The Great Ocean Drive, Esperance, WA

The Great Ocean Drive, Esperance, WA

The Great Ocean Drive, Esperance

We spent 2 days at Esperance to explore 3 main features around the town. (1) Cape Le Grand National Park, (2) Great Ocean Drive and Esperance Foreshore, (3) Lakes around Esperance. Esperance locates on the Southern Ocean coastline, approximately 720km southeast of Perth, Western Australia.

The Great Ocean Drive is a 40 km circular loop drive taking in some of the most beautiful coastal scenery in Australia. The sheltered, pristine beaches with their crystal clear waters and snow-white sands, including the popular Twilight Beach, are ideal for family swimming, surfing, windsurfing and fishing. Also included in the drive is the Rotary lookout, the Western Power wind farms, Observatory Point and the unique Pink Lake. A walking and cycling trail from the Rotary lookout to Salmon Beach is a pleasant way to see the sights.

Cape Le Grand National Park, WA

Cape Le Grand National Park,WA

Cape Le Grand National Park

We spent 2 days at Esperance to explore 3 main features around the town. (1) Cape Le Grand National Park, (2) Great Ocean Drive and Esperance Foreshore, (3) Lakes around Esperance.

Esperance locates on the Southern Ocean coastline, approximately 720km southeast of Perth, Western Australia. Cape Le Grand National Park is 55km east of Esperance. It is one of the best known and most spectacular National Parks in Western Australia with sweeping heathlands, rugged coastal peaks and white sandy beaches. The most spectacular coastal scenery is found in the south-west corner of Cape Le Grand National Park where massive granite and gneiss peaks rise from the coastal plain. Pristine and perfect are two words that reflect the absolute beauty of Lucky Bay. Two main walks are as below:

(1) Frenchman Peak- 3km return. A track leads from the car park, up the gentle east slope to the peak (262m). Features great views over the Park. Allow 1.5 hours hard walking.

(2) Le Grand Coastal Trail- 15 km one way. The track runs from Cape Le Grand Beach to Rossiter Bay via Hellfire Bay, Thistle Cove and Lucky Bay. It features excellent coastal views.

(1) Frenchman Peak 

(2) Le Grand Coastal Trail (Lucky Bay) 

Hyden Wave Rock & Salty Lakes, Hyden Wildlife Park, WA

Hyden Wave Rock & Salty Lakes, Hyden Wildlife Park,WA

Hyden Wave Rock & Salty Lakes

Hyden Rock lies about 3km east of the small town of Hyden and 300km southeast of Perth, Western Australia. Wave Rock is a natural rock formation that is shaped like a tall breaking ocean wave. The wave face is about 14m in height and around 110m in length. It forms the north side of the solitary hill, Hyden Rock. This hill, which is a granite inselberg. Hyden Wave Rock and its surrounding wildland are part of a 160ha nature reserve, Hyden Wildlife Park.

A wall lies above Wave Rock and about halfway up Hyden Rock. It collects rainwater on the rock top to a storage dam. The wall and dam were constructed in 1928 for the original settlers of East Karlgarin District. Both were renovated in 1951 to increase water capacity for the Hyden Township. Wave Rock has cultural significance to Ballardong people. They respected this area as an icon of cultural learning. More than 140,000 tourists visit Wave Rock every year.