The perfect weekend in Esperance, WA

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West of the Great Australian Bight, Esperance is almost too beautiful to bear. And it’s just far away enough to ensure it stays that way. Explores the town’s island archipelago, astonishingly white beaches and shift towards all things wellbeing.

I didn’t think any parts of Australia were snake-free. But a little island across from the isolated seaside town of Esperance makes that claim. There are still sense-jolting rustles and leaf crackles on Woody Island, but the creatures making them have legs: it’s a haven for quail, geckos and skinks.

The only ones on the beach at Cape Le Grand

The only ones on the beach at Cape Le Grand

Armed with this knowledge, my bush hike to suggestively named Skinny Dip Bay switches from one of high alert to a safe and meditative wandering past slender eucalypt woodland, to a secluded corner of granite boulders tumbling gently into the sea. All alone, I feel at peace in this raw, yet friendly environment.

 

Woody Island is one in a chain of 105 isles making up Esperance’s dazzling Recherche Archipelago, and it’s the only one you can stay on. In the 1940s it became a leisure getaway and sheep-grazing site for the harbour’s tugboat owner until it was transformed into a protected nature reserve. Day trippers began popping over in the ’70s and the first, basic camping facilities were added in the ’80s. Until recently, solar-powered stays were decidedly spartan, but a recent overhaul that saw the arrival of balconied, interior-styled, ‘luxury retreat’ tents has opened up this little secret like never before.

HeliSpirit chopper to Woody Island;

HeliSpirit chopper to Woody Island

I rock up with requisite pizzazz, in a sexy red helicopter that lands on a granite mound beside gently lapping ocean. My route here is scenic, too, taking in Esperance’s lengthy esplanade, lined with 130-year-old Norfolk pines so tall and muscular they resemble lighthouses. Banking east, we zoom over Cape Le Grand National Park and its iconic Lucky Bay, the blindingly white stretch where kangaroos come to sunbathe and powdery sand squeaks underfoot. Every beach is astonishingly white, actually, with Esperance regularly splitting hairs with Shoalhaven’s Hyams Beach and the Whitsundays’ Whitehaven Beach over whose sand is whitest (of course, Lucky Bay claims to be the winner).

The Esperance landscape

The Esperance landscape

What Woody Island misses out on in the sand stakes – there’s barely any – it makes up for with wilderness. Birds create a constant symphony, she-oaks whisper in the wind and, as I plunge into the glass-clear ocean, dozens of fish jump from the water’s surface, their silver skins glinting in the sun. It’s brisk in the water this far south, but seaweed wafting undersea reveals geometric patterns, filigree stems and parrotfish, so I snorkel for as long as I can (there’s a Perspex-bottomed kayak for cold-adverse guests).

 

By sundown, I hike to Twiggy’s Landing, named after a pet Labrador lost at sea who turned up here three months later. I sit and search for returning shearwaters and little penguins emerging from the coastal scrub. Save for a couple sitting on the rocks below, I’m the only one around. On the way back, I explore further and find a bench seat with a plaque dedicated to “Tom, who loved the birds and quiet places".

Cape Le Grand is a blissfully isolated national park

Cape Le Grand is a blissfully isolated national park

Island life is hard to part with, but Esperance calls me back. Of late, the town has been fashioning itself as a wellness getaway, a place to reconnect with nature’s beauty with a side of yoga or a main of homegrown produce. That it’s well off the beaten track adds to its offering – were Esperance nearer to a big metropolis (it’s nearly 700 kilometres from Perth but only a 1.5-hour flight), it would be overrun; instead, its easy pace allows mindfulness to settle easily across the shoulders.

 

Staying in the white-on-white, fairy-light strung Esperance Chalet Village also helps. The collection of A-frames cuddled by landscaped native gardens beside a stream couldn’t be more calming if it tried. Hammocks hang between tree trunks, white slatted Hamptons-style chairs cluster around fire pits and a very Instagrammable black Creek House hosts regular Pilates sessions. Beneath a huge statement light crafted from local abalone shells by the owner’s husband, I stretch and reach, wishing I was more rubber band and less bowl of jelly. Lithe Lisa Nicolaisen of Body Pulse Pilates says she started offering the thrice-weekly classes after noticing that Esperance’s holidaymakers were increasingly seeking wellness experiences. After running her first retreat in April, she hopes to hold more.

A kangaroo at Lucky Bay

A kangaroo at Lucky Bay

Village owner Fiona Shillington is evidence of another Esperance trend: that of long-departed locals returning to roost. The truckie’s daughter moved away at 18, working in publicity at Channel 9 and Foxtel before she and her futures trader-turned-renovator husband and kids moved back in 2014. They bought the village on a whim and now manage 17 chalets, shacks, cabins and a cottage. “Tourism is in its infancy here and there’s so much scope," she says. “The wellness space has been taking off. A lot of people love the sense of space and pristine environment and that there’s no one here. Even at the most popular beaches, like Twilight, you’re only sharing the sand with 15 others. To suck the clean sea air in is breathtaking."

