Day 27 – Tuesday 24 June – Albany Day 1
Albany is the oldest colonial settlement in Western Australia, with a population around 35,000. Although it has a lot to offer, that all had to wait while we did our overdue exercises (we are scared of the physio Gods), inside the caravan, to Irish country music.
By 9:30 am it had nearly reached the maximum temperature of 15 degrees. The rain had eased and the wind was hiding somewhere.
Our first port of call was the 'National ANZAC Centre'. Albany is where over 41,000 Aussie & Kiwi troops departed for WW1 and Gallipoli. Many did not make it back and many that did only lasted a short time as stress, gas and wounds took their terrible toll.
The site of the centre - Albany Heritage Park - is located where a site was established prior to the war to defend this part of Australia. The locals have done a superb job establishing a very sobering memorial to the Aussie & Kiwi troops who left their families to defend 'King & Country'.
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| A couple of appropriate symbols |
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| A refurbished period building |
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| Shirley pondering where munitions were stored |
We departed and visited the local art silo and took another photo - again impressive.
It was time for a bowl of Italian soup and sourdough toast for lunch near some Albany street art, and the historical town hall.
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| Albany Town Hall |
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| The six indigenous seasons |
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| Street Art |
It was time for a beach and some fauna. The beach was Middleton Beach - a great beach except that the sharp shells meant that shoes were mandatory.
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| Middleton Beach [Beach 30, Walks 29] |
The flora was a Galah on the Middleton foreshore and a rabbit at the caravan park. One was too tough to cook, the other was too fast to catch.
Shirley organised dinner of steak and veggies - I cooked it. It was superb.
Day 28 – Wednesday 25 June – Albany Day 2
It was our busiest day and the best weather for some time. Two full loads of washing - sheets, towels, clothes, the lot - it all went in.
With sunny skies and no wind we set off for the "Gap and Natural Bridge", natural wonders of the WA south coast. The sun and the vantage points did not allow for great photos.
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| "The Natural Bridge" In the middle of the white foaming surf there are 3 shadows, Shirley and I are 2 of them |
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| Waves crashing into the Gap We were standing on a platform that overhangs the 'Gap' |
From there we headed to the Albany Whaling Station, which closed in 1978. They have a great exhibition and display that took a couple of hours to wander over, read, see and listen. It was another sobering experience and a reminder of how tough life was in some professions - not to mention the sad way that whales were treated.
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| The "Cheynes IV" one of the whaling fleet ships |
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| Half of an excellent sea-shell display |
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| An Eastern Osprey overlooking our tour |
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| Two whale skeletons |
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| Another interesting sign |
Click here if you wish to learn more about the whaling station.
Whales had been sighted at the "Blow Hole" so we stopped there. The blow holes were not to be seen, but we could hear the water going into them. We saw a couple of whales in the distance, but they were not in a mood for posing. It was a long tough walk for little reward - but the exercise was good.
A couple of great-looking beaches were seen on our travels - but we did not get close enough to allow them to be added to my register.
Dinner for four was at the Albany Premier Hotel with former neighbours from home - grey nomads doing a similar thing to us. It was a pleasant catch-up with Peter & Lorraine and a great meal.
Day 29 – Thursday 26 June – Albany Day 3
Yesterday was busy culturally, socially and physically so we awarded ourselves a sleep in and a cooked breakfast. The remaining bacon combined beautifully with the last two eggs and the last two slices of bread/toast - I got the crust.
The caravan looked like an Irish laundry - airing yesterday's washing - to be sure, to be sure, to be sure.
Sightseeing, shopping, car wash and diesel were to be the days highlights.
Our first stop was the location of the very very old indigenous fish traps. However the tide was too high and we missed out on the major attraction.
Then it was the 'Albany Chainsaw Art' - a large collection of (mostly) wood art created by a chainsaw by one person - Darrel Radcliffe. It was an amazing collection of wood art, along a one-way road through his property.
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| An example of Darrel Radcliffe's chainsaw art |
Click here if you want to see a lot more.
Now it was time for fish purchase, other shopping, a car wash and a diesel top up, then lunch.
Not much happened after that apart for a 3 km walk along Emu Beach.
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| Emu Beach [Beach 31, Walks 30] |
Dinner was a home cooked piece of local fresh Spangled Emperor some chips and a bit of salad. It was superb.
Day 30 – Friday 27 June – Albany Day 4
The start of our fifth week on the road was our most physical, courtesy of the Porongurup National Park. Shorts were donned (because of the expected walking) and we drove 50 km north to the National Park. Lunch and a thermos were packed.
We decided that the Castle Rock Granite Skywalk was too hard for us so we headed off in a different direction - to do a walk that was probably harder than the above walk. We tackled the Nancy Peak Walk and a lesser stroll - a total of around six km for the two.
The scenery was breath-taking and the birds plentiful - although most were too fast for me or too far from the camera. The following gives a summary of what we saw in Porongurup National Park.
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| The road through the National park |
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| Some magnificent timber |
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| A couple of struggling grey nomads |
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| More timber on our walk |
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| The view from near the top of Nancy Peak Walk |
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| Our walks were in there somewhere |
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| White-throated Honeyeater, Grey Honeyeater, Some sort of Kingfisher There were many more birds, but I managed to catch these |
We arrived home about 3pm and relaxed, then started to research our plan as we move west tomorrow - after visiting the farmers market.
Day 31 – Saturday 28 June – Albany to Walpole - 150 km
Our day started with a 9am departure and a short drive into the Albany Farmers Market. Before we departed a Rosella posed for me.
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| A thing of beauty... |
Shirley was impressed with the veggie prices while I bought an excellent danish.
We went the scenic route - through fertile grazing land - to Denmark where we chatted to the lady at the "I" then we ignored her advice. She wanted us to eat cheese, cakes, etc and drink wine, coffee and beer. No we said, and onwards we pressed.
Our target was "Elephants Rocks and Greens Pool" and memories of 30+ years ago. Dementia is not with us - the memories were true. The scenic beauty, the colour of the water and the sandy beaches were as we remembered.
None of these photos do justice to what we saw.
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| Waterfall beach and the waterfall it is named after - maybe 2 metres in height [Beach 32, Walks 31] |
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| Madfish Bay |
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| Elephants Rocks |
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| Beach at Greens Pool [Beach 33, Walks 32] |
Our paddle in the water was our first for the trip. The jeans were swapped for shorts before we left the car/caravan.
Elephants Rocks also provided our first reptile photo of the trip - a King's Skink (Egernia kingii). It was maybe 500 mm long.
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| A King's Skink (Egernia kingii) About 500 mm long |
Very late (for us) we decided to camp near Walpole and we were surprised at the markings of the resident pregnant kangaroo. Her previous offspring had the same forehead white stamp.
According to Shirley's calculations and my electronics we walked around 5 km and went up/down around 600 steps, on and into beaches. So much for a quiet stroll on a couple of beaches.
*** This chapter is now complete ***
*** Day 32 onwards has been moved to Chapter 7 ***
