Day 46 - Esperance - Merivale, WA 13 March, 2024
No surprise really, but it rained most of the night and was still raining when we got up this morning. The forecast was for more rain during the day.
The day's plans included doing some sightseeing around Esperance, doing some more sightseeing in Cape Le Grand National Park and then driving to Dunn's Eco Park in Merivale, where we were booked in for two nights. We had tried to book one of the two campgrounds in the NP itself, but all were fully booked well in advance.
Leaving the campground we drove to the Pink Lake, which wasn’t pink at all, and we couldn’t see much of the lake anyway for the rain.
Driving along Eleven Mile Beach to Nine Mile Beach we stopped at the Observatory Point Lookout briefly, however the view was too limited to bother staying too long.
The rain wasn't super heavy, but it was heavy enough to curtail our viewing of most sights around Esperance, like the Dempster Head Lookout that should’ve been the best viewpoint of Esperance, where the view was limited to about 500 metres.
After a quick walk around the Esperance Jetty area, but not out the jetty, we drove east out of town to Cape Le Grand NP. Our first stop there was Lucky Bay, which was named by Matthew Flinders when his vessel took refuge there during a storm in 1802.
We walked down to the beach to get our bearings, then walked up to the Matthew Flinders memorial above the beach, before going back down for a walk back along the beach to where we’d parked, testing the water on the way to find that it was very refreshing!
Heading back along the road we’d taken to Lucky Bay, we stopped at Thistle Cove to check out the whistling rocks, but the wind must have been blowing in the wrong direction because there was no whistling emanating from them, just more wild coastline.
We decided to leave the rest of Cape Le Grand NP for the following day, drove to nearby Dunn’s Eco Park, and got setup for the night.
After lunch I found the need for some more exercise so I did one of the walking tracks that circles the park, hoping to see some wildlife. It was a 4 km walk through bush and woodland, however I didn’t see any animals apart from a few birds.
The rain had stopped by that point, but it was still cool, so we stayed inside for the rest of the day and relaxed.
Day 47 - Merivale/Cape Le Grand NP, WA 14 March, 2024
The incessant rain continued through the night and hadn't stopped by the time we got up, although the forecast assured us it would stop imminently.
So, we carried on with our original plan to continue exploring Cape Le Grand National Park.
The previous day we’d driven past the turnoff to Frenchman Peak because the peak was shrouded in heavy cloud, but today it was visible, so we went into the carpark, got suited up for some hill climbing and set out on the track up to the peak. The walk was 3 km in total, climbing up 260 metres from the starting point, which seemed achievable.
The start of the walk was easy going with a gentle climb, and there were plenty of wildflowers to enjoy while also enjoying the views across nearby hills to the coast. It wasn’t long before the easy gravelled track turned to steep, wet and slippery rock sections that our shoes weren’t dealing well with. We decided at that point that discretion was the better part of valour and that we should head back down before we were seriously injured.
Leaving the Frenchman Peak carpark, it was a short drive over to the coast, to Hellfire Bay. This was my favourite of all the bays we saw in Cape Le Grand NP. The bay was quite small, didn’t have any vehicles on it, which was a bonus, and was picture-perfect with beautiful turquoise waters and blinding-white sand. We had a short walk on the beach before walking part of the Little Hellfire Bay track to get a better look at Hellfire Bay from on high.
The only major part of the park left to check out was Le Grand Beach, which was our last stop in the NP for the day. The beach was a lot bigger than the other beaches in the park, and could be driven on to Wylie Bay, about 20 km away. We had morning tea in the carpark while waiting for the latest shower of rain to pass, then ventured out to read the information boards and take some photos. We were surprised to find a couple of small kangaroos grazing on the grass at the top of the beach.
With everything in the Cape Le Grand NP ticked off our list, we headed back to Dunn’s Eco Park for our second night. Apart from a couple of chores, we mostly relaxed for the rest of the day.
Day 48 - Merivale - Stokes NP, WA 15 March, 2024
It was nice to wake up this morning without rain, although there had been a small amount overnight.
