Mike and Alana's big drive: Comparisons are Onerous

I've often said, if you could pick Hobart up and put it somewhere down on the Mornington peninsula, that I would happily live there. I'm tempted to make the same comparison with Esperance but have stopped a little short of following through with that thought..
The thing is Esperance wouldn't be itself if it was anywhere else. I can imagine all the development, high rises sprouting up like dandelions on a spring lawn. There would be more people for a start, more traffic, more McDonalds, less parking, more meters.
There is plenty of room in Esperance, the beaches go on for ever. The most popular beach with the locals is not the town foreshore one, but one that is about six kms away called Twilight beach. See what I mean, plenty of room. Esperance also has one of the most scenic bike/walk paths in the world. (rated in the top ten) It has an impossibly long and curved jetty that couldn't possibly be filled by the town's people and tourists.A fat Sea Lion hangs around (always there) the fish cleaning station, there's plenty of room for him there too. The main shopping precinct languishes over two or three criss crossed streets, with no sense of purpose of flow or planning for neatness and conformity, once again plenty of room. There is a curious lack of urgency around the place, maybe because in essence it is a country town, it's just a weird feeling having it on the beach. There's a rail line and a road that brings train and b double loads of minerals down to the port, which is on the main fore shore beach. I was struck by how clean and clear the water was around this port. Thereis this swimming area with one of those floating pontoons that the kids use which is close to the port, yet again plenty of room for every one and every thing. I like the fact that Esperance is a long drive away from Perth, other wise it would turn into a Lorne or a Torquay.

Alana and Glendon on a photo shoot!

What! You still here.

what are you looking at

Glendon n Rachel

My good friends Glendon and Rachel have caught up with us at long last. Alana and I have had the pleasure of their company for the last week or so. We went back to Cape Le Grand, rode our bikes around town, did a bit of frolicking in the sea and shared some meals together at night. The ukuleles have been out, we've been going over some old tunes and playing a new one by Amos Lee (check him out on you tube) called "Sweet Pea". We all have been humming and singing it during the day. It's really catchy and gets under your skin.

The famous Tuesday night bike rides are still on, only it's been every night with Glendon and the uke.

So while I've come to the conclusion that Esperance should stay exactly where it is, I've been able to have a bit of home over here with me. May the Tuesday night bike ride sessions continue.

PS. Back home on a Tuesday night I would go with Glendon on a bike ride as a regular thing, over the last few years there has been hardly any riding. We mainly catch up and play our guitars and ukes, but we still call Tuesday night, Bike Ride Night.