Albany
Trip Start
Jul 31, 2007
1
25
100
Trip End
Jun 02, 2008
Albany, Australia
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Well have packed in a lot of sightseeing over the past few days. On Wednesday, 24th Oct, I took the car to Cape Naturaliste, about 60km north of Margaret River. There I visited the old lighthouse and managed to view some humpback whale activity while there, with the aid of my binoculars. Later I took one of the walk trails around the lighthouse to a whale watching platform where I saw more whale activity. I saw 2 whales together which looked like the mother and calf. It was great to just sit and watch these magnificent mammals in their natural surroundings. As I was walking along the trail back to the car park, I came a cross a large lizard sitting on the path, thankfully it scurried away into the undergrowth before I had to pass it. I got back to the car and drove down to the "Sugar Loaf" rock with great views of the coast.
I then drove down to Cape Leeuwin, about 100km away
View of Walpole Inlet
. The 2 capes were named after the 2 French ships which found landed in the area. Cape Leeuwin is the most southwesterly point in Australia and is where the Indian and Southern Oceans meet again with stunning views. I then got back to Margaret River around 6pm and went out for some dinner then headed back to the lodge.On Thursday, 25th, I booked myself on a wine tasting tour of the region. We visited 4 different wineries throughout the day and also a cheese and chocolate factory. We also visited a brewery and had 5 different tastings of beers. On the tour I got chatting to a Scots guy, Celtic supporter, who was now living in Melbourne and also other people on the tour.
Got back from the tour around 5pm and dropped off my bottles of wine at the hostel and headed for the pub for a few beers with the rest of the tour group. Didn't get back to the hostel until midnight.
The following day, 26th Oct, I checked out of the Margaret River and drove down to Walpole for 2 nights. On the way there I stopped off at Pemberton and took the scenic tram around the area which took about a couple of hours. Arrived at Walpole around 3pm - very small place with only about 2 main streets. Booked into a Motel.
Yesterday, 27th, I had booked a tour on the Wilderness cruise which takes you out over the Walpole Inlet, which is only around 3 feet deep
On Walpole Inlet with sand banks
. It was cold and it started to shower with hail!! We tied the boat up and walked about 800m to a secluded beach - absolutely stunning views. We then got back to the boat and headed back to Walpole.In the afternoon, I headed for the "Valley of the Giants" which has a treetop canopy walk about 40m from the ground and among the large Tingle trees which have their trunks hollowed out - amazing. I headed back to Walpole but stopped off at the Nornalup tea house and restaurant for something to eat - definitely recommend here for the food is great.
Today I checked out of Walpole and headed east past Denmark to Albany, the first colony settlement in WA (Western Australia). On the way I took in some stunning views of the coastline - Greenpools/Madfish bay area. I arrived in Albany around 2pm and later I took a drive along Frenchman bay and visited "The Gap" - a gap in the rocks where the ocean rushes in and the spray comes all the way up over the top. I also visited other various scenic spots - blowholes, the natural bridge and Jim Newhill harbour - named after a convict who got stranded there.
Well that's me up to date, I am off to get some dinner now.
Take care.
Duncan