We had an easy day planned that only involved driving back into Esperance to do some chores and stock up on a few supplies, then drive to a free camp in Munglinup, about 150 km away.
We were up and away early from Dunn's Eco Park and in Esperance as the shops opened, so it didn't take long to do all our jobs and be back out on National Highway 1, heading forever west.
We stopped for morning tea in a roadside stop and, while there, we were looking for anything we could do before getting to Munglinup. The Stokes National Park was not far off the highway, and there was a coastal walk there that would give us some fresh air and exercise, so we decided to break the day up by doing that.
On the way there we started to consider staying there, instead of Munglinup, as it would be much quieter away from the highway, and generally much nicer being in a national park. We chose the Benwenerup campsite as our preferred location for the night, which only cost $10 per person and included clean toilets.
Once checked in and setup at Benwenerup we had lunch, then donned walking shoes and set out on the Stokes Inlet coastal walk. The walk took us on a well-formed track through mostly sandy country fringed by a myriad of plant and bird life.
There were many huge Zamia Cycads lining the track, as well as large Banksias in varying states of flowering, and many other forms of flora. We also passed many smaller brightly-coloured wildflowers along the way.
The walk eventually brought us out to the inlet day use area, where there was a howling gale blowing, so we didn't pause too long there, before starting the return journey back to our campsite.
There was access to the inlet not far from our campsite so I tried my hand at fishing later in the afternoon. I didn’t have any suitable bait, well that was my excuse anyway, so came home empty-handed once again.
Day 49 - Stokes NP - Fitzgerald River NP, WA 16 March, 2024
We were on the road early again today, headed first for Munglinup to fill up with fresh water and to visit the dump point. It was only 30 km away so it was still early by the time we’d done those jobs and left the small township, this time travelling in the general direction of Hopetoun.
We’d read about a farm gate sculpture trail around the Hopetoun area and, because it was mostly on the way there, we decided to check some of them out. Thankfully by doing that we left National Highway 1 and moved onto back roads that were initially sealed, but then turned to unsealed, however they were mostly in good condition.
The metal sculptures weren’t really worth going out of our way for, but we needed to kill some time as we’d arranged to meet another Explorer owner in Hopetoun later in the morning.
We eventually found ourselves on the outskirts of Hopetoun, where we drove up to the lookout for amazing views out to sea and for kilometres along the coastline.
Back down at sea level we parked up in the main street of Hopetoun (weirdly named Veal St) and wandered down to the beach area for a look around. With time still on our hands we took the opportunity to have a CWA morning tea of Devonshire Tea and scones with jam and cream.
Walking back to the main street we saw another Explorer parked up opposite us, locked up with nobody around. We knew it was Leona Dawson, who we’d planned to meet up with, so we went looking for her and found her in the IGA.
She invited us back to her motorhome and we had a good chat for a while, before going our separate ways, with us heading to the bakery for a pie for lunch.
We drove a little way out of town, parked up and ate our pies, while watching the myriad birdlife on the inlet we were parked beside.
Heading out to our campsite at Hamersley Inlet in the Fitzgerald River NP, we stopped at a couple of lookouts for more amazing views of the coastline, before settling into our designated site for two nights.
It was very quickly apparent that we didn’t have any internet, which severely limited our choices of entertainment for the rest of the day.
We decided to leave any exploring for the following day, which meant we were able to chill for the remainder of the day.
Day 50 - Hamersley Inlet, Fitzgerald River NP, WA 17 March, 2024
The day dawned sunny, warm and without any wind to speak of.
After the morning routine we wandered the few hundred metres down to the day use car park at the end of the road, on Hamersley Inlet, to see if it had anything to offer us for our day’s entertainment.
Unfortunately, it was too far away from the campsite to easily carry our inflatable kayak there, and the water was too shallow for fishing, so those two options were out. Considering going back to our campsite, we stopped to read the information boards and discovered there were a number of walks in the area, one of which was a 3.5 km return walk to where the open sea and inlet water sometimes meet.
