Esperance – Bremer Bay

In the past week, we have spent most of our time in Esperance. We booked an Airbnb for four nights (but ended up staying six because we liked it so much) and it proved to be the perfect choice. I made long working days, but I finished all the things I wanted to do and that felt so good! :-) Erik went surfing together with our Airbnb host Brendan. In the mean time, we also had the time to relax and enjoy beautiful Esperance.

But before our ‘working week’ started, we went for the weekend to Wharton Bay. There were quite some fires in the area (which we could clearly see from our camp site). Luckily, the fires did not interfere with our plans – although sometimes the sun was blocked for a couple of hours because of the smoke. ;-)

One of the big fires in the neighborhood

After checking in at our campsite, we had a picnic at one of the bays to watch the sunset. We were very lucky, because it was a beautiful one!

Picnic with sunset

Beautiful sunset

The next morning it was a little bit cloudy, but it was perfect weather for a short hike (on our flipflops) to the viewpoint of the ‘three sisters’.

Having our breakfast at our camp site

Easy walk along the coast line

Three sisters viewpoint

Afterwards, we went to Wharton Beach, a very popular beach where the locals from Esperance spend their weekends. We really like the “ozzie” way of going to the beach. When we arrived at the car park, it was completely empty. But when we entered the beach, we saw so many people! Everyone drives their 4WD on the beach, with their surfboards/bodyboards/quads/fishing rots and their eski’s (coolbox) full with beers, food, and everything else a “real Ozzie” needs for a day on the beach. So nice (and funny as well) to see!        

The ozzie way of going to the beach

After we had our lunch on the beach, the weather changed and the sky turned blue! Not long after that, we saw dolphins surfing in the waves. It was so nice to see. We don’t have a picture to prove this as evidence, but it was really one of the most beautiful things we have ever seen. A group of (maybe 5-8) dolphins were cruising in the bay and catching the waves. Erik went in the water and swam with them as well. He could even hear the noise they make. It was so special to get so close to the dolphins!

Beautiful sea with dolphins on the left

Dolphins playing around in the bay

Erik and a surfer swimming with the dolphins

Back at the camp site

On Monday, on our way back to Esperance, we went to Cape Le Grand National Park. This NP is very famous because of the white beaches. We could hardly believe that the sand could be whiter than the day before at Wharton Beach, but yes, it was true! We first visited the beach of Thistle Cove and the Whistling Rock before we headed to the no. 1 whitest beach in Australia: Lucky Bay. We enjoyed a cup of coffee of the tiny coffee shop ‘Lucky Bean’ at this beach and we went for a short swim in the beautiful crystal clear water. It was absolutely stunning! It was funny to see that the kangaroos are enjoying themselves at this beautiful beach as well. :-)

Frenchman peak

Thistle Cove

And again we were the only ones! :-)

Beautiful beach and sea

Parking our van at Lucky Bay

Kangaroos at Lucky Bay

Next in line for a coffee: Mr. Kangaroo

Enjoying a coffee at Lucky Bay

Amazingly beautiful scenery

Afterwards, we drove to Esperance and checked in at our Airbnb. We were warmly welcomed by Brendan, Fiona, the rest of their family and their lovely dog Jess. Their hospitality was beyond borders and we were really part of their family. Past week they invited us to come over for dinner, to watch a movie or to have lunch with them. When Erik told Brendan that he would like to go surfing the next couple of days when I need to work, Brendan took Erik every day when he was going for a surf. Early morning he would knock on our door to invite Erik to join him.

Our Airbnb

Erik found it so nice to go surfing with the locals, driving with a 4WD on the beach looking for the best waves, and getting an understanding of all the surf slang (“fat waves”, “lefthanders”, etc). Every day he came back with a big smile on his face. Apart from working hard (I was very productive and wrote an article on male circumcision, worked on an article about FGM and asylum, wrote the acknowledgments, incorporated the feedback of the reading committee, and proofread my thesis), we also had a few breaks to keep the ‘vacation spirit’. We had a couple of barbecues, we went out for a coffee and made a couple of short walks on the beach. We even had time to go to the hairdresser (yeah we know, we both really needed that). ;-)

Erik and Brendan are going for a surf

Erik and Brendan ready to hit the waves!

Brandan making us an amazing omelette

What are we having for lunch? Barbecue of course! ;-)

Public barbecue facilities are amazing

Quite challenging to barbecue with the hard wind ;-)

Our favorite coffee place

This was my office this week

Making the final pdf of my PhD thesis... 

On Saturday morning I finished all the work I wanted to do. We looked for a place in Esperance where they could print my thesis for a final review/check, but unfortunately the cheapest we could find was 60 cent per page. This was not really an option, taking into account the size of my book: 485 pages, whoops! ;-) Therefore, we decided to go to a nice café to have lunch and to double check the pdf for the last time together.

Erik checking my thesis

I am very excited that my PhD journey has now really come to an end. The book is done, there is nothing more I can do about it. It took me - to be very honest - some time to really let it go, but now I am so happy and relieved. Especially after writing the acknowledgments this week, I realized how special the past four years were. It was a unique opportunity to write this PhD thesis on a topic of my own choosing, including with conducting the fieldwork in Senegal. I am so happy that I can say now that I am satisfied with the work done and I look forward to the defence. I also started to collect addresses to send the invitation that I will send out in a couple of weeks time. It is really going to happen!! :-)

After finishing my work, we went to one of the beaches to relax. In the night we made ourselves a nice tapas diner and we watched the movie Revenance together with Fiona and Brendan.

One of the beautiful beaches of Esperance

Another beach

Checking out another beach :-)

Just love the blue water

Love is in the air :-p

Wonder why... ;-) 

Tapas dinner at our Airbnb

Yammie! 

Yesterday we left Esperance and we drove to Bremer Bay (400 km). We had lunch at the Kukenarup Memorial Site, close to Ravensthorpe. It was a very beautiful and moving Aboriginal memorial site.

Entrance of the memorial site

Preparing our lunch at the memorial site

In the afternoon we arrived at Tozers bush camp in Bremer Bay. We decided to stay at this place because of the good reviews at WikiCamps (this became our favorite app that we use every single day!) and we were indeed not disappointed. When we arrived we were welcomed by kangaroos. The camp kitchen was really amazing and last night we had our dinner next to the camp fire. What more can you ask for? :-)

Kangaroos welcoming us on our way to the camp

Following the signs to the bush camp

Nice view from our spot at the bush camp

Barbecue of last night

Having dinner (and a beer) ;-) next to the camp fire

So nice!

We planned a day at the beach in Bremer Bay today, but unfortunately the weather is not so good. It is raining (quite heavily) and the sky is grey. But we will not complain, because it is the first day that we have to deal with bad weather since we arrived, and the temperature is still very nice. We had lunch in Bremer Bay today in a very nice cafe and continued our drive to Albany. 

On the road again!

From here, we will continue along the south coast up to Margaret River and back to Perth. There are a couple of more hikes in National Parks on our wish list, as well as wine tasting at one of the wineries in the Margaret River area. We look forward to our last 12 days in Australia, before we fly back to Kuala Lumpur! 

Big hugs and kisses,

Erik & Annemarie