Esperance

Looking at the map I realise we are leaving behind the land of "up" not "oz" - you heard correctly. Yallingup, Candyup, Manjimup, Nannup, Balingup, Kojonup, Boyanup, Myalup, Binningup, Dardanup, Nornalup, Jerramungup, Wonnerup, Cowaramup, Boranup, Gnowangerup, Tambellup, Porongurup - enough! Yes, and there are more - someone should write a song and set it to "I've Been Everywhere"!
Salmon Beach

In the meantime, back to our travels from Albany to Esperance through majestic Karri Forests, pastures with contented (how do I know they are contented you ask - 'cause they are fat) sheep and cattle, ancient mountain ranges, national parks, different combinations of wildflowers, and our lunch break (not worth mentioning) at the inland town of Ravensthorpe which is the beginning of the Golden Outback on our journey. We had intended to take an overnight stop but the free camp lacked appeal so we soldiered on and approximately 500 or so kilometers later we settled into Esperance on the Southern Ocean. Situated on the beautiful Esperance Bay or "Bay of Isles" as it is often referred. This area definitely has a "wow" factor unlike any other we have seen. There are a string of 110 islands in the brilliant blue water along the archipelago.

Blue Haven Beach

To the west the 38 kilometre circular loop of the Great Ocean Drive offers the most breathtaking views (we drove it in both directions) we have seen on the whole trip. The beaches of Blue Haven, Salmon and Twilight had enormous waves crashing into the islands and beaches with the sea churning over smooth rocky pillows close in to the shore. The Esperance wind farm of 15 turbines situated on the cliffs look spectacular with a backdrop of the islands, ocean and cliffs and the Roaring Forty's providing plenty of movement to produce 22% of the towns power and reduce the amount of diesel generated electricity.

Observatory Point

The early history traces back to 1627 when a Dutch sailing vessel passed through the archipelago and the actual European discovery is credited to two French ships, Recherche (Research) under the command of Admiral Antoine d'Entrecasteaux, and L'Esperance (Christian Hope) under the command of Huon de Kermandeo that were forced to seek shelter from a storm in 1792 out from Observatory Point. Mathew Flinders in "The Investigator" chartered this southern coastline in 1802 and the pirate Black Jack Anderson roamed these waters in the1830's and remains of his huts are on some of the islands. 1863 saw the arrival of the first settlers and in 1892 with the discovery of gold in the Kalgoorlie area, Esperance became the principle port for the goldfields. Today the Esperance region produces beef, fat lambs, wool, wheat, oats, barley and other crops including linseed, safflower and grain sorghum.

Wharton Beach

56 kilometres east of Esperance we travelled passed the Cape Le Grande National Park on the Recherche Archipelago and then a further 30 kilometres on to our destination of Duke of Orleans Bay. We were able to drive on to the rocky edge of Wharton Beach with its smooth granite rocks, snow white sand and turquoise blue water. The beaches (scenic but not necessary usable) here are often described as some of world's most beautiful by tourist operators, and there are no arguments from us.

We had four seasons in the week we stayed here - 35 degrees and 20% humidity one day, next 16 degrees and a cold biting wind, rain squalls the next day and so on. Before leaving our largest State we are travelling north to Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie - gold country.