So, we set off on that walk, through woodland, across sand dunes and up and down sometimes steep steps. Near the start of the walk, we climbed up quite a way and had great views of the inlet that we were camped near. Eventually we had glimpses of the open ocean, then arrived at what would technically be called a sandbar that separated the ocean from the inlet. This sandbar, however, was about 500 metres long between the two bodies of water.
Coming down off the walking trail, we walked out onto the sandbar then out to the ocean, which was about 300 metres from the trail end.
We hadn’t had much opportunity to use the drone since Rawlinna, so we were pleased that we were in a great location, it was sunny and there wasn’t much wind. I spent a bit of time playing around with the drone, capturing as much of the scenery as I could with my very basic flying skills, before we wandered back to the trail to start the return journey.
We were getting tired by the time we got back to camp, partly I think because we weren’t mentally prepared for the spur of the moment walk, and partly because we were out of the habit of exercising daily.
The rest of the day was filled with one or two chores and a lot of relaxing.
Day 51 - Hamersley Inlet - Wave Rock, WA 18 March, 2024
Leaving our lovely campsite at Hamersley Inlet we drove back into Hopetoun, filled up with fresh water, picked a few supplies and visited the dump point, before carrying on towards Ravensthorpe.
On the way out of Hopetoun we continued visiting the Farm Gate Sculpture Trail installations, that we started to look at a couple of days earlier, dotted along the road all the way to Ravensthorpe. These sculptures were much more interesting than the previous ones we’d seen, and included a tea party scene, a huge watering can that had a satellite dish for a pourer, and echidna and a Santa Claus on a motorbike with a beard made of chains.
In Ravensthorpe we stopped for a coffee and bite to eat at a café, visited the local information centre, took some pictures of the town’s silo art and went to the town resource centre to get a WA national parks pass PDF printed.
Our final destination for the day was the Wave Rock Caravan Park just outside Hyden.
After lunch we set out to walk around the local attractions, which included the iconic Wave Rock, the dam above the rock that supplies water to the area and the Hippo’s Yawn.
The first part of the walk took beneath the amazing Wave Rock formation, formed by water over millions of years. We also walked up on top of the rock where the water supply dam is, and enjoyed the 360-degree views of the area.
The next part of the walk took us through quite thick bush to the Hippo’s Yawn, a very impressive rock formation that did look exactly like a Hippo with its mouth wide open.
We had a choice then to take the easy road back to the campground, or take the more scenic route through salt lakes, so we of course chose the harder option and regretted it somewhat by the time we made it back to camp, about 4.5 km later. A nice cold ice block from the camp reception shop cooled us down as we wandered to our campsite.
After all that activity showers were first up, then to our dismay we discovered that the internet coverage was dodgy to non-existent. That severely curtailed our plans for catching up with blogging, other socials and general internetting.
We managed to get some basic online activities done during the afternoon and evening, but not as much as we would have liked.
Day 52 - Wave Rock - Katanning, WA 19 March, 2024
Even though the morning was quite cold, we were up and about early, and on the road out to Mulka’s Cave by 8:00 A.M.
The story of Mulka is quite interesting and we thought would probably have been used to teach children the importance of the Aboriginal concept of totems, or skins, that determine who they can have children with.
The cave itself was quite large, with a low entrance into the main chamber, and a very narrow entrance into a second chamber. The walls and roof of the cave were covered with many items of Aboriginal art in a variety of shapes, sizes and colours.
There were a couple of walks we could have done but, because it was blowing a gale, we decided to skip them and drove back into Wave Rock, where we stopped at the visitor information centre/shop/café to check out the Lace Place, which is a museum about the history of all things lace.
For a tiny place like Wave Rock, the museum was very impressive and included examples of lace work going back to the 1600s. There were hundreds of items of all things lace, including many wedding dresses dating from the early 1900s through to more current time, children’s christening garments, sleeping bonnets and many more from all around the world. There were also hundreds of items like bobbins and other tools that are used to make lace.
