On arrival to Albany it was the usual set up and shopping.We stayed at Rosegardens beach front caravan park which is situated at Emu point on the outskirts of Albany.
Albany is known for the Princess Royal Harbour & King George Sound which was used for a dispatch point for ships and the men heading to fight in WW1 and hence a there are a lot of monuments in Albany celebrating the first Anzacs.
The weather was windy , first day gale force, and rainy patches which fortunately initially was mostly at nights and in the early mornings, so lots of sleeping in. The wind continued all week and got worse towards the end of the week making going out nearly impossible. The awning had even pulled out of its anti flap device later in the week, so the awning was put down at this point to prevent damage.
We managed 4 day trips from Albany both in town and close by, these trips were to explore the town and its history, the anzac story, the national parks, beaches and scenery.
Trip 1 …..Explored the Albany national park, Princess Royal fortress, National Anzac Centre and the lookouts at Mt Clarence ,the Padre White lookout is where the Anzac memorial is situated. These were all in town and close to each other.
Trip 2 Drove out to Two Peoples Bay nature reserve, Little beach and stopped at Aboriginal fish traps on Oyster Bay.
Next was beer tasting at Wilson’s brewery where some produce was bought followed by drinks with Tony and Jenny from Brisbane, people we met in our last stop and also here in Albany.
Trip 3
A stroll around the farmers markets in town, a walk down to Anzac park, viewed the replica ship , the Brig Amity which was the first British ship to land here in 1826 and claim the land by flying the British flag. This was a rush by the British to claim Western Australia as they found out the French were on the way to do the same thing. Western Australia was very nearly a French Colony. What a difference this would have made to modern day Australia. We visited the old goal and historical areas in this area. These included the Albany town hall and areas of York street with lunch at the oldest pub in Western Australia.
Trip 4 to Torndirrup National Park.
More beautiful aqua beaches and bays with huge granite mountains.
The day was very windy and unpleasant which prevented us attempting some of the bigger walks in this area.
Stopped at the Salmon holes, the blow hole, Stony hill, Frenchman’s bay and Misery beach.
At the blow hole we saw a whale and her calf. Then on to The Gap and the Natural Bridge, here the wind was gale force and the sea spray drench the front of the car and it was parked a along way cross the car park.
Walked around the outsides of the Historic Whaling Station at Discovery Bay, but didn’t go in as it was too expensive.
Albany has plenty to see and do, but unfortunately we had such rotten weather and the gale force wind prevented us doing much else, however the main sights were seen.
Dog rock , one of the many granite boulders in Albany.
Melbourne cup day was our last day here, the wind, cold and rain keeping us indoors watching the races with prawns, oysters and champagne. No wins were had on the race.
My (Debbie) knee had subluxed again last night, i just moved my leg, so activity for the next week will be limited….AGAIN. A decision to go home and have both knees fixed was made. We will do a quick trip from here in Albany across to Perth and make our way home by Xmas, I will have the MRI scans and wait 6 weeks for the surgery in late January. We had originally decide to have my knees done when we got back from France in September but I decided it could wait for another year. It turns out we should have stuck to that plan.
Albany to Denmark was the next destination.
A pretty area where we did 2 scenic drives, one was Scotsdale Rd through some of the Karri trees visiting wineries, one with cheeses and the other with toffee and sauces. We bought a chilli mayo which goes well with everything and a chilli cheese. The other drive was down around the beach headlands and included Wilsons inlet, Ocean beach, Lights beach, William Bay, Parry beach and on to Peaceful Bay before returning to our peaceful rural setting in one of Denmark’s inland caravan parks.
Wilsons inlet
Green pools and elephant rocks were the highlight at William bay.
Previously, we were going to Pemberton area to do all the giant Karri and tingle tree highlights but this will wait till the next time we are in Western Australia, as the knee is a only just improving and not up to trees climbing and doing walking trails.
So, on to Margaret River and the Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park. The road went through the Karri trees area , photos below.
Here we caught up with an old Friend Doug Taylor and his partner Gill who are also touring WA but in the opposite direction to us. Spent the two nights here by a campfire with them.
We followed Doug and Gill on a tour of the wineries in the Margaret River area the next day, a large wine region in WA. Cheese, wine and beer were purchased.
On the way home from the wineries we detoured to Gracetown
Next day we explored Mammoth Cave, one of many caves in this area.
Bussellton was out next stop, famous for having the longest wooden jetty in the southern hemisphere, 1.8 kilometres out to sea. Lovely foreshore with cafes, play equipment for children and restaurants all here by the foreshore.
At the end of the jetty there is an under water observatory in just 8 metres of water. pictures below. We caught the little train out due to rainy weather and walked back.
Having decided to go home our first priority was to visit Dianne and Mick before departing WA. They live in Perth, very close to the city and they have a holiday house at Dawesville where we will park the van, stay one night initially there, go into Perth for two nights and return to Dawesville.
First night in Dawesville was a catch up with Mick, we will see Di in Perth.
On the way to Perth we walked around Mandurah, what a lovely area, if we were ever to live in WA this would be our pick of places to live so far. Then we continued via the coast to Rockingham before the freeway to Perth.
While in Perth we had Dinner at the Irish pub the first night followed by dinner at home the next night, Mick put a picture slide show on the TV of our French holiday together in August on our boat Anja. A good trip down memory lane.
While in Perth, we caught the train into town, walked the fore shores of the Swan River and took a River cruise down to Fremantle for a quick look, a place to return too when we have more time.
Freemantle above
Perth foreshore below
The second day, we spent a morning in Kings Park that overlooks the city, it has many war memorials and a botanical garden of WA plants.
Back to Dawesville, were we sat overlooking the estuary, what a beautiful view.
Our last day here , Mick and Di took us on a local tour of the area. We visited the Thromolites at Lake Clifton. These are microbial communities that form in shallow water by trapping and binding grains of sediment together.
Lunch at a Winery and brewery. The local Magpie stole Dis fish out of her hand as she was putting it in her mouth which was really scary. She nearly had a heart attack and took some time to get over it.
Later we watched a large school of dolphins surfing off the break wall at pyramids beach.
It was good to catch up with the Mulhall’s and the hospitality was amazing.
It is now time to head east and make our way home for my medical appointments and MRI scans, the home journey will be our next blog.
