Albany WA.

The Albany Waterfront.

Albany is nothing like we expected. We wanted a waterfront steeped in old whaling tradition, with old wooden jetties and whaling boats, fish 'n chips by the bay, cafes and shops, and seagulls swirling among the masts of sailing ships. We got wheat silos and a grain handling facility, plus a huge pile of wood chip with a loading facility!! What happened???

Don't get me wrong, but for a city that is steeped in maritime history, you would never know on first impressions. It is a huge protected harbour, and is now quite a busy commercial port with all the grain and wood chip exports, but unlike most "port" cities, here everything happens up the hill! Maybe it was protection from the wind. Who knows? No one can enlighten me. The new Entertainment Centre sits on the waterfront, a modern, angular glass and steel structure, that kind of looks all forlorn, alone and out of place. They have built a new marina and a remembrance park, but there is no "life" at the waterfront. Hopefully, it will come to life one day. Lets get some of that Royalties for Regions money working at the waterfront!

The entrance to our caravan park.

The beach at Emu Point.

Our plan had been to stay at Middleton Point Big4 Caravan Park, but when I rang, they didn't have much left for big rigs. The site we could have had wasn't to our liking, too cramped in, so we headed off up the road to our second choice. We are staying at the Top Tourist Emu Beach Caravan Park, situated at Emu Point, which is just beautiful. The narrow waterway at Emu Point, is at the end of the long arc of sand which is Middleton Beach. It marks the entrance to a

Looking down York St. Albany.

Delightful Emu Point Cafe.

huge bay, called Oyster Harbour, where there is commercial oyster farming, as well as a commercial fishing fleet. There is also a marina for recreational boats. The park, and the protected beach are just beautiful, with clean clear waters and white sands, and we quickly found that the Emu Point Cafe is a nice place to spend time with great food and coffee, just a short walk along the beach from the caravan park. It is a lovely caravan park, and we are about 6.5 kms from the city centre. We found the added bonus of a great bicycle track which ran all the way into Albany, and Middleton Beach is just lovely for a long walk, as long as you look out for the horses! The race horse trainers are allowed to exercise their horses on a section of the beach. We also found another nice cafe along the cycle track, at Middleton Beach, called The Three Anchors, which did a good coffee. Looks like second choice is best!!

The residency. Original Govt. Building.

Dog Rock in central Albany.

There is a lot to see and do in Albany. You just have to find out where it is! The town itself is quite large, with a population around 35,000. It is spread all around the huge waterway, which is King George Sound. It is the largest harbour on the southern coastline of Australia. The beautifully protected inner harbour, known as Princess Royal Harbour, is entered through a very narrow channel called Ataturk Entrance. As usual, the place to start is the Visitor Information Centre, situated in the old railway station building down near the harbour. The railway line is only used to bring in grain these days. The lady we spoke to was most helpful, and we left armed with maps and brochures to plan our stay. There are lots of scenic drives and cycleways and walking paths everywhere, so we get the bikes down off the back of the caravan, ready to ride!

The replica of the Brig Amity.

Old schoolhouse from Torbay.

Closer examination, reveals that the town did start around the waterfront. There is a replica of the Brig Amity which brought the first 58 settlers to Albany from the colony at New South Wales, to set up the first settlement in WA. What is now Stirling Terrace, is home to the Old Gaol, Patrick Taylor Cottage, the oldest dwelling in WA, as well as the Old Court House and some grand old pubs

Looking along Middleton Beach
to Emu Point.

Grand old buildings.

and warehouse buildings. But then, everything started to go up the hill along York Street, where you find the grander permanent buildings from the late 1800's, like the Town Hall, and the grand Churches. We spent some time exploring these old buildings, and it was fun climbing all over the brig Amity. which has been done extremely well and gives a great insight into how tough life was for our forefathers opening up this huge land. Imagine 58 people, plus sheep, cows, pigs and horses, all couped up on a small ship for a couple of months. Hang onto your nose!!!! I don't know if it is planned this way, but given the world's current stance on whaling, Whaleworld and things whaling have been located quite a way out of town at Frenchman Bay. Nearby is Misery Beach, which probably explains pretty well what went on back then. We chose not to do the tour. We have looked at the whaling history at other places along the Australian Coast, and didn't need another look.