 

Like countless other locals I meet, Fiona names the national park 30 minutes’ drive out of town as a favourite escape. “I still go to Cape Le Grand and unwind, I never tire of it," she says. “Climbing up Frenchman Peak, you feel on top of the world. It’s just beautiful, especially super early at sunrise; you can just lose everyone and the three-kilometre track is pretty easy going."

Esperance Chalet Village at dusk.

Esperance Chalet Village at dusk.

While not strictly wellness (although we’re sure we can spin it), Fiona also tips a visit to the smallest distillery in Australia, Esperance Distilling Co. There, FIFO (fly-in-fly-out) electrician David Price and his son James McCarthy-Price, another recently returned local, are tinkering away with their new 30-litre still – an upgrade from the 2l-litre unit they launched with in late 2020. The duo have combined David’s love of bush tucker with James’s environmental engineering qualifications and the time they’ve both spent in remote communities to create a sustainable gin brewed with native botanicals such as acacia and lemon myrtle. They’re currently experimenting with grass tree sap and strawberry gum, ethically foraged by a local Aboriginal woman, as well as kelp from Woody Island and sea parsley from Broome.

 Body Pulse Pilates

Lisa Nicolaisen of Body Pulse Pilates

As David plays with flavours, James calculates the distillery’s carbon footprint; they aim to totally decarbonise the distillery as it grows.
Sustainability is also front and centre at Lucky Bay Brewing, a convivial shed filled with upcycled furniture and shiny tanks on Esperance’s outskirts. It claims to be the only brewery in Australia to use predominantly raw – rather than imported malted – barley, which requires far less energy and water. Agricultural researcher turned brewer Nigel Metz pioneered the process, enabling him to source grains from neighbouring farms. The frankly excellent beers are brewed with rainwater and zero preservatives – a green focus enforced by his environmental scientist partner, Robyn Cail. Fiercely passionate about the community, the pair create one-offs for regional towns and events.

 

Devout eco leaning is fitting in a place of such exceptional natural beauty. I’ve no time to head out to Esperance’s other main attraction, an otherworldly fuchsia-pink lake on Middle Island, but I fit in a trip along the 40-kilometre Great Ocean Drive to the west of town (parallel to a brilliant new bike trail), where perhaps the most spectacular white beaches laze. I stop at Blue Haven, a protected cove of translucent blue water and inhale deeply. In this moment, time slows and these few days away feel like a week. I leave restored but dreaming of my return. Soon.

Taylor St Quarters

Lunch at Taylor St Quarters

Getting there

Rex Airlines flies from Perth to Esperance.

Staying there

Book into the Insta-friendly, whitewashed, succulent-adorned Esperance Chalet Village. esperancechaletvillage.com.au On Woody Island, choose from glamping tents (couples only), family-friendly safari huts or family or standard pitched tents.

Eating there

Dine on WA prawn pasta at Taylor St Quarters and find excellent coffee at DownTown Espresso Bar. For other-level baked goods, seek out town secret, Bread Local which is open from 3pm to 5.30pm on Fridays only for picking up orders placed throughout the week.

Playing there

Arrive in style on Woody Island on a scenic helicopter flight with HeliSpirit and return by ferry.

Fleur Bainger is a freelance travel writer and journalism mentor who has been contributing to Australian Traveller since 2009! The thrill of discovering new, hidden and surprising things is what ignites her. She gets a buzz from sharing these adventures with readers, so their travels can be equally transformative.
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‘Nothing like I expected’: 6 surprising things about Esperance

    By Quentin Long
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    One of Australia’s most remote coastal towns has been attracting intrepid travellers for a while. Quentin Long realised his dream of visiting and was surprised by what he found.

    I have been covering Esperance for 20 years. Every time I published the emblematic image of the kangaroos on the impossibly white sand of Lucky Bay with that ridiculously translucent blue-green water I was overwhelmed with itchy feet and desire.

    I would mention Esperance to a grey nomad or van lifer or callers on radio and the reaction was always the same: gasps of delight followed by declarations of love for the beaches, the town and the people.

    Flying into Esperance my expectations are totally wrong. This is agricultural wheatbelt country, not outback red sand. Over the next three days, I discover it’s not the only thing about Esperance I get wrong. From its not-pink Pink Lake to the ingenuity of its people in this remote corner of Australia; they’re intimately aware they can only rely on themselves so if they want something – great beer, olive oil, live music or arts – they will have to do it themselves. And they do.

    Let me tell you why this WA town is nothing like what I expected and better than I imagined.

