Bob and I were on the road out of Hopetoun by around 830 this morning for the approx 200km drive to Esperance. It was very windy again, however we were lucky it was a tail wind most of the way. After a nondescript drive where I continued knitting dishcloths for Sue we arrived in Esperance late morning. After some quick shop purchases, we had pies from the local French bakery in the bag and headed over to the caravan park that we’ll call home for the next 3 nights. The park is amazing, with incredible facilities – games room, camp kitchen, pool area. It’s very full as it is WA school holidays at the moment.

We headed out for the afternoon to complete the 40km Great Ocean Drive, with about 20 designated stops to check out. We went in reverse so we could stop in at an Art Glass Gallery that the visitor info centre recommended. The work here was unique and a lot of it is made from recycled glass – bottles, windows etc. I bought a glass baby whale tail here as a memento of our amazing experiences all the way down the WA coastline – with humpbacks and particularly southern right whales. We met the artist who talked us through the process that she goes through when creating these pieces.

Then it was through to the coastal landscape portions of the drive. It really was wild and woolly weather today and I wasn’t dressed particularly sensibly for outdoor exploring. The seas were powerful and unstructured. I really hope my little hours old baby whale friend from a couple of days ago has found it’s sea flippers and is traversing this ok. I know how hard it is to breathe with a snorkel when it gets a little bit rough – not hammering like it is now. Bob assures me it’s mum will be clever enough to find something relatively sheltered for it to fatten up in.

We stopped in at all the locations on the drive, however may have to return to a couple of the walks when the weather has settled and I am attired appropriately. The coastline was once again amazing and very different to what we saw in the Fitzgerald River National Park over the last few days. In addition to the photos below we visited Pink Lake – which hasn’t been pink for 18 years due to the lake losing salinity following development nearby, and the Old Wind Farm – which was the first wind generation farm in Australia commissioned in 1987. It was retired in 2000 and there is a historical walking trail around the old farm which I’d like to get back to if the wind drops before we leave the area.

We arrived back to the van before sunset and Bob set dinner going before we decided to rug up and head out for a waterfront walk along the esplanade back to the whale tail sculpture. It was great to stretch the legs. Once we’d arrived at our destination we saw the Pier Hotel and decided to pop in and check the vibe. Absolutely packed so a drink was decided on before we embarked on the walk back to the van. Well, those plans went out the window as there was literally nowhere to sit! We’ll hang on to that one for another day and maybe sneak in a dinner there before we leave civilisation for around 10 days soon.

Karen and Kieran have had their usual exercise-filled day back at Starvation Bay. They spent some time this morning collecting plastic waste from the beach, followed by a beach walk and nibbles at the top of a large sand dune this evening. They will be moving through to Esperance tomorrow as well.

Finally, Jase and Sue have smashed out their traverse east. After leaving Esperance at lunchtime last Friday (3rd), they have arrived home this evening on Jase’s birthday in time to celebrate with their family. A lovely end to a jam packed 15 weeks away.

Tomorrow we will continue to explore around the Esperance region. It’s meant to get windy again around midday so walking is planned for the morning.