point (and for a good distance up the beach) is compacted to be like concrete. The sand up close is also not longer white. It has been discoloured by a combination of heavy traffic and what looked like some mould or bacteria type growth. Scratching the surface the sand is brown, then green then purple as you go deeper. The compaction means no draining and definitely none of the famous squeaking. I am sure if you joined the literally hundreds of 4WDs on the beach you would (eventually) get far enough away that it would come good again.
Our view is it’s completely overrated. We spent about three minutes there. We had stopped at better beaches already in the park.
Duke of Orleans Bay
Duke of Orleans Bay was our consolation prize for not being able to stay in Cape le Grand. We booked it after enjoying our day trip to the National Park. Even that was a difficult task, with only a two night stay available when we wanted it. We took it and were glad we did.
It’s a little further out of Esperance and has a heavy focus on fishing, but we filled our two days pretty easily. We settled for exploring the beaches, lookouts and walking trails. The mud map we got on our arrival showed a few sites and after some further enquiries we explored. There was more we didn’t do as well. We missed walking to one of the close by islands at low tide and we skipped some heavy sand driving to get into the eastern side of Cape le Grande NP. All reports were positive, but you cannot do everything.
The walks were both good. The walk to the beach across the sand dunes was the highlight. It was beautiful views and scenery on the way there, before exploring a great little beach which we had to ourselves. The second walk was to a rock formation called the Three Sisters. It was still nice, but really wasn’t as good as the first one.
One other memory from our stay was watching a group of idiots getting towed and recovered in their 2WD vans and sedans from Wharton Beach. It entertained us for a good 15 minutes. The kind people who helped them out are certainly better people than us. There is no way we’d be risking our vehicle for a group who are clearly so stupid and selfish.
Eventually though, we had to return to Esperance. We had jagged a single night to refill the water tanks, do some washing and last minute shopping before we set out across the Nullarbor. We were finally (although reluctantly) ready to leave Western Australia.