ESPERANCE – THE AUSTRALIAN TRAVELLER GUIDE

Turquoise waters, white sandy beaches, kangaroos stopping by your campsite and 360-degree views make Western Australia’s Cape Le Grand National Park well worth discovering Words by Claudia Bouma      Photography by Chris Bouma  Tucked away on the southern coastline of Western Australia is a small piece of paradise with picture-perfect clear blue bays and soft sandy beaches. Cape Le Grand National Park is relatively small but its captivating beauty more than makes up for that. Only a stone’s throw from the town of Esperance, Cape Le Grand is one of the few places in Australia where you can see...

Where is it? Esperance, 730km south-east of Perth How to see it for yourself? The 15km walking and bike trail commences at Castletown Quay and follows the foreshore through Esperance, taking in the Esplanade, Rotary Lookout, West Beach and Blue Haven and finishing at Twilight Beach. Sections can be accessed from car parks along its length. This view is from the car park at Salmon Beach, about 11km along the trail. There’s a 40km Great Ocean Drive, too, from the Cannery Art Centre along the coast to Observatory Point, Nine Mile beach and Ten Mile Lagoon before looping inland to Pink Lake and the Glass Gallery. Why I love it “The path...

Where is it?  On WA’s south coast, 50km east of Esperance How to see it for yourself? The WA Christmas tree, Nuytsia floribunda, produces spectacular flowers in summer but is rarely found outside the south of the state. Visitors can self-drive to the park by car and see the park’s wildflowers, fauna and idyllic beaches, but for local knowledge and expert advice, try a guided tour such as with Esperance Eco- Discovery Tours. Alternatively, Aussie Bight Expeditions runs wildflower tours during spring. Why I love it “Native Christmas trees are so vibrantly coloured, and when you pair them with clusters of tuftyheaded grass trees, the landscape takes on the aspect of a...

Western Australia's affordable beach accommodation - caravan park Where is it? Esperance, WA Far South Coast. Facing Esperance Bay, Esperance Seafront Caravan Park is located on the edge of the township’s CBD, one kilometre from the local post office, and has natural scrub at the rear of the premises. Convenient to the beach, shops and restaurants. What’s it like? This 10-acre park was built in 1960, and the current owners managed it for 40 years before taking over the lease 16 years ago. They now offer guests a children’s playground, camp kitchen, barbecue facilities, free car wash, general store and...

Gail Liston has hit the road and distilled her extensive travel knowledge to bring us the 20 Top Tours from all around Australia. Of the 10,000 or so beaches that ring Australia’s 37,000km coastline, none are as brilliantly white or as silky to the touch as the sands of Lucky Beach near WA’s seaside town of Esperance. It’s easy to see why the Noongar people chose to live in this area where there’s a wealth of food sources – both plant and animal – although most aren’t obvious to the untrained eye. That changes on meeting up with Doc Reynolds from...

It’s the real secret of WA. Esperance is insanely beautiful, and is described by most who see the remote area as the most beautiful coastline in Australia. The brilliant aquamarine water fades into deep blue and the sand is so blindingly white it looks like snow drifts across the road. Esperance was “discovered” by Europeans quite some time before the rest of Australia, with the islands off Esperance – The Recherche Archipelago – appearing on maps printed in Holland as early as 1628. Esperance was named by the French, the first Europeans credited with landing in the bay in 1792,...