Tag 9 - Esperance

Today we spent the day in Esperance.

Esperance is famous for its white beaches and turquoise-blue water.

Our first stop is Pink Lake, a lake that is pink as the name suggests. The color is due to certain algae and bacteria. With high salt content, high temperatures, and high light exposure, this algae accumulates beta carotene, a red pigment, in high concentration. This pigment protects the plant from excessive sunlight and gives the algae an orange-red color. The halophilic bacteria growing in the salt crust at the bottom of the lake also have a pink color. In combination with the algae and bacteria, the lake obtains its pink color. Unfortunately, it seems that the lake has this color only under these specific conditions, because when we were there today, it was blue.

Supposedly it is better visible from the air.

Afterwards, we drove along the coast and stopped at various beach sections for snorkeling and refreshing.

First, we snorkeled at Twilight Cove, a beautiful bay with turquoise-blue calm water and white sand. The bay is almost like a huge swimming pool due to its rocky surroundings. You can go very far into the water until you can no longer stand. We snorkeled through the crystal-clear water to the rocks, where we could observe some fish and climbed up the rocks. Back on land, a concerned Australian approached us and explained that it is not good to swim to the rocks at the moment, as sharks had visited 2 days ago...😅🦈🦈 Nevertheless, the people continued to frolic in the water further in the bay while we continued to Salmon Beach next door. Here, too, the water is turquoise blue, but the waves are slightly higher.

Right next to it is Blue Haven Beach, a slightly wider beach section.

In the afternoon, we drove to Lucky Bay, a breathtaking bay located about an hour west of Esperance in Cape Le Grand National Park.

On the way there, we saw large plumes of smoke coming from a bush in the not too distant. The fire was probably ignited by a lightning strike during the thunderstorm that had just passed. (In the evening, we couldn't see any smoke anymore)

The sand in Lucky Bay is very white and very fine. The water is crystal clear and a very bright turquoise. You almost feel like you're in the Caribbean. The beach is also popular with kangaroos, but unfortunately it rained a bit when we were there, so the lovely animals probably stayed in a drier place. After a relaxing stroll on the beach, we also made our way back to the campground to rest before heading to the Nullarbor Plain tomorrow.