The Great Ocean Drive

Esperance, Western Australia

One of the “Top Things to Do in Esperance” mentioned over and over again in brochures and guides was the Great Ocean Drive. Our new friends, Del and Mark, loaned us their car for the afternoon and suggested we take the 40km (25 mi) loop drive. How could we refuse such an offer? We downloaded a map with key stops noted and off we headed.

There are at least nine pristine, white-sand beaches on the route that are all easily accessible and picture-perfect gorgeous. We stopped at each one in turn and despite overcast skies and intermittent rain sprinkles, it would have been impossible not to enjoy the natural and unique beauty of each place.

Despite the stunning beaches, this is still the unpredictable Southern Ocean. All sorts of signs warned of rip currents and large, freak waves among other dangers to keep swimmers alert.

The waves at Fourth Beach were good sized. We watched surfers and boogie boarders held out for the right wave.

Somewhere out there is the Cyclops, known among surfers worldwide as one of the world's most deadly waves. We did not surf it. We did not even see it. But I did nick a pic off the net for you.

Probably the most picturesque beach of all was Twilight Beach, a sweeping shoreline and aquamarine water.

Looking at the waves crashing off the chain of tiny, off-lying islands and reefs was beautiful from our vantage point high atop of the lookout at Observatory Point. When we're sailing through them with Nine of Cups, however, we have a totally different view. Markers at the top of the observatory platform commemorate the arrival of the French explorer, Bruni D'Entrecasteaux, who anchored in this bay with his two ships, Recherche and Esperance in 1792.

Ten Mile Lagoon was really interesting. We didn't see anyone taking advantage of the nude bathing offer, but several 4-wheel drive vehicles certainly churned up the sand.

Esperance had the first electrical wind farm in Australia, built as a research facility in 1987. We could see the wind turbines of Western Power now situated strategically on the hill above the Ten Mile Lagoon churning out kilowatts.

Eleven Mile Beach concluded the necklace of beaches along this route, but it was absolutely stunning.

From here, we traveled north, then west, back to Esperance. The northern loop of the route passes by Pink Lake. According to the lady at Visitor Info, the Pink Lake has not been very pink since a massive flood several years ago, however we thought with a little imagination we could pick up a rosy tinge. The color is attributed to high concentrations of salt tolerant algae, dunalella salina. It's still a pretty view with banksia lining its shores.

It may have been a short trip, but touring along the Great Ocean Drive was a fantastic way to sample the essence of the Esperance coastline from the land for a change, instead of our usual view from the sea.

Esperance, Western Australia

...at first glance

At first glance, hiding behind all the tall, stately Norfolk pines that line the Esplanade, it's hard to know what Esperance is really like or where the downtown might be. We can see the Esperance Bay Yacht Club from our mooring and a clock tower nearby, but other than the large loading dock, jetties and some beach areas, Esperance is well hidden until you get a street or two off the Esplanade and search it out.

We tied up at a small dock near the yacht club, had a quick look around and headed to where we thought the downtown might be. Dempster Street, the main drag, parallels the Esplanade and is a long block away to the west, cleverly concealing the heart of the business district. We were searching for the Visitor's Info Center which we finally found at the far end of the Esplanade in the midst of the Historic Museum Village, a melange of craft shops and boutiques housed in early 20^th century historic buildings. We picked up our requisite maps and brochures, got the locations of the supermarkets and laundromat from the friendly lady there, and headed back towards the downtown. It's not a big town, so getting around on foot is pretty easy.

We found all the necessary places. West End Soapy is a 24-hour laundromat that will serve our needs perfectly … as soon as we can round up 24 one-dollar coins for the machines. There's a large, well-stocked Woolworths (Woolys) which unfortunately does not deliver. There's a smaller IGA closer to the yacht club which does not deliver either, but upon inquiry, would make an exception. The manager offered to drive us and our groceries down to the yacht club when we were ready. How nice was that? And I can one up that offer. As we were leaving the IGA, a woman who had overheard our conversation stopped us and asked if we were yachties. We admitted that we were. She explained that she and her husband are yachties part of the year (their yacht is in Cairns on the opposite side of the country) and she offered us the use of a car for a day for provisioning and fuel. Just like that … “If you need a car, let us know. Here's my number.” Wow! Think Esperance might be a friendly town?

On our way back to the boat (you can't do too much on your first day ashore), we scoped out Taylor's Beach Bar, a highly recommended shore side restaurant for dinner one night and then wandered through the small, but lovely Don Mackenzie Waterfront Gardens. Mackenzie arrived in Esperance in 1947 to fish and subsequently developed a tug service and island cruise business which has contributed to the community and continued to grow with his family still at the helm.

We learned more about the elaborate Taylor Street Clock Tower, which we can see and hear from the boat. It was scheduled for completion at the end of 2013 as a community project, but it doesn't appear to be quite done. Two statues and two clock faces still need to be installed. It's impressive, nonetheless. The statues, all made from bronze, as well as the mechanical four-face clock, were all cast and machined here in Esperance. During the day, the clock's melodic peals drift sweetly on the air announcing each quarter hour.

Back aboard, I poured through our new library of brochures and made up a list of things to do and nearby places to visit. There's the museum and a “boutique aquarium”, a Sunday farmer's market and a walk down the long, historic tanker jetty and possibly the Great Ocean Drive. Simultaneously, David was making up his own list of what needs to be repaired, what chores need doing and what supplies he'll require. We'll negotiate later on a balance between play and work. Right now … time to watch the sunset on the foreshore.

Esperance...

First Port of Call in Western Australia

We headed out of the Hammer Head anchorage just after sunrise for the final leg of the passage to Esperance, our first port of call in Western Australia. It was calm after a blustery night and all was fine as we started our 42nm run until we noted that the bilge pump was on (not unusual) … and stayed on for a rather long period of time (unusual). David added an LED light panel in the cockpit which alerts us to several occurrences that we might otherwise not notice. This was one of them. What was up?

I took the helm while David went to investigate below. Up came floorboards. Yes, there was definitely quite a bit of water. Where from? More floorboards came up. It was a leaking shaft seal and it was spurting water “rather copiously”, as David put it. The bilge pump could keep up with the incoming flow, but the problem shaft seal needed attention post haste. It appeared the shaft seal coupling had slipped out of place on the shaft and needed to be repositioned and secured. An hour later, all was handled and good, no more leaking and we continued on our way to Esperance, a bit more frazzled than anticipated.

The last town of any size visited was Streaky Bay on the other side of the Bight, a couple of weeks ago, and so we were looking forward to Esperance with pleasant anticipation. As we made our way closer and closer to the port, wonderfully magic things started to happen. We had an internet signal, for instance. We heard some ship radio traffic. We saw a wind farm on the hills. Hallelujah!

Heading into Esperance Port, there were several big ships at anchor. The port was originally developed during the gold rush years of the 1890's and today is the largest nickel concentrate exporting port in the southern hemisphere. The Port is also a major grain exporting hub and handles bulk imports such as fuel and fertilisers.

Back in Streaky Bay, friends aboard Zofia had given us some contacts for the Esperance Bay Yacht Club and I'd sent a couple of emails to suss out the area. I received responses within hours of sending the emails. On arrival, Mark and Del on the local yacht, Norlee, were waiting for us and guided us via VHF to the yacht club mooring to which we are currently tied and sitting comfortably in the bay.

Tomorrow, we'll take an exploratory walk into town, but tonight … we've given a tot of rum to honor Neptune and now we'll relax and enjoy the champers that's chilling to celebrate our successful crossing of the Great Australian Bight.