Circus tricks, pirates and an end to gender confusion

We arrived in Esperence, wet and weary. We were ready for some town living so we set up at a caravan park close to the centre of town. Within 5 minutes of arrival, one of our neighbours came and gave us a bag of fish that her husband and kids had caught that afternoon. An excellent beginning.  While we set up, the kids hit the play equipment and soon discovered Jeff and Debbie and their kids (golf-playing friends from Eucla and Cocklebiddy). We chatted to our fish-gifting neighbours who told us they were from Geralton, North of Perth, but had fled to Esperence 2 months ago after their 2yo daughter had only just recovered from Meningicocal. It was a big scare and they were clearly shaken. They had chosen to settle in Esperence and the older kids had found jobs in the local shops while the younger kids were attending the local school. However, being a large Aboriginal family, they were having a tough time securing rental accommodation and so were forced to live at the caravan park in a trailer. They were a lovely, quiet, friendly family and it seemed very unjust.

That night, we put on our glad-rags and headed for the circus! But first we had to get some dinner and our hankering for Asian food led us to the local Chinese restaurant. It was a good thing that the circus turned out to be great, because dinner was dreadful! We have now vowed to never eat Chinese food on the trip again (we also tried in Hobart and had some awful dumplings) - Australian Chinese food away from the big cities seems to have evolved to taste like cardboard. However dinner aside, we had a great night - the circus was a smaller, more intimate performance than the usual Circus Oz style thing we have seen in Melbourne. The highlight of the night was a group of Kenyan acrobats who performed mind-blowing acts. Zara was on the edge of her seat for the entire show - but most particularly when the star of the show - 12yo Americas (yep, that's her name - ah showbiz parents...) did some amazing hula hoop work. The girl's spangled costumes, perfect poise and amazing talent was enough to have any 6yo girl drooling with envy! During the intermission Sash chatted up the local girls on the tea-cup ride and Zara trotted around on the circus ponies (led by the one and only Americas - to z's delight!). After the circus, we went home happily in the rain but Bill still went off to catch us some squid for our next night's dinner...

Next morning, we discovered that many Esperence tourist attractions are closed for the off-season, but we still found a pretty cool park and were soon joined by Debbie and her kids. In the afternoon, we continued living it up by going to the movies and eating choc tops whilst enjoying The Pirates. Later that night, the kids and Kate played on the jetty while Bill pulled in squid. We have discovered that jetties are very social and pleasant places at around 5pm when all the locals and tourists come to fish. Granted, much of the conversation revolves around fishing (ie. have you had any luck, what colour jig did you use etc etc - enough to make Kate's eyes glaze over), but every now and again you get beyond fishing-talk and hear some interesting stories. On this particular jetty, we met a dapper old fellow who had migrated to Australia from Germany shortly after the war. He had lived all around the country and was pretty happy to share many intreresting stories with us as the sun set over the bay.

Next day, we turned our mind to more mundane tasks such as taking the car in to be serviced and stocking up on groceries. With no car, we utilised the excellent bike paths around the town - including right along the foreshore. We also decided to stop confusing and horrifying our fellow travellers with Sasha's unruly mop of hair which had been home-cut unto a very girly bob - none of us mind  that he gets called our daughter on a daily basis (although Zara is a bit keen on gender clarity), but it really embarrasses other people because they think they have upset us... Even the friendly hairdresser herself had to tentatively inquire whether Sash was a boy or a girl... And even Kate admits he looks good with his new snappy cut. So with the children tidied up, their genders clearly defined by their haircuts, Kate and the kids grabbed bikes and bathers and headed for the local pool. The kids were so beside themselves at the discovery that the pool has a whirlpool in it, we stayed for a couple of hours and then took Bill back the next day so he could experience the mega-fun that is the Esperence pool!

Another Esperence attraction that is worth a mention is the local museum. It is run by volunteers and only open for a couple of hours a day - but it has never ending rooms full of fascinating and random stuff. Kate and the kids spent an hour in there before one of the volunteers loudly rang an old cow bell to tell us in no uncertain terms that it was time to leave. Bill came in shortly before closing time and we all wished we had longer to wander amongst the old telephones, steam trains, ye olde toys, farming machinery, tales of shipwrecks, maps, coins, photograph, shells, shark teeth and so much more...