Esperance turned on the most stunning weather for us today 🙂 We started off with the now obligatory walk across to Coffee Cat and Sir Juice for morning refreshments which we enjoyed whilst watching the ocean do its thing. Back to the apartment to collect our belongings for the day and we were off on our adventure.

We headed out toward Cape Le Grand this morning with a quick stop at Esperance’s Stonehenge. Have to say, we were actually really impressed. Perhaps because we had gone with quite low expectations 😀 It was a really impressive replica made of local red granite and has been built perfectly to line up with the sunrise and sunset for the winter and summer solstices. We learnt that it was originally meant to be built in Margaret River but the man who intended to build it went into liquidation in the GFC so that was the end of that idea. The stones however were already being made to size at the local quarry only 1.5km down the road so a local farmer decided to purchase them and build the Stonehenge replica on his property. He saved $250,000 in freight alone by not building it in Margaret River!! Quite an impressive structure and the new owners are intending to build a function centre and cafe onsite in the future which I’m sure will do quite well.

Back on the road to Cape Le Grand and our first stop was Rossiter Bay which didn’t have another soul at it!! An absolutely stunning spot that is 6km down a gravel road off the main Lucky Bay Road. As we had the beach to ourselves we had a little fly of the drone and general play on the shore before deciding we needed to move on or else we would never see everything in a day.

Next stop was Lucky Bay where every man and his dog were staying/visiting. The beach was packed with people and cars and the caravan park was completely booked out. Riley didn’t particularly appreciate the sand here as it is quite hard and very squeaky thanks to the high quartz levels. A play and then a quick drive along the beach before we were back on the road to our next stop.

Thistle Cove is quite a magical little spot with far less people so we stopped for a bite of lunch – homemade sandwiches that we had taken with us on our adventure. Bit of a climb over a large rock to get down to the beach but worth it for the view and the boys enjoyed climbing on the rock for a while afterwards. Also in this location is the Whistling Rock, a large rock which really captures the sound of the ocean. It didn’t quite whistle while we were there but the noise it was creating from a relatively light wind had us with no doubt that it would really whistle in stronger winds.

Next stop, Frenchman Peak, which we decided not to walk up as there were fabulous views from the carpark and no-one really fancied a 2 hour hike when we’d already caught a little sun. Quickly on to Hellfire Bay we headed, again a stunning spot and obviously a favourite for families as there were a lot of young families enjoying the beach. There was also a really nice rock climb which took us up nice and high to enjoy a different view of the Bay.

Last but not least, we headed to Le Grand Beach, possibly the least grand of them all! Looked like a great spot for beach driving and by the number of 4WDs hooning along, I think my assumption was proven. Otherwise, it was just a really long beach and like any of the others in the area, the water was a stunning colour and the sand squeaky beneath our feet.

By this stage it was mid-afternoon so we headed back toward Esperance with a detour to Lucky Bay Brewing Co for arvo tea / happy hour / super early dinner. A fabulous spot to stop to enjoy some drinks (beer tasting paddle for G and lemonade for everyone else) and woodfired pizza (Hawaiian for R & A, meatlovers for G & L). After a while of sitting in the sun enjoying ourselves the younger folk became restless so with some takeaway beers in hand, we hit the road for our apartment.

Back at the apartment block the boys decided they’d jump in the pool. Well, they did exactly that, jumped right in and jumped right out again as it was freezing (no surprise). Upstairs and straight into a warm shower which turned into a spa before a bit of relax on their iPads while G & A had a relaxing spa. The boys ate a piece of toast and then we enjoyed some creamed rice for dessert as no-one really wanted anything else after our pizza.

I think we will be watching Lego Masters then heading off to bed as we are all a bit tired after our day and all a little bit sun-kissed!