Little Beach.

Gorgeous Sooty Oyster Catcher.

Much of the beauty of Albany is in its natural surroundings, and National Parks. There is lots to see. Our first day trip was out to Gull Rock NP and Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve. The coastal scrub is not pretty, but when we reach the coast the beaches and rocky coast sure make up for it. There is hardly anyone around, just the occasional fisherman. Little Beach was a highlight, clean sand

Soaring above Shelley Beach.

Gulls taking a rest.

and turquoise water, surrounded by smooth granite boulders

and rock faces. There were plenty of sea birds, soaring above and into the waves. Lovely to watch. Gull Rock sits off the coast and is home to the huge Pacific Gulls, which are twice the size of your average sea gull. We called in at many other beaches, and the scenery was all fantastic. Next trip was out to West Cape Howe NP, the most southerly point in WA. It was a beautiful clear day. The good sealed road gives way to gravel, but it is pretty good, as it winds high up onto the headland. The views are amazing. As we reach the lookout above Shelley Beach, we come across some guys hang gliding. There are two launching platforms, so it is obviously a popular place. It was quite a spectacle watching these guys float above the cliffs.

We had heard a lot about a great free camping spot in this area, by the name of Cosy Corner.

Ladders and stairs
 to lovely beaches.

Budget camping!!

We were not very impressed. One section of the campground had been blocked off for the commercial salmon fishermen that invade the region this time of the year. The other section had been taken over by backpackers, the feral kind. This is a group we see regularly, in fact too often! They are young, most often European, and travel in really old and beaten up vans and wagons. They usually have dreadlock hair, wear harem pants and look in need of a bath. They camp anywhere you aren't supposed to and often leave a mess behind. Everything gets cooked up in a huge saucepan and smells of noodles. I don't think we'll be coming to Cosy Corner!

Salmon Holes Beach.

A successful catch!

The final National Park to visit is Torndirrup NP, and it contains lots of interesting places. The Salmon Holes are a small cove where the salmon come in to get a break from the rough ocean. It is a favourite fishing spot at this time of the year, when the salmon spawn all along the southern coast of Australia. Now, I'm not a fan of Australian Salmon myself, but they are a great

The Natural Bridge.

Jimmy Newell's Harbour!

sport fish. Another nearby spot is Jimmy Newells Harbour, where there is a dispute over which Jimmy Newell it is named after. One was a Yankee whaler who jumped ship, while the other was a convict who had been freed in Tasmania and headed west. The general consensus is the convict, but nothing to confirm it. One thing is for certain though, the word "harbour" is a bit of a stretch! Our stop at the Blow Holes was a fizzer. There is a long walk

The Gap.

Coastal scene at Torndirrup NP.

down to the blow holes which were not working at all. We could hear the huge whooosh as the water rushed into the cavern beneath our feet, but all that emerged was a fine mist! Still, the walk down and the coastal scenery was well worth it. The last stop within the park is the most well known, The Gap and the Natural Bridge. As their names suggest, they are more of nature's great work. Here, the coast is the remnants of the great upheaval from whence Australia was separated from Antarctica, some 40 million or so years ago. The granite cliffs and boulders are spectacular, and constantly battered by the Southern Ocean. The clarity of the water has to be seen to be believed. The waves are as if they are transparent.

The Guard House at Princess
Royal Fort.

Manning the guns!

Another feature of Albany which was a stark reminder of how much of Australia's history I don't know. Of course we all know about the great Anzac tradition, forged on the bloody beaches of Anzac Cove in 1915, but I didn't know that Albany played a role. It was here in the Albany harbour, that the great armada of ships and troops were assembled, before heading off to various ports in Europe to join the Great War. At Mt. Adelaide and nearby Mt. Clarence are two wonderful memorials to the military

The Light Horse Display.

