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 21st 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!
