ECSTATIC ESPERANCE

Well, we were just about blasted out of Bremer Bay - 2 nights before we were to leave we were hit by a massive and very violent lightening and thunder storm. At one stage we thought we would have to hitch up the van as the park was looking pretty wet and the grass in front of the van was beginning to resemble a lake!! We survived the night, but sadly our entertainment system did not. I think we must have picked up a mischievous spirit or gremlin during the storm, as the radio/CD/DVD player started behaving in a very odd manner indeed. It would turn itself on in the middle of the night (provoking some very strained domestic discussions revolving around who did or did not turn the radio off at bed time!), then when watching a DVD it would fast forward, stop, pause, rewind etc. without anyone touching a control. I actually had a fight with it, when trying to watch a DVD whilst ironing (I know, I have since broken that nasty habit, ironing that is!), I would press play, it would play for a couple of mins, then fast forward, I would wind it back and watch again for a mo, then it would decide to re-wind some more, I would say a couple of choice words, then fast forward and watch a little more, it would then stop and go back to the start, well, then the air in the van inexplicably turned blue as I had a heated discussion with whatever mischievous entity was involved in eroding what little is left of my already diminished sanity. Of course, as TBBITW is not really into movies, all of this meant very little to him, however we were also deprived of our music, as when we put a CD in it would stop and start all over the place, fast forwarding only moments into new tracks and eventually refusing to play at all. This was too much even for the bloke, so we eventually ordered a new machine when we arrived in Esperance. Incidentally, Bremer Bay has very limited reception for mobiles etc. so we had minimal contact with the outside world while we were there.

Every time we arrive in Esperance, we feel that we have come home. We have been in love with Esperance now from the first time we visited around 7 years ago. The pristine beauty of the place is incomparable in my opinion. OK - I have not had a lot of experiences with which to compare, however that it is beautiful is incontestable!! The town itself is just a pleasant and relatively unspoiled country town, although some of the prices are a bit over the top these days. We stayed at the caravan park right on the seafront - it was glorious. The only down-side to Esperance is the wind - it is notoriously windy for a large part of the year. The winds start to die off around March and the weather then leading into winter is usually just wonderful. Similar to Albany, the western beaches are more exposed and therefore more volatile, whilst the town and close eastern beaches are all clustered around the big bay there and much more docile.

The port at Esperance is extremely busy. I have heard that it is the best natural port (and naturally deep) in the Southern hemisphere. Sitting on shore, watching the big ships swing on their anchors and the busy tugs maneuvering them in and out of port is a very relaxing and enjoyable pastime.

Esperance is often known as The Bay of Islands as the surrounding ocean is literally dotted with hundreds of tiny islands. There is an excellent boat tour of the surrounding islands and shoreline - we have taken the tour 3 times and it never fails to impress.
The ocean around Esperance is bountiful so fishing is a favourite pastime. There is a long jetty right in the middle of town. The jetty is a favourite with fishermen of all ages. It is also a favourite spot for a couple of local sea lions who frequent the jetty in the hopes of generous fisherfolk donating some of their catch or bait to them. Another local is a very tame cormorant who wanders the jetty looking plaintively at anyone who might donate a small morsel.
Whilst Esperance itself if beautiful, the National Parks to the east are stunning - huge & fantastically shaped rock formations, stunted sea swept bush and pristine coastline combine with white, white sand that actually squeaks when you walk on it, and crystal clear lagoons to make it one of the most picturesque areas you are ever likely to visit.

When we parked our van and made the customary hand-shake with our next door neighbours I was startled to realise that the fellow next to us was actually an old work mate who I had not seen for some 16 years or so. He (a retired bank manager) and his wife were having a break and as it turned out, were there for around the same period of time as ourselves. We all connected really well, particularly around late afternoon when the beers started to flow (along with the proverbial b'sht) and we really enjoyed their company. Ironically, one of the things we wanted to do while in Esperance was to catch up with another mate, yet another retired bank manager (from an opposing corporation) and his wife. We did indeed do this and were spoilt by this well known local as he had us there for a bbq and sent us away with home grown produce and more fish than we knew what to do with. He also took TBBITW fishing and they did very well indeed. We were able to pass on the 'pickled prawn' recipe to our mate and so felt that we had been able to repay his hospitality just a little.

