The water is a beautiful blue, the sand is incredibly white and the headlands are all granite and remarkably different to the east coast. The contrast is startling and creates a unique combination. We all agreed that it resulted in some of the most spectacular beaches we have ever seen.
We then had an uneventful and pleasant 500kms to Albany. Actually it felt quite hard after the Nullarbor as the roads were a lot narrower and there were so many road trains particularly around Ravensthorpe where there is a lot of mining. The rest of the time I was being blown off the road by huge grain trucks and road trains.
We didn't get into Albany until about 5pm and on the way didn't have much in the way of phone reception so straight to the Visitor Centre for information on sights and caravan parks. As is usually the case the staff were fantastic. The prices for parks was quite high in town so we headed out to a small park about 9 kms around on the other side, called Frenchmans Bay.
Not the best amenities and no playground for the kids but our location is brilliant. It was dark when we pulled in but we could see straight across the bay to the township and TJ and I both got a good feeling about Albany as a whole from our first glimpse.
This is what we woke up to see.
This is 15 m from our caravan.
We then went into Albany to have a walk around town on a self guided historical tour. What a lovely town. There southern part of the town slopes down to the water front. There has been a lot of development around the foreshore with a new Entertainment Centre, walking bridge and Anzac Peace Park all completed in the last couple of years.
There is a lot of European history with Albany the oldest settlement in WA. There is also a very strong bond with WW1 and Gallipoli. All of the ships carrying the first soldiers to head over to Egypt and onto Anzac Cove gathered here just a few months after war was declared and headed out a couple of weeks later. They came from all over Australia as well as from NZ. The first ever Gallipoli service was held here in 1918 by a minister who had been injured earlier on in the war.
We all really enjoyed our walk around town including a look around one of the oldest cottages in town. It was called Patrick's cottage so we couldn't go past. We then stopped in for a coffee at the Vancouver café. Finally we came across a place where the service and coffee were both excellent. The staff were friendly and the chef even came out to share his secrets about making great scones. TJ and I have both felt that despite having gone into numerous cafes and a few restaurants we had not encountered the friendly welcome we had expected from country towns.
Anyway this place has made up for it in spades.
Then we got some lovely fish and chips and went back home.
Today started early as we had a lot planned. Straight to the weekly farmers markets where we picked up some local fruit and veg and some beautiful Southern WA honey. Then onto a local craft market that wasn't much good.
We then headed up to the Princess Royal Fort which is a military heritage centre and has a magnificent view. The fort was originally set up with guns and bunkers in the late 1800's and they still have the guns and the weapons store there, with bunkers and slit trenches all there for the kids to climb on and walk through.
Further down the hill is more big guns from more recent times as well as a museum that has a vast array of memorabilia on the Light Horse, HMAS Perth which was scuttled just of the coast of Albany and is now apparently a great dive spot, submariners, just lots and lots of military history.
This is the view from the big guns over the bay. This is exactly where all of the ships waited to go off to fight in October 1918.
This last pic is from a lookout that was established on the sight of the watchtower used by the American submariners who were posted here in WW2.
We all really enjoyed our visit to the fortress.
Then it was onto the wind farm. What a majestic look these huge monsters have.
Our last stop for the day was Torndirrup NP just a few minutes the other side of our caravan park. This part of the coast is really exposed and the weather has done some amazing things to the granite coastline. Here we visited the natural bridge.
Unfortunately there was a lot of noise but not much in the way of water out of the hole.
Then it was back to the van for a bike ride and dinner.
We head out of there tomorrow for the south west coast of WA.
Albany has been one of the best towns we have been to. Although cold the weather has been great with clear sunny days. The people here are extremely friendly and the scenery and history amazing.
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