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Esperance, population 14000, is located approximately 720 kilometres south-east of Perth. It was named in 1792, after the ship L'Esperance which anchored there for repairs. The first Europeans visitors were whalers and sealers who lived in rough beachside camps. Boats came to the beach, removing blubber, seal skins and eventually the men. Pastoral interests moved into the area in the 1860's. With the nearest centers to it of any size, Kalgoorlie(pop. 30,800) 390 kilometres inland to the north and Albany (pop. 36,200) 480 kilometres westward along the coast, Esperance is a long way from anywhere. |
Primarily a port, it is also a beachside resort servicing people from Kalgoorlie and other inland centers.
I came to the resort to breath the salt laden air wafting off the Southern Ocean, dig my toes into the seaweed impregnated sand and to meander along the Norfork Island Pine lined foreshore.
Several artificial attractions complement natural attractions. First is a jetty, Tanker Jetty, which invited the obligatory walk to its end. Upon completion I was three hundred metres from the shore. The jetty needed to be this long to reach water deep enough to accomodate the shipping of the time.
A jetty was built in 1895 to berth boats which bought prospectors heading for the newly discovered gold fields at Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie.
From 1910 onwards regional grain production created demand for a new jetty. It, the Tanker Jetty, was completed in 1934. Used to export salt, copper concentrates, wheat and import fuel oil, it fell into disrepair after 1975 due to the building of a wharf. Though it has since been restored, its timbers are old and the price of further restorations may become prohibitively expensive.
Farther along is an exhibit of a wind farm turbine. It is one of two from the Salmon Beach wind farm, the first wind farm in Australia. Esperance is isolated, not connected to the grid and located at the northern edge of the roaring forties. These factors make it excellent location for wind farm experimentation. A small experimental farm was established at Salmon Beach. Consisting of six turbines, capable of producing 60 kilowatts each, it supplemented diesel power from 1987 to 2002. Because of urban encroachment and the availability of more cost efficient turbines it was decommissioned in 2002.
A new wind farm, Ten Mile Lagoon, was established on a ridge sixteen kilometres west of Esperance. With nine 225 kilowatt turbines, it is Australia's oldest operating wind farm.
Near the wind farm turbine is the Esperance Museum. Generally open from 10:30am to 4:30pm daily is can close early during quiet periods.
Arguably, the museum's most famous exhibit is the debris from Skylab which crashed into the area on July 12th, 1979. NASA was fined, in good fun, $200 for littering. NASA did not pay the fine. The fine was eventually paid by a Californian DJ.
However, the main theme of the museum is local history. A very prominent exhibit is the stream train, with carriages, that ran from Esperance to Kalgoorlie from 1951-1969. It used six tonnes of coal and eight thousand gallons of water for each trip. Other exhibits include vintage displays, of buggy's, furniture, clothes and household items, dating from the 1860s. Some are displayed in period rooms, others in glass cases and floor displays. Some exhibits are not particularly old, for example, a Machitosh computer.
Across the road, back on the fore shore is an open sculpture of a Southern Right Whale's fin. Steel used in the open section represents the local port and the old Tanker jetty.
The mid section, fabricated from jarrah, is shaped like a boat hull and the filter (baleen) inside the whale's mouth. Jarrah, a hardwood Eucalypt, was used for boat building.
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Treasure Sculpture |
Crab Sculpture |
Esperance is a deep water port capable of accommodating ships up to 180,000 tonnes.
When I first sighted the clock tower I thought is was historical which had been restored. Actually building commenced in 2002. A four face clock, the last built in Australia, it has gold plated hands.
When completed the clock tower will have four bronze castings. The locally made bronze castings weigh 250kgs. Each casting consist of eight main sections and several minor sections.
Esperance is quiet, peaceful and prosperous center a long way from anywhere. In this trouble filled world, sometimes a long way from anywhere is a good place to be!