As Esperance is a reasonably large town, we were able to get air-bags fitted to the Cruiser while we were there. TBBITW had decided after some deliberation and quite a bit of study that the airbags were necessary to distribute the weight resting on the tow ball to balance over the whole of the vehicle.

We spent a delightful 3 weeks in Esperance catching up with old friends and re-acquainting ourselves with this delightful region.

BEAUTIFUL BREMER BAY

Bremer Bay was the first place we stayed at where we had not been before and it really felt like our journey had begun when we set out from Albany that morning. Bremer Bay is a tiny fishing village around 60 ks east of Albany (as usual don't rely on my distances). The village snuggles in around the Wellstead Estuary. The place exists almost entirely for fishing, and has long been a favourite of local farmers looking for a change of pace and a feed of fish. The estuary itself boasts good supplies of black bream and some of the elusive King George Whiting. If you are lucky enough to have a boat, good fishing is to be had in the sheltered waters of some of the local bays. As with all of the South East Coast of WA, the coastal scenery is outstanding.

BB boasts two caravan parks, one more upmarket and a more basic one which is now owned by a group of local farmers. We stayed at the second one which advertises itself as being "the one by the beach" - we were delighted with the park, it was basic, but we had so much space - we almost had our own paddock.

We almost came to grief on arrival in the park, when TBBITW became a little excited at the prospect of all this space, and nearly collected a tree which decided to jump out and bump the van. A very close shave indeed. All the friends and rellys had decided that we would not like BB and would be gone from there very quickly - quite the opposite - we actually extended our stay and ended up being there for 9 days. The park had a decent discount for longer stays and we took advantage of that. The reasons we stayed on there were twofold - one, we just loved the peace and quiet - it was blissful, and secondly, TBBITW became interested in fishing again.

We met a nice old fella, by the name of Ken - he confided in TBBITW that he would turn 80 in two weeks time while in Bremer. He was quite a character and a gentleman of the old school.

He walked and rode substantial distances in order to pursue his passion for fishing. On one occasion, he nearly didn't make it back in one piece. The estuary fishing had not been good that day, so he thought he would ride his trusty old treddly up the steep gravel hill behind the camp so as to try his hand at a spot of ocean fishing. Coming back down that rocky incline nearly proved is undoing. Coming down the hill, he started to build up considerable speed, the track was loose gravel and as old Slim used to say, "the corrugations were so deep you could bury a cow"! Well, the poor old blighter had no choice but to cling on to those handlebars for dear life, as with shirt tails flapping and dentures clattering he rode the ride of his long and venerable life. As TBBITW stated, with typical male understatement, had he come off, he would have lost a bit of bark - I think he may not have made his 80th had he taken a tumble.

Ken took TBBITW fishing with him and shared his secret recipe for pickling bait prawns. A wonderful innovation these pickled prawns, as they are easy to put on the hook, stay firm and do not need any refrigeration. This effectively means that wherever you are, you always have some viable bait at hand if you want to drop a line in. We have since shared this recipe with numerous others. Ken very kindly gave us some of his bream as he had more than he could use, we hadn't tried it before and were quite impressed, especially as many people had been derogatory about it in the past.

The other thing we did whilst there was visit the Wellstead Museum & Cafe Restuarant - what an interesting place that was, with all its historic buildings and fascinating pieces of history - well worth a visit when you are there.

I won't bore you with all the little scenic beaches etc, but suffice to say, there is a lovely little swimming beach and numerous good beach fishing spots too. I hope you enjoy the photos -

with love - Steph.