All laced out, it was time to take to the road again, this time heading for Katanning, about 200 km away, because we’d booked Mata in for a 50,000 km Toyota service the next day.
We paused briefly in Hyden on the way out to take some pics of an installation that recorded the history of Hyden in metal sculptures.
Our next stop was in the small town of Lake Grace for what was originally going to be morning tea, but which morphed into a very nice early lunch of pastries and coffee.
From there it was an easy drive to Katanning, where we parked up in a free RV park in the middle of town. Thankfully the interwebs were abundant so we engrossed ourselves in online activities for the rest of the day.
Day 53 - Katanning, WA 20 March, 2024
We were up earlier than usual to get Mata to the local Toyota dealer for her 50,000 km service by 8:00 A.M. They shuffled things around a bit to get Mata in first, hoping to have it finished by 10:30 A.M.
We took the opportunity to walk around Katanning to check out some of the old buildings and street art, after first having a coffee at one of the historic buildings, Dome Café, which is situated in the old roller flour mill that was built around 1891.
During our walk I had a phone call from Toyota to let us know that our tyres were worn and needed replacing, which prompted a visit to the local Tyrepower to see what they had to offer, and whether they could fit new tyres on that day.
We chose some tyres and provisionally booked in for later in the afternoon to have the tyres replaced, then continued on with our wanderings to kill time until Mata was ready. We eventually ran out of things to look at and spent some time sitting in a park close to the Toyota dealer.
We finally got Mata back about 11:00 A.M., filled up with diesel, then drove out to the Katanning Saleyards, the largest covered saleyards in Australia, hoping to see some buying and selling. Unfortunately, we were too late to see anything other than a few trucks loading sheep.
Back in town we parked up in the same RV park as the previous night and wandered up to the Dome Café for lunch.
After lunch, on our way to the local gallery, I had a phone call from Tyrepower to say that they could do the tyres right away, so it was quickly back to the RV park and a 5-minute drive to Tyrepower, then more waiting around for the work to be done.
With the credit card hurting from the $2,000 punishment it had suffered for the day, we thought it was time to give it a rest.
At the recommendation of the Tyrepower people we headed about 20 km out of town to a free camp beside Lake Ewlyamartup and chilled for the rest of the day.
Day 54 - Katanning - Bremer Bay, WA 21 March, 2024
Even though it was a cool morning, and we didn’t have much on apart from a 250 km drive to Bremer Bay, we were up early and on the road by 7:30 A.M.
Looking for things to do along the way we spotted a Mallee Fowl centre in Ongerup which we would be passing, and which had a café for morning tea. On the way to the centre we stopped briefly at Pingrup for photos of their silo art, then at the centre we had morning tea first, before paying the $10 per person entry fee to learn about and see Mallee Fowl.
Local volunteers had built the centre after becoming concerned that the Mallee Fowl were disappearing from the area. Inside the building there was a lot of information to read, starting with how Australia formed when Gondwana broke up millions of years ago, how animals transformed from megafauna to what they are today, and the Mallee Fowl’s place in the scheme of things.
Outside there were two enclosures, one with a breeding pair of fowls, and the other with a single male fowl. We were lucky enough to see on Mallee Fowl in each of the enclosures to wrap up our visit.
Then it was a straight drive to Bremer Bay, where we first drove out to the boat harbour where we would be going the following day on an Orca cruise, to see if it would be viable to ride the e-bikes there instead of having to pack up Mata to drive there the next morning. That drive took us 3.5 km over a large hill, so we decided against that plan.
On the way back to the campground, where we were booked in for three nights, we diverted up to the lookout for spectacular 360-degree views of Bremer Bay, the Southern Ocean and the woodlands surrounding the bay area.
At the Bremer Bay Beaches Resort Tourist Park, we checked in, got setup and relaxed for the afternoon.
Later in the afternoon we cranked up a great fire, our first for the trip! The fire was welcome because there was a cool wind blowing and we were mostly in the shade.
