ESPERANCE AND ALBANY

THURSDAY 23^RD MAY   -   We went for a drive to Duke of Orleans Bay, Wharton Beach.  It was 83 kilometres east of Esperance and took us about an hour to get there.  It was an absolutely stunning place with the best beach and scenery we’ve ever seen.  The sand was pure white and crackled underneath our feet.  The water was such clear, crystal aqua.  The vista just took our breath away.  It was in a large bay with fishermen on the rocks.  We went for a long walk around the bay and couldn’t help ourselves stopping and staring at the view in almost disbelief that a place could be so breathtaking.  We sat on a seat on the hill overlooking the bay and had our morning tea in total awe of the place.  There was a caravan park there and a boat ramp.  It was a 20 minute drive on a tarmac road off of the main road.  It was quite isolated and there was a small kiosk at the caravan park for immediate supplies.  We reluctantly left the area and headed back to Esperance.

SATURDAY 25^TH MAY  -   We left Esperance at 9am for our next destination a free camping area at Pallingup River. We drove through Ravensthorpe, a lovely little town where we stopped for petrol and Jerramangup.  The scenery on the way was fascinating, with miles and miles of lush green fields, stretching as far as we could see. There just seems to be so much more space everywhere in Western Australia.  The colours of the trees and bushes constantly changed from vivid greens and browns to oranges and reds.  With th sun glistening on them, they were so picturesque.   We saw some beautifully coloured Ring-necked parrots flying about with dark blue hoods and tails and yellow breasts.  By 2pm we had arrived at our overnight stop and were greeted by a welcoming fire which the first couple to arrive there had lit.  They had pulled in for lunch and decided it was a pretty good spot and they’d stay overnight. They were chatting around the fire to a guy in bicycle gear.  We later found out he had cycled from Freemantle and was on his way to Queensland travelling on his own. Kelvin had an electric chain saw so the three men went off into the bush gathering enough wood to keep us warm for the evening.  It was a large area with a river at the bottom of a hill.  During the day more people drove in to stay overnight and we had a very enjoyable gathering around the fire listening to their stories.  Richard went to Bunnings in Esperance before we left to buy their $97 special chain saw and was very disappointed to be told that as soon as they came into the store they sold out.  He bought a $15 chopper as a consolation and was itching to try out his new toy.   As Kelvin had his chain saw, he didn’t get the chance to use it, alas. 

We had intended going to Bremmer Bay for our next destination, but Kelvin had just visited there and told us it was a 62 kilometre drive into the Bay and they were nowhere near the beach and couldn’t see it from the caravan park. We changed our minds and decided to head straight to Albany.  This is one of the things we love about chatting to folks we meet as we get and give some invaluable tips about different places.

SUNDAY 26^TH MAY   -   We left our overnight stop at 9am for our next destination Albany.  Within two hours we had arrived at Emu Beach Caravan Park, a 4 ½ star Top Tourist Park.  It was low season and they had a winter special rate of $120 for 4 nights.  The park was very well maintained with flowers and hibiscus bushes and peppermint trees in the garden settings around the park.  There was an immaculate bbq area, modern camp kitchen and amenities blocks. The staff were busily raking up leaves from the on-site cabins as we were setting up.  It was a large park and beach access was a 2 minute walk from our van.  The beach was beautiful – white sand and calm turquoise water.  There were fishing boats bobbing up and down in the water not too far from the shore.  It was also an off-leash dog friendly beach and Sally just loved her twice daily runs along the flat sand meeting more doggy friends, along the main beach at Albany -  Middleton Beach.  

We had a drive into town and went along the Historic Tourist Drive, stopping at the many lookout spots overlooking the bay and harbour.  They were just beautiful, with Many Peak Islands visible.  Albany is steeped in history with lots of lovely old buildings and houses and hotels.  It was the first settlement in Western Australia, established on 26^th December 1826 by Major Edmund Lockyer when he arrived aboard The Amity and named the land “Frederickstown”.   He had orders to form a settlement there when he sailed from Sydney on 9^th November 1826.  It was also the departure point from King George Sound for the first and second convoys  ANZACS going to Egypt for training before being sent to Gallipoli.  

 

We were recommended to go to The Squid Shack by the harbour for dinner as they reputedly had the best fish and chips in town.  We decided it sounded like a good idea and we had beautiful salt and pepper squid, lightly battered crisp shark and chips in a share box.  The Shack had a very welcoming warm open fire going inside. We were told to BYO wine and beer (plus drinking glass). We were both so full as it was a big serve, but very enjoyable.

