End of Year Celebrations

As the year draws to a close we’ve had a few end of year celebrations and I’ve been pretty busy.

In the last few weeks, Esperance celebrated Edge of the Bay. This weekend included King of Concrete, a national skate bowl competition, the Illuminate Music Festival which showcased local acts and brought in some out of town talent and the Seniors Christmas dinner. It was a great weekend to be a part of, I particularly enjoyed hanging out at the skate park watching some very cool skating action.

Esperance Skate Park

The following weekend was the Community Christmas Pageant. These seem to be such a big deal in small towns and they draw a huge crowd. It’s a good opportunity for community groups and businesses to strut their stuff.

My weekends have also been pretty busy with Surf Life Saving. Between nippers, a bronze course an SRC course and other bits and pieces I spend a lot of time at the beach. The two courses are wrapped up now and the club has about a dozen new members to patrol.

Eyes Over Twilight Beach

I am a member of the Emergency Response Unit which is a team that gets called out to major bushfires in a communications van. There are a few of us who are pretty new so we are going through the training and theory, but there’s nothing quite like learning on the job. I always learn best when I’m actually doing it! I’ve already been out to one fire and learnt quite a bit. Just like life saving, it’s good skills to know, but you don’t want to have to use it!

As always I made a double batch of shortbread which was quite popular if I do say so myself! I’ll be heading to Perth for Christmas and I’m excited. I love this time of year!

The Adventure Continues

At the moment one of my challenges is to try to say yes to every opportunity, and that’s how I found myself racing across the ocean in a yacht! I have never been sailing before and it was an awesome experience. It was a race day so I did my best to stay out of the way and do what I was told, and boy it was great to sit on the boat with my feet hanging over the edge and a beer in my hand!

Showbags!

As part of my small town experiences I decided to enter my jam in the Esperance District Agricultural Show. My strawberry jam didn’t win anything, but I’m glad I did it and the rest of the show was pretty cool too. It was great to hang out with mates, watch the motocross jumping, the fireworks, go on a few rides and eat show food.

The Surf Club season is underway and it’s keeping me pretty busy on the weekends with training courses, looking after nippers and just hanging out at the beach. Patrols don’t start till December when the weather starts warming up and the beach gets busier.

I went back to Perth for the weekend for my cousin’s wedding. It was a beautiful outside wedding at Lamonts followed by a reception that was so much fun! It was awesome to get on the dance floor with the whole family!

With the Bride!

While I was in Perth I went to the Kaleidoscope Festival in the City of Joondalup. It was an incredible display of lights and I was amazed by the number of food vans there were. We went on the last night and apparently so did every other man and his dog in Perth!

And the adventure continues!

Bingo?

In the last few weeks I have been up and back to Perth twice. The first was for some Surf Life Saving meetings so I flew up and spent the weekend in Perth, and the second time I drove up with some mates who were coming for a wedding. It was good coming two weekends in a row particularly because I needed to see the physio twice. The week before I rolled my ankle playing a very serious game of mini golf and ended up tearing three ligaments! Oops!!

We spent one afternoon in Perth picking strawberries which was a good bit of fun but the hour we were there was more than enough as it is actually pretty tiring! I plan on making some jam and entering it in the Esperance Agricultural Show. It was really nice to spend some time in Perth with my family and I’ll be back again in November.

I’ve been to a couple of events lately. I went to Bingo which was a fundraiser for the local soccer club. This was such a fun night and I plan on going again soon. They have these little things where you open the tabs for an instant win a bit like a scratchy and you go through a range of different games. I also won $15 so I was pretty happy with that!

I went to the Bijou Theatre to see the local production of ‘Are you Being Served?’ The theatre itself is one of the oldest buildings in town, built in 1896, and has been the home of a variety of things including a cinema and a place to skate and now to the Esperance Theatre Guild. The show was great with a few good laughs and it was nice to see the familiar faces on stage.

Justice Crew came to town and this was a really loud and exciting show. I volunteered in the bar that night and still got to watch the show. It was one of the biggest audiences I’ve seen at the Civic Centre and everyone looked really pumped.

A Shirtless Justice Crew

I have explored Shelly Beach, although I don’t think that’s the official name. It is a long drive along the beach and through the dunes and it’s worth the journey. It is the only place I know of around Esperance where you can find shells so we spent a bit of time finding little treasures. It was a pretty cold, wet day when we went and I look forward to going back there and spending some more time when the weather is a bit warmer.

Shells!

We went to Lucky Bay again and this time there were heaps of kangaroos! They’re really friendly and don’t care that humans are there at all! There was a little joey in his mum’s pouch too! Much warmer in there! It was very windy and I ended up with a wind-burned face. I went for a long walk along the beach and up the rock overlooking the bay. It was a spectacular view!