Day 55 - Bremer Bay, WA 22 March, 2024
Today was the big day, an Orca-watching cruise with Naturaliste Charters out on the great Southern Ocean.
To say that we were a little bit uncertain about how we would handle the boat ride would be grossly understating it. We prepared as best we could with multiple layers of clothing to account for changing conditions, sunscreen, lip balm, water, snacks and seasick pills.
We were away from the harbour a little earlier than the scheduled time of 8:30 A.M., despite a couple being late because they’d forgotten their booking was for today.
As soon as the boat pulled away from its mooring, we knew we were in trouble. It started raining about the same time and we scrambled for our wet weather jackets, whilst trying to find some cover standing under one of the few covered areas outside, always holding onto to something solid with at least one hand to avoid being dumped on the deck unceremoniously or, even worse, over the side into the turbulent water.
Apparently, the waters are particularly rough in the bay due to cross currents, and we certainly agreed with that. But then, we couldn’t discern any difference between the water in the bay and the waters for the rest of the boat journey.
The ride out to the Orca-watching area took about 90 minutes, and we’d lost our pre-departure cup of tea and biscuit long before then. That really set the scene for the rest of our day, which was interspersed with vomiting, feeling constantly nauseous, watching the horizon incessantly to try and not feel nauseous, and moving around the back of the boat to keep some breeze in the face.
We did see a lot of Orcas over the next few hours but we didn’t really care enough to even get our phones out to take pictures of them. All we wanted was for the misery to end and to get back on terra firma, however that was only going to happen after the appointed 8-hour duration of the cruise.
After what seemed an eternity, we were finally back on land at 4:00 P.M., but still not feeling well enough to face dinner. We had a light snack and a welcome early night to try to recover from the day’s ordeal.
Day 56 - Bremer Bay, WA 23 March, 2024
Today was going to be mostly a rest day to recover completely from the previous day’s boat cruise, and we needed it because neither of us was feeling that well even after a good night’s sleep.
We did some chores in the morning, but mostly relaxed.
Late morning we walked 1.6 km along the road to the Wellstead Museum & Café, with the intention of looking around the historic buildings and museum, and having lunch there.
It was quite a pleasant walk to the museum and the old buildings were very picturesque, however we were disappointed to see a blackboard out front informing us that it was closed for the day.
So, it was back to the campground where we had to make our own lunch, then we just pottered about for the afternoon until it was time to light the campfire again and get it blazing to keep us warm until dinner time.
Day 56 - Bremer Bay - Mount Trio Bush Camp, WA 24 March, 2024
We wanted to pick up a couple of things at the shop in Bremer Bay this morning and, because the shop didn’t open until 9:00 A.M., we took our time packing up and leaving the campground.
After our brief shopping expedition we took to the road, headed for the Stirling Ranges National Park.
The only stop we made along the way was to take some photos of the Lily Dutch Windmill, one of few working traditional windmills.
In the Stirling Ranges NP, we drove up to the Bluff Knoll carpark, stopping at one point to let an echidna cross the road in front of us, had lunch and discussed whether we should attempt the 3km climb up to the top of the knoll, which stands 1,099 metres above sea level and 650 metres above ground level.
After lunch, with good intentions, we donned shoes and hats and started walking along the path to the knoll. The path was well-maintained, and very steep.
After about 500 metres of walking up a steep incline, we realised we wouldn’t make it to the top, so turned around and walked back to the carpark.
Our last stop for the day was the Mount Trio Bush Camp, which is located on a working farm near the Stirling Ranges, where we were originally going to stay for two nights. Driving into the camp we delighted to see a large flock of Emus in a paddock next to the road.
Once setup for the night we went for a stroll around to check out the local area and to see if there were any nice walks we could do. Because they hadn’t had any rain for six months everything was very dry, which meant there was no chance of seeing any wildflowers on the one short walk close to the camp. We were directed to a walk where we might see kangaroos and emus. We did see some kangaroos in the distance, but they took off long before we got close to them.