How a cannon shell works.

history of the Anzacs. With the centenary of the sailing happening in November 2014, there is a huge amount of building activity going on, and parts of the area are off limits. But there is still lots to see. At Mt Adelaide is the Princess Royal Fort. The port of Albany was recognised in the late 19th century by the British for its strategic position as a gateway to the Indian Ocean. With rising tensions in Europe and Asia, a fort was established here, completed in 1893. It remained an active military site until 1956 when it was decommissioned. They have done a great job of restoring some of the guns and emplacements, as well as the old buildings. It is a wonderful museum. The display honoring the local regiment of Light Horse is quite moving as you read through their exploits, and horrors of war. We spent quite some time browsing the various exhibits. All in all, it was a wonderful history lesson.

Plantagenet Winery.

Grand old Mt. Barker Pub.

Our last big thing to do was explore the Porungorup National Park to the north, as well as taking in the well known wines of the Mt. Barker region. It is all only 50kms away. On a bleak day of drizzle and cold winds, we headed for Mt. Barker which we found was quite small and pretty well closed up on a Sunday. The Plantagenet Winery tasting rooms are right on the edge of town, so we decided to take refuge. Plantagenet is a premium, well awarded winery. The young lass in the tasting room welcomed us with open arms. We were her first tasters for the day. She opened at 10.00am and it was now 1.15pm! We got to taste some of their outstanding wines including a couple of vintage shiraz not usually available for tasting. She reckons she found a couple of bottles with damaged labels!! Who were we to argue!! The 2005 Shiraz was to die for!! But not quite in our price range. Due to the wind we decided not to explore the National Park today, but wait for better weather, so we just took a nice drive instead, and headed back to camp for a glass of recently acquired red!

The Balancing Rock.

Clambering over the granite boulders.

We didn't have to wait long for the weather to improve and we were off to Porungorup NP. The most famous walk is the Castle Rock Walk, a 4.5 kilometre walk to the majestic Castle Rock. It is quite a climb, and John is puffing up a storm trailing in Carolyn's dust. Must have been the red wine! We love these forest walks, just prefer them on flat ground!! Towards the top, we start to walk among the huge granite boulders, and come across the balancing rock, just sitting there waiting to topple over! From here there is some serious clambering over the giant boulders, that have had steel hand and foot rails embedded into the boulders to help you make the climb. When we reach the 

The Granite Skywalk.

Carolyn on the Granite Skywalk.

top, we find an amazing stainless steel viewing platform that has been suspended off the rock face, not just at one level, but at two levels. It is called the Granite Skywalk and is quite an engineering fete. Apparently the platforms and rails were brought in by helicopter and bolted onto the steel footings that had already been put in place. Just unbelievable. You can imagine the view. As usual, John passed on the upper level, leaving that to Carolyn to scale, which she did like a bloody monkey!

The Squid Shack at Emu Point.

During the rest of our time in Albany, we found another nice cafe called Frederick's, and took in a movie, Twelve Years a Slave, which we both enjoyed. We found that Albany is a foodies place. The Saturday Fresh Produce Market was only small but great quality. Never had to line up at the markets like this one! The fruit and veggies were excellent and so fresh, and we found a Chicken man with such a long queue we just had to get involved. We bought a deboned seasoned chook to toss on the Weber, plus some other chicken pieces. We passed on the No. 31 chook which was huge. When I expressed my surprise at the size, he told me they go up to size 62, a whopping 6.5 kilograms! Who's got an oven that big??? We also found a lovely produce store called Reeves. It was a butcher, baker, (no candlestick maker), deli and green grocer all under one roof. They did lovely fresh salads and lots of seasoned cuts of chicken, beef and lamb. We stocked up the larder, so hope it's good. No seafaring port can be passed without trying the Fish 'n Chips. We were assured that the best was The Squid Shack out at Emu Point. They were right. It is amazing how much shark is on the menu in the Fish shops around the South West. We opted for the red emperor and some of their famous salt and pepper squid, and it was all deeelicious!

So after our first impression, we really enjoyed our stay at Albany. We especially enjoyed our stay out at Emu Point. We eventually got the Whaling history, the fish 'n chips and the maritime history, the sea gulls and sailing ships, just that it was all over the place! Now if only they could do something about that waterfront and bring it all to life down there.