    1. Cape le Grande is more beautiful than you could imagine

    Esperance coastal tour on Cape Le Grand National Park

    The park’s iconic beaches are a paradise for the tranquility-seeker. (Image: WTTC Esperance)

    For once, the photos are not as good as the reality. Endless squeaky white sand with rolling turquoise water across an empty beach; it is far more serene than your imagination can conjure.

    2. Lucky Bay is not the most beautiful beach in the region

    Hellfire Bay in Esperance

    Come to Hellfire Bay for the white sand and je ne sais quoi. (Image: Quentin Long)

    At the risk of inviting hate mail, sorry Lucky Bay but Hellfire Bay gets my pick for the most beautiful beach. Same incomprehensibly white sand. Same turquoise water. But it is more protected from the elements, making swimming here easier, and there’s more to look at.

    Sure the kangaroos on Lucky Bay generate more likes on Instagram but now that the parkrangers are policing tourists feeding them, they are less likely to be getting their toes sandy. (You’re more likely to spot them up at the campground if you must know.)

    3. Esperance has a dedicated gig manager

    Esperance's dedicated live gig manager

    Esperance’s local gig scene is managed by a dedicated musician. (Image: WTTC Esperance)

    ‘Kyza’ is not some mad Birkenstock-and-socks German backpacker who never left, he’s Kyron Smithson, an Esperance local musician who books all the live gigs under his management company Kyza Presents.

    What other regional town in Australia has a dedicated entertainment manager? Just think about it. For a town of 15,000 souls to have a dedicated gig manager they must have a few venues and musos. Plus Kyza will book travelling bands into local hotspots, and he manages the online gig guide.

    4. Esperance has an arts scene

    local art in Esperance

    Local artist Cindy Poole repurposes glass bottles into gorgeous art creations. (Image: Quentin Long)

    Step into Cindy Poole’s ‘shed’ with a little caution; glass art is expensive and fragile.

    While the Esperance native and former high school PE teacher turned glass artist is winning commissions from across the world she is more interested in solving our problem with the bottle.

    Not what is inside the bottle but what happens to the bottle afterwards. She takes glass bottles and turns them into artworks, a product she describes as ReValued Glass.

    And you can too. Step (carefully) into the actual studio where she will assist you in turning a bottle into a glass, vase or whatever takes your fancy. The pick of her works for me is the jewellery that comes from ‘ReValued’ Sapphire Gin bottles; I am coming with my own next time.

    But Cindy is only a small piece of the art scene (yes it is a scene) in Esperance. The heart of the arts in Esperance is the Cannery Arts Centre. They play host to exhibitions and artists in residence programs, as well as weekly workshops.

    5. Esperance has a food scene you have to taste to believe

    Lucky Bay Brewery in Esperance

    Lucky Bay Brewery highlights local produce in its cuisine. (Image: Quentin Long)

    To appreciate what the producers are creating you have to literally be there – hardly any of it gets to Perth let alone the East Coast.

    Perhaps the best example is Lucky Brewery. They only use local products. That includes barley and wheat from local farmers and even the water is harvested from the brewery, restaurant and beer garden’s roof.

    Co-owners and partners Robyn Cail and Nigel Metz describe their philosophy as ‘paddock to pint’. And the fruit of this philosophy is almost entirely consumed by lucky locals.

    But the dedication to local goes way beyond the brew; the restaurant serves mostly local produce (the pizzas are made from local wheat and are outstanding) and they are the one constant in Kyza’s gig guide. Every Friday and Sunday, come rain, hail or no drinkers, they pay to have live music.

    Yirri Grove at Esperance

    Relax and enjoy the sunshine at Yirri Grove. (Image: Quentin Long)

    Yirri Grove Olive Farm is the ‘active retirement’ of former Kalgoorlie shed builders Anne and Shane O’Neill.

    Instead of shipping their olives 700 kilometres to Perth to process and losing the ability to produce EVO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil), they bought the smallest commercial grade processor from Italy to convert their grove of Kalamata, Manzanillo, Frantoio and Barnea into green gold.

    Today you can wander the grove, book a tasting of the varieties and blends (the have very pronounced and different characteristics) or even stay in the Heyscape tiny cabin onsite but to partake in it you have to be there – it is not sold in supermarkets or outside the region.

    6. There are pink lakes but the lake called Pink Lake is not pink

    pink lakes in Esperance

    The scale and colour of the pink lakes are best appreciated from above. (Image: Quentin Long)

    Yep, only in WA. There is a lake called The Pink Lake but for some reason, the algae that gave it its rosy hue died about 20 years ago. It even spawned a suburb of Esperance called Pink Lake.

    However, there are thousands of much smaller lakes dotted across the area. Many of these are in fact pink but have no name.