We didn’t actually have to leave our campsite to see some of the wildlife, with a group of Black Carnaby Cockatoos hanging out in the trees next to our site.
And that was it for another day of adventures.
Day 57 - Mount Trio Bush Camp - Porongurup, WA 25 March, 2024
We had a fairly simple plan for the day, start the day with a scenic drive through the Stirling Ranges, spend some time n Mount Barker to stock up on supplies and check out their street art, have a winery lunch just outside Mount Barker, then drive the short distance to the campground in Porongurup for the night.
Because we expected an easy driving day, we weren’t in a hurry to leave the bush camp. After visiting the dump point we headed back out on to the road that took us past the turn off to Bluff Knoll, then a short distance further along we turned off onto the scenic drive – onto an unsealed and badly corrugated road that the sign said went for 42 kilometres.
It wasn’t quite what we were expecting, but we had plenty of time and didn’t want to arrive in Mount Barker too early.
The road wasn’t pretentious at all, it didn’t try to fool us with a nice smooth section to start the drive, and it got straight into the corrugations that slowed us down to a maximum of 30 km/h, and even then, we didn’t achieve that speed very often.
Some way into the drive, once we’d climbed several hundred metres, we were rewarded with some spectacular views of the ranges and surrounding countryside, particularly from several lookouts we stopped at along the way.
There were many birds flying around us most of the time and, at one point, we came across a couple of Kangaroos on the road in front of us.
With the actual scenic drive, and more unsealed roads from the end of the drive to most of the way into Mount Barker, it was nearly lunchtime by the time we got there, so we decided to go straight out to the West Cape Howe Winery for wine tasting and lunch.
We had half a dozen wine tastings each, followed by a beautiful platter for lunch that included bread, biscuits, cheeses, olives, gherkins, sundried tomatoes and a large fillet of smoked salmon, which we polished off no trouble.
Back in Mount Barker we stocked up on supplies, had a look at some of the street art, then drove out to the Corkscrew Gallery and Shed, which features woodwork by the owner, but unfortunately it was closed.
All that was left to do for the day was to drive to Porongurup, which we did via another scenic drive, this one not so traumatic, that provided amazing vistas of the Porongurup Ranges and valley.
At the campground we got setup then succumbed to the food coma induced by a beautiful lunch and wines, and to the weariness of a hard day’s drive.
Day 58 - Porongurup - Albany, WA 26 March, 2024
Our main goal for today was to climb the Castle Rock Granite Skywalk, a walk we weren’t absolutely sure we could achieve from what we’d read.
To give us our best chance of completing the walk, we set out early to avoid the worst of the heat, and were on the track around 8:15 A.M.
The first part of the walk was a 2.2 km long track, which I would’ve said was about a grade 3, through heavily wooded bush, with some of the largest trees we’d seen in WA so far.
The track was well-maintained and solid underfoot, so the only real challenge for that section was the inexorable climb to the top. We made sure we took our time and drank plenty of water to ensure we didn’t run out of energy too early. It took us about 1.5 hours to get to the fun bit of the walk, the climb up to the skywalk. Along the way I saw a yellow-bellied snake that I couldn’t identify, and we also saw loads of small, sometimes brightly-coloured birds that seemed to be guiding us along the path.
Between the end of the track and the skywalk, there were large rocks and boulders that needed to be negotiated, some with hand/footholds that were mounted into the rock faces.
The first part of this section was probably the most difficult, climbing up onto large rocks to access the handholds further up that allowed us to scramble over and under those rocks, before walking a short distance to the next challenge. The climb up to the vertical ladder to access the skywalk required more clambering over large rocks assisted by the hand and footholds, and struggling to pull ourselves up to the ladder.
While almost vertical, going up the ladder was far preferable to the previous parts climbing over rocks. And then, at the top, the big reward, an absolutely spectacular view, the likes of which I cant remember seeing before.
