A roadtrip to Esperance and Albany – Part II
When entering the Esperance region, about 720 kilometres southeast of Perth, we noticed a sign that says “Welcome to Esperance” and written underneath, in smaller letters, “Australia’s Best Beaches”. I’ve seen enough of Australia to know that that’s a very bold statement. Arriving at Lucky Bay, we quickly concluded that they actually might have a point with that proclamation, and the further we went, the more in awe we were becoming with the area. The sand is so clean and fine that it squeaks under your feet, the water is crystal-clear and bays are set within a green lush mountain scenery. I can truly say that our trip down south was as close to being in paradise as it gets.
We left Hyden, where it must have been another 40+ degree day, only to get to a rainy Esperance, where it was almost 20 degrees cooler. We appreciated the drop in temperature as we slowly tuckered into town, trying to save on fuel as we almost ran out. After filling up the car and getting some last supplies, we went on to the Cape Le Grand National Park, where we had managed to book a campsite at Lucky Bay for one night (15 AUD (8 GBP / 10 EUR) per night per person.
The park covers an area of 31,801 hectares (78,580 acres) which has been above sea level for well over 200 million years and remained unglaciated. As a result, it’s home to many primitive relict species like legless lizards, which look like snakes. Some of these stem from the time when this land was part of Gondwana, a supercontinent that existed from about 550 million years ago until it started breaking up during the Jurassic period (about 180 million years ago).
The Lucky Bay campground is situated about a half an hour drive off the main road. As usual, we had been quite last minute with the ‘looking for accommodation’ side of things, which meant that most bookable places didn’t have any availability by the time we got onto them. When I say bookable, I mean that some campgrounds operate on a ‘first come, first serve’ basis and consequently, it’s not possible to pre-book them. We were glad that we had reserved one night upon arrival, so we didn’t have to look for somewhere to stay after a 4-hour drive, and we were sure that we could just wing it for the remainder of the time. Despite of the busy season, there are lots of areas to camp around Esperance.
The sky had cleared up a little when we arrived at Lucky Bay, and the rain had stopped. We pitched the smaller tent since we decided that for one night only, it wouldn’t be worth bothering with the larger one. It was also a little windy and we’ve experienced before that the larger tent is less stable and less practical in the wind. We camped on a site higher up on the hill, which rewarded us with beautiful views all over the bay. The campsite itself is great, it’s well-equipped with toilets, showers and cooking shelters. These make it great for families, but in contrast to commercial campgrounds, campers don’t live in each other’s pockets. We would have happily stayed a bit longer.
It was still a bit cloudy the next morning, nevertheless, we took the time to walk all along the wide stretch of beach. It’s a truly beautiful and wide bay with clear, turquoise waters, the whitest sand imaginable and it’s a popular snorkeling spot. There now is a coffee van on the beach at Lucky Bay, which seems a bit strange albeit handy, and unfortunately, since people are allowed to drive onto the beach, many just park their car on the sand. I find that quite unnecessary, especially considering that the car park is literally right next to the bay. If you want to go four-wheel-driving, that’s one thing, but to just park up on the beach literally makes no sense to me, aside from ruining the view from for everyone else. Nevertheless, it’s an absolutely beautiful spot and it’s only natural that it’s the most well-known and popular bay in the area. We even spotted a couple of kangaroos that tend to come onto the beach in this area – in particular when it’s not that busy during early mornings and late afternoons.
Before the beach got busier, we decided to go off and explore the other little bays in the area. There are also a number of beautiful hikes around, e.g. a 1-3 hour trek up Frenchmen Peak, which I had done during my last visit over 10 years ago. We gave that one a miss this time and headed to Hellfire Bay instead, another beautiful and wide beach. This one isn’t quite as busy as Lucky Bay and I found it to be even more beautiful. We climbed onto the rocks to the left of the bay to peak around the corner, and we couldn’t believe our eyes when we discovered another little hidden bay – as well as a bunch of dolphins heading straight into it. We watched them for a while, and then decided to find a way to this little gem. Just off the car park, a 20-minute walk took us to the little bay, which turned out to be Little Hellfire Bay. It’s worth noting that this short walk is part of the 17km Coastal Trail from Rossiter Bay to Le Grand Beach, which can also be tackled in sections.
The dolphins were still playing around in the turquoise waters not far from the shore when we got to Little Hellfire Bay, and Liam jumped in to join them (from a distance, of course). Together with another couple that was lying far away down the beach, we were the only people within this little piece of paradise. This is, without a doubt, my favourite bay of all in the Cape Le Grand National Park. Thistle Cove is another breathtakingly beautiful beach in the area, and also part of the Coastal Trail.
