Our first stop in Esperance was the Esperance Stone Henge, about 20 minutes drive away in a random field! The stones were bought from a developer in Margaret River and ended up as a tourist attraction in Esperance (random!) Unlike the U.K., you could walk up to the stones and even climb on them! The guide delighted in telling us that the Esperance one was superior to the UK as they 'had the complete set of stones'!? A great novelty tourist attraction, made better by the cows in the neighbouring field walking close to the stones (and Jason's new cow friend 'Sabrina')

Once leaving Stone henge (after we'd been advised to visit the fish leather making factory....perhaps not!) our next stop was the Great Ocean Drive, a 40km loop near to town with scenic view points and beaches. It was late afternoon by this time so we were hoping to combine our drive with the sunset. I was pretty tired by this point and was hoping it wouldn't take very long, but as soon as we turned the corner onto Ocean Road Drive, wow! The orange sky, coupled with the bright white beaches and water with all different shades of blue, was enough to banish my tiredness and take our breathe away! Each new stop on the drive became our new favourite, including observatory point (where we returned for the sunset the following day), nine mile beach, 11 mile beach (so original!) and ten mile lagoon. We spent an hour or so stopping at each point, marvelling in the jaw dropping sights of the sun setting over the sea, as if from a picture in a postcard!

As a side note, we were also fairly perturbed to happen upon a 'free beach' where clothes were 'optional', according to the sign. The wind was obviously a bit off putting to anyone fancying that though!

We raced around 6:30pm to spot the last of the sun set over 'Pink Lake' (sadly not actually pink anymore), before returning back into the small town centre of Esperance and our hostel (for fish and chips, a natter with the hostel owner, then bed!)

Sunday began bright and early, making the most of the tables and chairs overlooking the serene ocean. We had planned to spend the whole day in Cape Le Grand national park, about 60km away, to see the famous white beaches and of course the kangaroos hopping along the beach! After paying our $13 entrance fee and receiving our map, we made Lucky Bay our first stop. Debating whether to let the tyres down to 4 Wheel drive on the beach, then face a 60km return on those tyres, we instead settled on a short drive on the hard sand, so we could have a base on the beach to sunbathe and eat our packed lunch. The sand was amazing, like the purest of snowflakes squashed together, with the same colouring. The sun was shining and the sea was bright blue but, sadly, it was extremely windy which meant we all had to wear hoodies! David, Alex and Jason couldn't resist braving the sea though! As we'd decided not to carry on 4x4 driving in the car, we walked a short way along the beach to a lookout and I'm sure many people heard our audible gasps as we turned the corner! Like a mini paradise cove, there was a tiny but pristine beach in front of us, and a great view of the rest of Lucky Bay. Manuel decided to run (!?) up the mountain whilst David, Erica and I enjoyed the sun and the view.

After returning to the car, drinking a kangaccino (a coffee shop! On a beach! It knows me so well), we were lucky enough to spot a few kangaroos on and around the beach. This included a cute joey bouncing around trying to get the attention of it's mum, who eventually bounded off with it in it's pouch. While Alex and Jason decided to climb a small but steep mountain, we headed back to Esperance to catch the sunset at Observatory Point, which is kind of like a stairway up to the sky with views across the sea and mountains.

The amazing weekend ended with Sunday Domino's (of course) and a fairly early bed time, ready for the 5 hour drive back to Albany in time for work.

Accommodation: Esperance YHA

Highlights: the sunset at Observatory Point, kangaroos on the beach at Lucky Bay, Great Ocean Drive, Lucky Bay viewing platform (yes I realise this is pretty much everything haha!)