MONDAY 27TH MAY   -    We went to visit the replica Brig Amity which was built in 1975 to commemorate the 150^th Anniversary of Albany.  It was built as close to the real one as possible and is a full size replica.  It was quite a sight anchored in a small lake on Princess Royal Drive.  It was $5 admission and we were greeted by one of the local volunteer historians who was more than happy to tell us all about it.  We were given a hand held audio keypad to guide us around the Brig.  We went down a narrow hatch to the second level and were amazed how low and squashy it was and we had to duck our heads for most of this second level.  It was also very dark down there.  We couldn’t possibly imagine how 50 men, stores, sheep and cattle could survive the difficult six week journey from Sydney.  The bunks were so close together.  Then we went down to the lower level and saw where the barrels of provisions were stored.   Part of the provisions on board were over 3 tonnes of salted meat in barrels and flour, used to make “tack” biscuits that were part of the staple diet.  They were hard as nails, usually full of maggots and the crew were allocated 3 of these each day.  What a boring, tasteless menu for such a long trip. We learned a lot of the history of Albany and about the first settlers to arrive and it was a very worthwhile visit that lasted longer than we thought. 

 

From there, we followed Princess Royal Drive all the way to the other side of town to Frenchmans Bay which was a lovely picnic spot for our lunch by the water.   After lunch, we came back to The  Blowholes in Torndirrup National Park.  From the car park, it was a long and steep walk down winding tarmac paths to the granite rocks overlooking Bald Head and The Great Southern Ocean.  We didn’t want to go too close to the edge as there were lots of warnings of unpredictable waves and caution signs (no safety barriers in sight though).  We could hear the whooshing sound of the waves crashing underneath the rocks but couldn’t actually see them. There is a Natural Gap between the rocks with a drop of 25 metres down to the ocean.  The Natural Bridge is close by with a very visible gap underneath the bridge from the gradual erosion from the sea.  It was quite impressive.  The walk back up to the car park was torturous with steep paths and 72 (yes, I counted each and every one thinking I would never reach the top) steep steps, leading to another steep path back to the car.  Definitely not for the feint-hearted (but it worked off the fish and chips from the previous night).  We were glad to get back inside the car and head back to the van.  It had been a long day and Sally was waiting for her beach walk as she’d been shut up in the van whilst we were sightseeing.

TUESDAY 28^TH MAY   -   We visited Albany Convict Goal Museum, built in 1852 and fully restored from 1988-1996.  It was $5 to go inside and have a look through the tiny cells, where the convicts slept in hammocks in the single rooms and tiny metal framed beds in the slightly larger double rooms.  They were made from thick rock at least half a metre thick with heavy wooden doors. The Western Australian convict system was unlike the other states and was based on rehabilitation and called The Convict Hiring Depot.  Convicts were transported from England over an 18 year period.  Most of them gained their tickets of leave and were hired by the settlers.  Aborigines were kept in timber lined cells to prevent them escaping.  Their carvings inside these cells are thought to be the oldest aboriginal cell art.  Deserting sailors were kept locked inside cellss until their ships were due to sail again. It was also a police lock up. There were male and female cells, along with warden and family accommodation.

When we left the Goal, we took a drive up Memorial Drive with rows and rows of trees planted either side with commemorative plaques in honour of the lost soldiers.  It gave us goose bumps driving through the tree lined road thinking about the poor souls that didn’t come back and what they had endured. At the top of Mount Lawrence we saw the memorial statue for The Desert Mounted Corps.  It was a re-cast of the original statue, erected in Suez in 1932, with the original granite blocks, some with bullet marks still visible. It showed an Australian mounted soldier helping a New Zealand soldier whose horse has been wounded.  The ANZAC memorial service is held here each ANZAC Day.

 

 

A GALLIPOLI PINE TREE

The poet Henry Lawson travelled to Albany in 1890 and worked for the Albany Observer for a year. He came back a second time in 1899 with his new wife to get inspiration from the goldfields for his newest poems.

When we got back to the caravan park, I discovered that the cast and crew from the programme “Discover Down” under had been recording a show at the park the past two days.  I had seen some guys with super size cameras the day before on our way through to the beach but didn’t think anything of it.  Oh dear, we could have been featured in the show and had our 15 minutes of fame!!!

We have really loved being in Albany.  It’s been a beautiful place with lots to see and do.  The caravan park was terrific with lots of extra touches that made it a pleasure to stay there. There was a fountain outside the office that lit up at night time an looked really colourful.

 

 

 FAMOUS DOG ROCK THAT MUCH OF ALBANY IS NAMED AFTER

 

Albany will be hosting “The Classic Car Event”  this weekend and the place is getting busy.

Some street names we’ve passed by recently:

Shark Lake Road, Grogg Street, Poverty Street, Bunkup Road, Fence Road, Farmers Road, Newdegate Road, Pokey Hill, Limburners Lane, Rocky Crossing Road, Cupup Creek.

Next Week:  We will be in Busselton for 7 nights.