The skywalk was a bit of an engineering marvel in itself, having been mostly constructed using choppers and a lot of determination from the ground crew. It was completely solid, but there was still that nagging feeling that you’re hanging out over rocks that are 560 metres above sea level and what the consequences would be of it failing. The view overcame those feelings though, and we took our time appreciating it fully before starting the climb back down.
Getting back down to the top of the track was a bit challenging, but we managed it without incident and felt really proud of ourselves while walked back down to the start of the track.
From there it was a short drive into Albany where we did a load of shopping, then drove up to the Apex Lookout to have lunch and admire the 270-degree views of Albany and surrounds.
It was still too early to park up for the night so we drove out to Frenchman Bay where the first stop was The Gap and Natural Bridge in the Torndirrup NP, about 25 km out of Albany.
The drive was worth it just for the views of the ocean and the coastline, but the bonus was the Natural Bridge in particular, and The Gap, both amazing sights. Walking back from the Natural Bridge we encountered another snake, this one small and brown, which we assumed was a Brown Snake.
On the way back along Frenchman Bay Road towards Albany, we diverted off to take a look at the Albany Wind Farm, an impressive sight because you walk right beneath one of the turbines. We were surprised how much noise the turbine/s made, probably because we were so close to them.
With all the touristing done for the day we drove back into Albany to the Tasman Caravan Park for the night.
Day 59 - Albany - Torbay Inlet, WA 27 March, 2024
Since arriving in Albany, and even before we got here, several people had recommended the National Anzac Museum to us, saying that we shouldn’t miss it before leaving Albany.
So, our plan for the day was to visit the museum, then head out to one of the cheaper camps along the coast for the Easter weekend, in an attempt to avoid as many school holidaymakers as possible.
The National Anzac Museum was located up near the Apex Lookout we’d visited the day before and so had stunning views of the harbour, which was part of the point of the museum, to remember all the servicemen who’d left from the Albany harbour during WW1, many never to return.
The museum was also located at the site of the Albany Fort, which was established in the late 1800s to protect the town from any invaders, and most of the original buildings were part of the museum experience.
This would be one of the best museums we’ve visited, perhaps especially because it only documented WW1. There was a focus on the actual soldiers’ experiences before, during and after the war, as well as many displays on the First and Second convoys that carried over 40,000 men and thousands of horses mostly to Egypt.
There was also an audio tour element to the museum that allowed us to learn about some of the exhibits. At one end of the museum a large room looked out over the bay where all the troop ships were anchored prior to departing for the northern hemisphere. A large interactive electronic table display in that room provided information on every ship that anchored in the harbour, and even included the names of every serviceman on those boats.
Once done with the museum, we looked around some of the old fort buildings that had been lovingly renovated back to their former glory, also listening to a volunteer describe the history of the fort.
Then we walked up to the top of the hill where the gun batteries are located, walking past plaques containing the names and details of the all the ships involved in the convoys. At the top, once more, we were treated to amazing views of the harbour and nearby beaches, while checking out the gun emplacements and nearby buildings like the armoury.
With everything done we wanted to see in Albany, we drove out to Torbay Inlet, 30 km out of town, to try to get a good camping spot at the Torbay West Campground. We were just in the nick of time to secure the last good spot, so paid at the electronic machine for the next five nights, which would take us through to Easter Monday.
After setting up and having lunch we had a wander around to get our bearings. Our campsite was less than one hundred metres to the inlet, so looked promising for some fishing and kayaking.
We also thought the e-bikes might come in handy to tour around the area, so we set about getting them off the back of the motorhome and cleaned off ready for riding. They were absolutely plastered with dust from our recent travels, which required some time to remove and also required some lubrication for the chains.
Riding in one direction from our campsite we discovered that the bikes don’t handle soft sand at all, and that in that direction, the road ended abruptly. Going in the other direction we rode the 2 km out to the road we’d come into the camp on, then back to the campsite.
We spent the rest of the day catching up with bit and pieces like blogging and socials, and relaxing outside in the sunshine.
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