The Esperance Experience

one of the many fantastic beaches of Esperance
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Ten hours lay ahead of us.......

........As we headed out of Perth the first major town we passed through was York! This was the first inland town built in WA. It boats some fine buildings and even has history!  Sadly we weren't able to get off and explore - we simply passed through to see if there were passengers to pick-up or to set down. We journeyed on to Esperance via Hyden and passed through grain and sheep farming country. We had two stops of 10 mins and a 30 minute stop for lunch. Our last stop at Ravensthorpe was nearby a nickel mine that had just announced to it 1400 strong workforce that it would be closing down production - it apparently only went into full production 7 months previously. This was going to have a significant effect on the local area including Esperance because the Mine owners had encouraged people to move to the area, had even had built homes for employees to purchase and now the dreams of all these people were shattered.

Andrew drove us along the coastal road, and pointed out the different beaches and coves

Australia Day and the gang is out
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As we drove through these places (Quairading, Corrigin, Kondinin, Karlgarin, Hyden, Kulin, Lake Grace, Newdegate, Lake King, Munglinup), you rarely saw anyone about - they were like ghost towns. We wondered if Esperance would be like this! Of course it was Sunday, and tomorrow, Monday 26th was Australia Day a National holiday - seemingly a lot of people had headed off to be with family and friends elsewhere.

Eventually, we saw a sign for Esperance - and every now and again, another sign would appear and the km's reduced - 'til at last we passed the "Welcome to Esperance" sign. Twenty or so minutes later we were arriving at the terminus at about 5.55pm and were met by Andrew - "Mr. Perry" as he is to the younger local's who know him and the family - and it's an Aussie thing that children call all those who are adults by Mr.... or Mrs......... We loaded all our luggage into the car, and instead of driving straight home, Andrew drove us along the coastal road, and pointed out the different beaches and coves, where he and all the family spend many hours swimming, sunbathing, exploring etc. After this detour, Andrew pointed the car in the direction of Chez Perry - we were met by Sharon, Leah, Luke and one very talkative, curly-haired, beautiful little girl, (I am biased) my goddaughter Olivia. All looked well and are Oz is definitely doing them all a power of good. Sharon had prepared a lovely meal, and afterwards we all sat down and caught up on all the news from 'Home and Away' - they are so truly blessed. The views from their home are amazing - and those Poms back home who are looking for reasonable hotel accomodation - Chez Perry is the place to be....the place where it's at!

Fr D, Olivia and Luke taking for a cooling dip
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Esperance is blessed with a temperate climate (usually), spectacular coastal scenery, extensive national parks and magnificient snow white beaches. The only port in the south-east of WA, Esperance is an important agricultural town, exporting around a million tonnes of grain each year. Located on Esperance Bay, the town overlookds more than 100 islands of the Archipelago of the Recherche. The brilliant blue waters of the Southern Ocean are ideal for fishing, surfing, sailing. The archipelago is a Class-A nature reserve comprising 100 islands. Although we didn't manage it ourselves Cape Le Grand National Park is 55km east of Esperance and has walking trails, magnificent coastal scenery, abundant wildlife and wildflowers in spring.

Olivia on her "donkey"
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I mentioned above the usually temperate climate - this may be so. However, yesterday, (26/1) was the hottest day experienced by Esperance for a long time...46 degrees C....it was unbearably hot, stifling and simply being in the heat was an effort. It was also Australia Day, and Esperance had a Community Fair to to celebrate - talent show, stalls, refreshments. All of this was down on the seafront. After we felt we couldn't stand the heat anymore, we all headed back to Chez Perry, showered and changed in to swim wear and Sharon "Mrs Perry" made a picnic and then we headed off to 'Twilight Beach' for a spot of swimming, wave jumping, and buggy-boarding. Bearing in mind the temperatures and the so-called temperate climate, gradually, the breeze changed direction and it started to become windy. Shallow waves became great breakers and we had endless fun diving in and out of them. Jumping into and out of them. There was a cloud formation gathering momentum, and still the surging sea gathered pace. The tempearture dropped dramatically. Sunshine turned to dark, and suddenly we had an electric and thunder storm with lovely rain. Everyone headed off the beach and soon we were back at Chez Perry's where a BBQ to celebrate Austrailia Day had been organsied by Andrew and Sharon, and some of their friends from their new church family were coming. Although the weather didn't pick up....it wasn't cold, and the BBQ was lovely (well done chef Perry)....and the guests arrived and we all had a lovely time together - what a friendly lot of folks they all are.

The only way to stay cool
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Today 27/1 a late start for me (Fr D) and Andrew B took Andrew P to work (his first day back after the summer break). Eventually, Sharon and the kids, Andew and myself all headed into the town centre to explore.....and then we were joined by "Mr. Perry" we all had various delicious Plain Pies (steak), sausage rolls, mud cake....then we went to Woolworths and to see where Leah has her Saturday job at Bunbrey's - a local bakers - then back to the house - and more catching up before dinner - Oz Fish and Chips.....