Sometimes
I forget how beautiful it is where I live at the moment. Living somewhere that my daily commute is a three-minute drive along the beach means (and I hate to admit it) I take the local coastline for granted sometimes. After a busy
period at work, and while coming out of winter, I had sort of forgotten
how spectacular Esperance can be. This weekend I rediscovered it.
An
article I read in a magazine last week said one of my local beaches was
‘stunning’. When great weather was forecast for the weekend I couldn’t resist
heading to the beach to remind myself.
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| Twilight Beach, Esperance, WA, Australia |
Despite
winning its fair share of awards like ‘Australia’s best beach’ and ‘Australia’s
whitest sand’ Esperance, in the south east corner of Western Australia also has
some grey days, like most places. When it turns the magic on however, Esperance
has some pretty remarkable scenery.
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| Dipping a toe in the Great Southern Ocean at Lucky Bay, Esperance, Australia |
Esperance
is on Australia’s south west coast and the next stop is Antarctica. While this
means the sea is bloody freezing it also makes the water crystal clear. The
water turns from clear and sparkling to turquoise to a deep, rich blue, all in
one glimpse at the sea. It is beautiful.
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| Lucky Bay, Esperance, WA, Australia |
The
sand on the beaches is some of the whitest you will see anywhere and crunches
underfoot the way fresh snow does. It is incredibly fine and squeaky clean;
children delight in rubbing their feet on it and making nails-on-a-blackboard-style
screeches. Lucky bay in the Cape Le Grand National Park is also home to a gang
of kangaroos that enjoy lazing on the sand and stealing from barbecues (you
have been warned!)
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| Swimming at Hellfire Bay, Esperance, WA, Australia |
Venture
even slightly outside the town centre and you will meet wildlife. Esperance’s
isolation leaves a lot of open space on the periphery, enabling wildlife to
thrive. During a 30-minute drive yesterday a friend and I saw five kangaroos,
four emus, a blue-tongued lizard, a hawk and magpies.
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| Emus, Esperance, WA, Australia |
The
weather was spectacular this weekend and exploring my favourite local beaches with
friends reminded me how beautiful the local coastline is. Have you ever felt
like you rediscovered your local area?
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