Esperance is a small town of about 12,000 people founded by the French in 1791. It is a beach and nature-lovers dream. We were greeted on the beach by some First Nation people who welcomed us with a smoke ceremony. They lit a small fire of aromatic twigs and herbs and we each passed through the smoke to ward off evil spirits.
One of the more recent tourist sites of Esperance is a reproduction of what Stonehenge would have looked like when it was new, built of local stone, in a farmer's field. Just to make it more surreal, the local food producers turned out to tempt us with local delicacies and a local musician serenaded us with the Australian equivalent of Wild West songs.
The little town of Esperance itself was great fun, with lovely shops, colourful street art and Victorian buildings.
