By early afternoon we rolled into Esperance glad to see the sight of white caps in the bay and the clouds breaking up overhead. A five-minute stop to grab a water and sandwich was all that was allowed before we hit the road bound for Nine Mile Beach. When you pull into Esperance, you might well wonder what all the fuss is about. First impressions are that it’s it’s a bog standard Australian town on the beach with a big industrial port and murky green water. Your perceptions all change when you hit the Great Ocean Drive that takes you up and around the coast past some of the most stunning beaches Australia has to offer. Turquoise waves crash onto the white sandy shoreline, while granite islands dot the horizon in majestic fashion. Somewhere down this way are Cyclops and several other notorious bone crushing waves that work in the depths of the Aussie winter, but the locals all seem sworn into a vow of secrecy as to their whereabouts.