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Esperance, WA



Salmon Beach, Esperance


West Beach, Esperance


Esperance Harbour


Sammy the Seal, a local celebrity


Esperance B&B


Woody Island

At Norseman, after crossing the Nullarbor Plain, motorists heading for Perth have the choice of taking the shorter inland route via Kalgoorlie, or south via the south coast and south-west corner of the state. The first town you reach if you take the latter route is Esperance. The ocean here is crystal clear, the waters are a deep aqua colour; the coast is lined with stunning pink granite outcrops and offshore there are a myriad islands. Seals, dolphins and whales (in season) abound. It is one of Australia's most serenely picturesque stretches of coastline.

Where is it?: Western Australia: Great Southern. Esperance is 950 ikm by road from Perth via Coolgardie and Noreseman.

Things to see and do:

Esperance is set in the middle of a coastal region known for its many attractive beaches, offering surfing, scuba diving and swimming in sparklingly clear water. Nearby are a number of salt lakes, including the Pink Lake, which gains its rosy hue from red algae living within its waters. These can all be viewed on the Great Ocean Drive.


Wharton Beach

Offshore from Esperence is s string of 105 islands known as the Recherche Archipelago. These islands are protected as a Nature Reserve as they are teaming with sealife, including New Zealand fur seals, tammars (a species of Bandicoot), Recherche Cape Barren Geese, dolphins and Minke whales in season. Woody Island is the only island open to the public within the reserve. It offers the most activities to visitors and is well worth visiting. More >>

Lookouts: The Rotary Lookout Esperance is located high on a granite outcrop on Wireless Hill, and offers expansive views of the surrounding coastal town and its magnificent beaches. Doust Street, off Twilight Beach Road.

Events:

  • March: Annual Classic Fishing Competition
  • August: Esperance Music Festival
  • September: Esperance Wildflower Festival
  • October: Esperance Agricultural Show

Surrounding area:

Cape Le Grand National Park (56 km east) a major nearby tourist attraction, just 56 km from the town centre, which boasts a stunningly picturesque coast of largely granite terrain and sheltered white sandy beaches. It is a popular spot for beachcombing, recreational fishing, and is enjoyed by four wheel drive enthusiasts and hikers. One beach here even has a family of resident kangaroos that feed on seaweed on the beach - no wonder they call it Lucky Bay!

Cape Arid National Park (120km east) offers more spectacular coastal scenery dominated by granite outcrops. Being home to more than 160 bird species, it is an important park for the conservation of birds in Western Australia. There are plenty of coastal walking trails to various fishing and swimming spots. Photos


About Esperance

Esperance is located on the south coast around half-way between Albany and the South Australian border. Its population is around 14,000 people, and its major industries are tourism, agriculture and fishing.
The only port in the south east of Western Australia, the Esperance Port Authority completed an A$54 million dollar upgrade in 2002. The upgrade made the port one of the deepest in Southern Australia, capable of handling Cape class vessels (up to 180,000 tonnes) and fully loaded Panamax class vessels (up to 75,000 tonnes). Exports for the year ending June 2005 were 7,394,155 tonnes, including 1.7 million tonnes of grain, and 5.3 million tonnes of iron ore which is railed from Koolyanobbing.
Approximately 7.5 hours' drive or a 1.5 hour flight from Perth, the capital of WA, Esperance is a popular annual vacation destination for families living Perth. It is also around 4 hours' drive south from the Goldfields mining town of Kalgoorlie, and as such offers a convenient get-away for weekends for the mine workers.

Natural features: Southern Ocean; Esperance Lakes Nature Reserve (Cheetup, Mullet, Woody and Warden Lakes); Pink lake; Recherche Archipelago Nature Reserve; Cape Le Grand (Cape Le Grand National Park, 30 km east); Cape Arid National Park (100 km east); Bandy Creek Harbour; Twilight Cove; Stokes National Park; Ten Mile Lagoon; Salmon Beach; Nuytsland Nature Reserve (170 km east).
Built features: Museums; Great Ocean Drive; port facilities
Heritage features: former Dempster homestead (after 1863)

Climate: Esperance has a Mediterranean type climate typically with hot dry summers and cool wet winters. In summer the average maximum temperature is in the mid 20s (degrees Celsius), however on occasion, hot, dry northerly winds can blow off the arid interior of the state to the north-east, raising temperatures upward to 40 degrees or above. The winter climate is generally less prone to extremes. The dominant influence is the cool, moist winds from the Great Southern Ocean to the south, bringing lower temperatures and the bulk of the annual rainfall in cold fronts. The average maximum temperatures are in the high teens.

History: European history dates back to 1627 when the Dutch vessel Gulden Zeepaert, skippered by Francois Thijssen, passed through the blue waters off the Esperance coast. French explorers are credited with making the first landfall near the present day town, naming it and other local landmarks whilst sheltering from a storm in this area in 1792. The town itself was named after the French ship, L'Esperance, commanded by Bruny d'Entrecasteaux. Esperance, roughly translated, is French for 'hope'.
In 1802, British navigator Matthew Flinders sailed the Bay of Isles, discovering and naming places such as Lucky Bay and Thistle Cove. Whalers, sealers and pirates followed, as did pastoralists and miners, keen to exploit the free land and to cash in on the gold boom in the goldfields to the north.


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Where Is It?: Western Australia: Great Southern