Esperance Stonehenge — Attraction in Myrup

Old lady guards the henge

Group of 10 of us with a baby, came to check it out. Went to the store and before walking in, was met with a loud "sign in before entering the store please!". Fair enough, covid. Signed in by hand.

Walked in, greeted each other and said there's a group of us. She was observing as the rest of my crew were leaving the car and preparing themselves. She asked how many and said "can't fit that many in here. This place only fits 8". Right, covid, gotcha.

Waited outside, 2 of us were walking around the carpark and outdoor areas where there were flowers. They were told off by the lady "that area is out of bounds". The two apologized and walked to another area with a large shed just a few steps off the carpark. Again, told off and said it was out of bounds. I asked "What area can they actually walk then? Are those areas private property?" We were told that they were only allowed in the carpark but was followed with a quick "are they paying for the stonehenge?". When she found out they weren't, a prompt response of "they need to stay in their car". Now that's a bit excessive, can't even stretch their legs.

They weren't even allowed to use the toilets (which were dirty portaloos) because they had to be paying customers. We also noticed signs in the portaloo that had no squatting and limiting the amount of toilet paper along the lines of "we are providing toilet paper out of generosity of our hearts, please don't take extra. If you need more, we have toilet paper available for purchase at our store"

So yeah, not such a friendly place. But if your turn on is a cool arrangement of rocks guarded by an overbearing old lady, then...

A short drive out of Esperance with clear road signage, roughly 10-15 mins. The entrance is at the top of a hillside to the left if coming from town, there is plenty of parking available as you pull up to the tourist shop, toilets are also an easy access. The office has snack food/drinks available and with friendly staff that give you a brief overview of the site, its building and where the stone was mined to complete such an awe-inspiring replica, the scale is truly massive while being a one to one in size and representing what Stone Henge would have looked like thousands of years ago in England when first built. It's orientation is set for this part of the world to align for the summer and winter solstices, the staff did mention they hold gatherings at those two times of the year which I hope to witness myself. What more can I say other than it is massive in size, the dimensions are on a scale when you think of how the original was erected without the use of modern machinery and technology. I would not hesitate to recommend the short drive out of town to view a monumental tourist attraction with the entrance of $14 per person, I must add that drones cannot be flown during business hours however a $25 fee to fly after hours can be sorted...

I waz really keen to visit this and see WHY on earth it is there in rural Western Australia. Unfortunately, though the website said it was open the day I set aside to visit it (paired with a guided trip to Cape Le Grande National Park) it was strangely closed. There was nothing on the website or facebook page to explain the closure and so I never got to go. 7hrs from Perth, it's not the sort of place you can just pop into, so I was really disappointed not to be able to visit and get many questions answered. I'm sure I would have enjoyed the feature itself ofcourse too. Another odd thing.. even though it is situated in the middle of nowhere (farmland) it is built not far from the road.. but they've built a huge long wall along the roadside (and there are no parking signs along that same stretch) to discourage people taking photos from the roadside. We stopped as I wanted a pic of my "nonvisit" to commemorate my attempt to find out about the stone henge, and the owner actually happened to be driving past at the time and tooted and yelled at us, which I thought was bad behaviour considering they weren't open for paid viewing. So, as much as I would still love to see the place, I've only had a poor experience with the place/staff so far....