Here Skip!

I went for a huge bike ride from Woody Lake to Lake Warden. It was a good trek and we saw lots of birds, a few bob tails and a little dugite. It was a about a 5km ride and a lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon. I’m glad I’ve got myself a bike down here because there are plenty more spots for me to ride.

The Creepy Trees of Lake Warden

The Beach Explorer

I’ve been on quite a few little adventures exploring different spots around town. We went out to Woody Lake and went for a short walk. Once you’ve walked away from your car it’s quite magical with leaves rustling on either side of the walk track and birds flying overhead. I’d like to go back there to go for a longer walk and paddle when the weather warms up a bit.

We went for a long ride along the foreshore one afternoon and stopped for icecream as a half way point before turning back with a new bit of energy. It got a bit dark and started to rain, but we made it back in one piece and it was such a lovely ride.

I went exploring at Pink Lake (or Spencer Lake) which is a salt lake that is not really pink anymore. The colour was caused by algae which has not been present for about ten years. It was still cool walking out on the muddy flats where I had to take my shoes off to squish my feet in the fine grey mud! In summer, it is much drier and you can walk much further out. There is a lake nearby that is very pink - Lake Hillier. It is located on Middle Island of the Recherche Archipelago and is best seen from the sky, so it’s definitely on my list to check out!

I have now been to every beach along Great Ocean Drive. On one nice Sunday, I walked from West Beach to Salmon Beach and back which was a good solid walk. It was sunny, but cool enough for a long walk. I enjoy watching the waves smash against the rocks from the car at a few different spots when the weather is cold and wet.

Another great spot along Great Ocean Drive is the Ten Mile Lagoon Windfarm. From here you have a fantastic view of the windmills in the grassy plain as they meet the turquoise waters. There is a nice place to sit and watch the turbines rotate or look out into the ocean.

There are these rock pools at 9 Mile Beach that I love walking along to see if I can spot any sea creatures. On one occasion, we spotted a whole lot of crabs scampering out from under a rock which could only mean they were being chased! On closer inspection, we found a large octopus trying to catch a crab lunch. We stayed probably an hour or so just watching him squeeze under rocks or zoom across the rock pool and it really made our day!

On the note of sea life, we went on the hunt to spot some whales. At this time of year whales will cruise up along the coast to warmer waters. We did spot one up at Observatory Lookout before it went back under the water and a cyclone decided to come through (not quite, but it was very wet and windy!) I would have liked to stay and watch for a bit longer so I’ll have to go out looking for whales again.

While I have ticked off quite a few places, there are still plenty more to go!

Fast Cars and Ballin'

So I have been keeping pretty busy during work hours and have been finding plenty to do on the weekends when I’m not playing hockey. We have a pretty cool team and get along well, but there are only a few games left and we won’t be making finals.

It was definitely weird celebrating my birthday this year being the first time away from home, but my friends here still made it pretty special. It was also exciting opening some presents that came in the mail (but I did wait till my actual birthday!)

I went on a tour of the Port here which I found really fascinating. This is where fuel and fertilisers come in, nickel and iron ore is exported from the mines and grain is exported from the farms in the region. It’s amazing the number of birds hanging around finding grain that hasn’t made it onto ships. Sometimes we sit at the beach opposite the port and watch the ships being loaded and unloaded.

I visited the Esperance Museum which has a range of different bits and pieces from vintage machinery to the Esperance Railway and pieces from the Sanko Harvest wreckage. The most notable would the Skylab which crashed in 1979 and pieces were found scattered over the Esperance townsite and farming areas. The museum holds many memories from Esperance’s history and I certainly went home learning something new.

I went to the Bird and Animal Park where we got breakfast (they do $10 all day brekky). After we got a good feed we walked around looking at all the animals and managed to avoid the rain. They’ve got loads of different birds and animals. I don’t know why, but I wasn’t too excited to go, but I was pleasantly surprised. It is not a huge place, but it is well set up and not very expensive.

I attended quiz night number four for the year and each team dressed up to a different theme. We were superheroes and it must have been a good choice because we won! Not bad two out of four! We all had a great time and it was pretty funny going to the pub afterwards all in costume.

At the end of July, I went to Kellerberrin with my new mates to watch speedway. This was not my first car racing experience, but it was my first country town speedway. You get a pretty good vibe from people where everyone seems willing to help each other out. It was pretty cold and wet and my tent was essentially pitched in a mud puddle. Despite this it was a really fun time! I enjoyed watching the racing and then eating hot roast beef rolls around the camp fire at the end of the day.

