Day 32 Esperance -The tourist route

Whilst we have been in the west we have come across these maps at nearly every town and I don’t mean the tear off ones from the info centres. These are proper maps of the town and the surrounding area with points of interest etc and they are free. They are fantastic for planning your days when in a location. So with one of these in hand we intended to set off on the tourist route which was about a 30 km loop along the western side of Esperance tanking in  a number of beaches and sites. Before we headed of we went to the Info centre for some more info and basically walked through a whole range of buildings which have been restored and turned into shops. Buildings such as the 1920’s Police Sgts house and 1930’s Matron’s quarters. In all there were about 10 buildings from various periods around Esperance. It was a nice stroll and we enjoyed coffee at Café on the Rocks,  which original was the School Masters home from around the 1940’s and has been turned into a coffee shop. 

Plaque a Esperance Museum

A town sculpyure

Old church in historic precinct

Sculpture in front of old police station

Once fortified we headed off on the tourist route and lost count of the number of times we stopped at lookouts etc. By the time we had completed the loop it was well after 1.30 so we headed back for lunch. After lunch it was take up where we left off. There were two main attraction for the afternoon the first was the mermaid shop and the second was the glass art experience. The mermaid shop was an interesting place and they tan all types of fish skins to make leather for handbags etc pretty much anything that can be made by traditional leather can be done with fish skins. They buy, what is essentially a waster produce (for around 50c a kilo), and turn it into high grade leather. We looked at many of the fish leather items and they were crafted beautifully and well out of our price range. We asked about carp and yes they do process them as well. Another interesting fact is that we (Australia) export shit loads of Carp (technical term for lots) to the Asia pacific region for human consumption. From the mermaid shop it was a quick jaunt to the Glass Gallery of Cindy Pool. She had many pieces of art and it was enjoyable looking through the gallery with Cindy and her staff responding to all our questions, Again it was one of those places were you either have a place to put the pieces or you don’t, we don’t which is unfortunate because there are some wonderful pieces in her collection. Cindy and another artist were also responsible for the whale tail sculpture on the water front. This sculpture is a representation of the elements that make up Esperance. I don’t pretend to understand, I’m sure Tracey would, but it is a great piece and sets the water front up. The sculpture is a mix of wood, steel and fused glass I the shape of a whale tail. The weather is starting to moderate so, hopefully we  will have a good day tomorrow to head for Cape Le Grande.