5 things you never knew about Esperance

Esperance may be famous for its stunning coastline and sunbathing kangaroos of Lucky Bay, but here are some facts you may not already know about our coastal paradise!

1. Kepa (water) Kurl (boomerang) is the Aboriginal name for the town of Esperance meaning, "where the water lies like a boomerang".

It's a beachside beauty spot, where coastal parks await discovery and relaxation is the order of the day.

It has been here a long time, and it’s not going anywhere. So take your time to get to know it. You’ll never forget it.

2. Esperance's Coastal National Parks combine to cover 3,200 sq. kilometres. These are made up of:

Cape Le Grand National Park, famous for the Lucky Bay kangaroos.

Cape Arid National Park and the picture perfect Duke of Orleans Bay.

Peak Charles National Park, where you can hike to the top of Peak Charles and see 50km in any direction.

Stokes National Park, situated around an estuary.

These coastal parks are amazing for swimming, fishing, surfing, boating, walking, hiking or just lazing on the pure white sand of the many beaches.

3. You can fly over the rainbow lakes. Located in the farming country of Esperance, the rainbow lakes can be all sorts of colours - pink, green, yellow and more.

The lakes and country side changes with the season, so you never know what view you're going to get.

Only able to be seen from the air, book this amazing experience with Fly Esperance or HeliSpirit.

4. Esperance is home to the only full size replica of the original Stonehenge in the UK. It appears as the original would have looked around 1950BC.

It consists of 137 stones of Esperance Pink Granite that were all quarried locally less than 1km from the Stonehenge's final resting place.

While the sheer size of the structure is impressive enough, the alignment of the formation to the summer and winter solstices is awe inspiring.

5. In 1973, NASA made its first attempt at an orbital space station with Skylab. When some space debris from this crashed into Esperance, the council charged the space agency $400 for littering. NASA has yet to pay. However, in 2009, 30 years after Skylab’s reentry, California radio DJ Scott Barley asked listeners to donate money so they could finally clear NASA’s books. Though the mayor of Esperance told Barley the ticket had been “written off years ago,” he and his listeners cobbled together the $400 and sent it to the shire. For his efforts, Barley was invited to Esperance and received a key to the city.

If you visit the Esperance Municipal Museum, you'll find a large model of Skylab standing on a pedestal at the museum’s entrance and a collection of the debris on show inside.