Day 106 Esperance

Today we drove the Great Ocean Drive circuit for the 38 Kilometre Circular Loop. We started with the lakes.
Esperance is ringed on the landward side by a series of interconnected lakes and waterways. Lake Wheatfield, Woody Lake, and Lake Windabout are part of the Lake Warden System.







The drive continued calling into the beaches (there are so many of them, and all so gorgeous) along the coast, they are all stunning and the water is so beautiful with the azure/turquoise colourings and the pure white sand. With the sun shining brightly it just made for picture perfect photographs.




























Pink Lake was next on the journey. This large and quite impressive salt water lake was once pink and is now white because reduced salinity levels have caused its signature pink microalgae (Dunaliella salina) to lose their vibrant colour, due to lower salt levels that came from harvesting too much salt (now ceased 1896 - 2007) and higher water flows from rain etc.




We then drove into town for some lunch and saw a couple of street art pieces.





We then drove to Lake Monjingup there are numerous bush walks in the reserve the best one being the timber boardwalk along the paperbark wetlands. There is a large lake with many birds to spot, a banksia “forest” for want of a better description and prolific birdlife in flowering trees and bushes.