 One of the social events of the year in town is the Yellow Dot Ball. I was not necessarily thrilled about dressing up and going out, particularly as this was a cold wet night, but I think we all scrubbed up pretty nicely. They had a photo booth set up which is always fun and the band was great. It ended up being a fun night filled with dancing, a few drinks and a few laughs.

The Adventure Continues

For a coastal town with a population of around 14,000 Esperance has seen a lot of action lately. I guess that makes it all the more interesting and has kept me busy. It’s nearly like Summer Bay sometimes, but I’m still loving it!

The surf season has wrapped up now and we’ve even had our wind up! I really enjoyed the quieter, more laid back season and while I did know a lot of members at Trigg, a smaller club means you really do know everyone. I’m looking forward to being more involved next season now that I have a better idea of how things work. I did help with nippers this season, and that was good fun on Sunday mornings... despite the cold!

The hockey season is now up and running. We’ve got a good team with plenty of players so I don’t think we will run short. I played in a preseason competition in Cascade which was fun. It was six a side on turf which made it fast, and it was a hot day so it was hard work. It is early in the season and I’m ready to get more into it!

I have had some more time to further explore the area. I took a day trip out to Woody Island with a few mates. I told Dad before we went and he thought we could paddle out there one time when he visits, but I can confirm that we can’t. It was a half hour boat ride! We spent the day hiking, swimming and snorkelling and the island was big enough we almost had it to ourselves! The water was freezing and definitely refreshing!

The day started rainy and cloudy and I was worried we’d be dodging the rain all day, but it ended up being a really nice day. We saw lots of animals; a cute seal showing off, a lot of rustling lizards and a giant spider. I’m surprised we didn’t see more spiders considering the number of spider webs! We ended up having to walk in single file with the leader waving a stick to clear the path. I wasn’t allowed to lead after a while because I wasn’t clearing the webs up high and the others kept copping a mouthful of cobwebs!

I’ve actually been home a few times too. I went back for Easter were we went on an adventure as a family each day. I enjoyed going back for a surf at Trigg with Dad, and we also went to York, where we hunted for treasures in antique shops and we went hiking and had lunch out at Bells Rapids. 

 I also went back for my sisters 21^st which was quite the experience! It was Harry Potter themed and as per usual, my family made sure we covered all the bases! We had a smoke machine and train sound effects as you entered our home via Platform 9 ¾ Then you were surrounded by dementors, broomsticks and spiders with the magical Harry Potter music playing in the background. We made the dementors, broomsticks, wands and chocolate Snitches! We also made up floating candles so they could hang from the roof outside. It was so much fun just making everything for the party, we went through an awful lot of hot glue!

As people were arriving it was my job to man the smoke machine and serve butter beer. It was sickly sweet, but part of the experience! We had a Honeydukes lolly shop table set up and served cheese and pretzel broomsticks, chicken legs and potion test tube shots. We also had an app on the iPad so we could have our own photo booth. It connected to a wireless photo printer so people could print their photos out straight away. It was great to see everyone dressed up, even my Nanna! It really was a magical experience!

It’ll be a bit longer now before I go back to Perth, but I’m sure it will come up soon enough!

Christmas and Moving Again!

So turns out I did pass all my classes, which means I do get to graduate...yay!  I also got a job about eight hours south of Perth in Esperance, which I think is pretty awesome. I am a few weeks in and so far so good, I've learnt lots, and still have lots to learn. I'm excited to get involved in the community here too, they have a nice surf club which has a fantastic view over Twilight Beach, and they have a few hockey teams too.

All the beaches are spectacular which suits me fine, I want to explore them all, and I know where I'll be taking all my visitors. Mum and Dad came down and helped me settle in and we spent a day exploring Cape Le Grand National Park; Lucky Bay and Thistle Cove were our favourite spots. The sand is so fine it squeaks, and the water is so clear! I didn't find it too cold, but it is certainly known to get very cold!

Before I came down here I spent a week in Dunsborough with my family- dog included! We all drove down on Boxing Day, leaving the sales and Christmas mess behind us! We did all our usual things, beach, beach and more beach! As well as driving and exploring, and paddling. It was a good chance to spend time together before my big move.

We checked out Yallingup and Margaret River. and this time we made it as far as Hamelin Bay and Augusta. The fish and chips in Augusta were certainly worth the drive! The dog certainly slept well that night, she just loves running along the beach.

Between finishing uni and Christmas I did do a bit of casual reporting. That was a good bit of experience to get under my belt and I learnt a bit too. During this time I also put another bronze group through and did a few more patrols. I do like spending my time at the beach! Good thing it’s only a 5-minute drive from where I am living at the moment! That being said, I’m sure I’ll have some more beach inspired adventures to come.