The Great Southern Venture !
Trip Start
Sep 04, 2007
1
102
123
Trip End
Sep 01, 2008
Albany,
Australia
Friday, June 20, 2008
With a week of warm weather and sunny skies in the forecast, we decided to take a nice five day trip down to the Great Southern Ocean, spending a couple nights in Albany and then driving up the South West Coast through Denmark, Walpole, Pemberton before arriving in Margaret River for a couple more nights.
We left for Albany early on Wednesday morning, June 18th. As we drove from our ocean suburb of Scarborough through the urban sprawl of Perth to the eastern suburbs, we recognized why Perth is rated as having one of the lowest density cities in the world! The 1.5 million people are spread out to say it mildly! Once we got through the width of the city, it was time to fuel up again! Just kidding! However, the sign-age, or lack of sign-age kept us guessing whether we were on the right road until finally, we saw a sign that confirmed, we weren't on the right road
Winter's Floral Display !
! No worries though! A left turn here and a right turn there and yet another round-about, we found ourselves on the right road, heading south to Albany, about 409 km's south on the Albany highway! The drive down the Albany highway had us see enough sheep to make a billion Sealy Mattress commercials! I'm sure Sealy's Lucky #13 Sheep was among them! However, try to take a picture of one! That's another story! Sensing danger, they quickly hoof it in the opposite direction. I ask, do I look like a 'Big, Bad Wolf'? Perhaps it was the dinner knife and fork and lamb chop they saw in my eyes that had them running!
The drive south had us driving endlessly past one sheep farm to another, through the big towns of Williams and Kojonup and the Stirling Range in our eastern sights before arriving in Mt. Barker, just half an hour north of Albany. Mt. Barker was our first wine tasting stop, where we tasted the good wine of Gilberts Winery!
At Mt. Barker, we chose to turn easterly and drive along Porongurup Rd, which straddled the northern edge of Porongurup National Park! The drive also provided a nice view of the Stirling Range to our north
Home of a Million Sheep !
. We stopped at Jingalla Wines, a local winery in Porongurup for another wine tasting. With a few bottles now in tow, we headed toward Albany where we arrived at our bed & breakfast accommodation, Flinders Park Lodge at about 5pm.With our booked room unavailable, we found ourselves upgraded to the Garden View Room which was superb! The location of the B&B was good! Easy to get around Albany with a bottle shop only 100 meters away! The B&B was spread out with eight rooms. The lounge room offered a comfortable area to relax on a sofa in front of a fireplace, enjoying a glass of port! A great way to end a day!
Thursday morning, June 19th, we headed out to explore the city of Albany but not before enjoying a hearty cooked breakfast! As we had previously visited Albany 6.5 years ago, we were somewhat familiar with the city. We began with a visit to Middleton Beach which runs along Middleton Bay.
On this morning, Middleton Beach was quiet and serene with gentle waves rolling in! This would not have been the case this past May 10th, 2008. On that date, a local school teacher was enjoying an early Saturday morning swim about 100 meters from the jetty along with a few other swimmers when at approximately 7:10am, the swimmer began getting mauled by a 4 meter Great White Shark, instantly transforming the bay into a place of terror
The Stirling Range !
! Normally, at that time of day and this time of year, his cries for help would've gone unnoticed! However, since that particular weekend included Mothers Day, local Surf Lifesavers switched their training date from Sunday morning to Saturday morning. A change that likely saved this swimmers life!The swimmer's screams were heard by local Surf Lifesaver Jo Lucas. Without hesitation, she raced into the water toward the swimmer, quickly realizing the fin circling the swimmer was a Great White Shark. Upon reaching the swimmer, she quickly brought him to the beach, knowing the shark was only 3 meters behind her. Now, that's bravery! Fortunately, the swimmer/school teacher is recovering from the severity of his wounds and Joanne Lucas has been nominated for a Pride of Australia medal in the bravery category! So, as we stood on the sand of Middleton Beach, we could only imagine the terror on this site less than 6 weeks earlier! But, it's winter now and these are the cold waters of the Southern Ocean. Sharks in these waters are just a fact of life!
After leaving Middleton Beach, we drove up to Mt. Clarence (186 meters) where the ANZAC war memorial is located. This memorial was dedicated to all the Australian and New Zealand soldiers who went to fight in the battle of Galipolli from 1914-16
Flinders Park Lodge - Lounge Area !
. The Albany area would've been the last sights of Australian soil for many of these soldiers! Not surprising, Albany is the site of Australia's more significant ANZAC Day Memorials!In the afternoon, we decided to drive around Royal Princess Harbour, past the replica of the Brig Amity Ship to Frenchman Bay for a tour of Whale World, Australia's last whaling station which closed it's business in November 1978. The tour provided a comprehensive view of the Whaling business which was prominent in Australia until the time it ended. From the hunting and transporting of whales, flensing and processing of the whale meat. This tour is very informative and recommended for anyone visiting the Albany area! For more information, check out their website www.whaleworld.org .
On the way back to the town center, we stopped to look at "The Blowholes" and a view of the Great Southern Ocean for a possible whale sighting as this is the season where Southern Right Whales and Humpback whales come to the area to calve their young! Unfortunately, we saw no whales from land. But, "The Blowholes" were blowing which provided an interesting natural spectacle to see! Just down Frenchman Bay Rd had us stopping to view a couple of natural coastal rock formations, "The Gap" and the "Natural Bridge"
Middleton Beach - Shark Attack 10May2008 !
!By now, it's getting late in the afternoon as we returned to the Albany town center. Just in time for a wine tasting at the cellar door of Alkoomi Wines. Ironically, this was the wine we purchased for dinner the previous evening.
Returning to Flinders Park Lodge gave us some time to relax before venturing out on the town for dinner! We enjoyed our day touring around Albany! The people here seem to really enjoy their city, even though given it's location on the Southern Ocean, the temperatures here would be cooler year round than Perth's! But, for a couple of Canadians, coolness is something we could identify with!
Cheers from the Great Southern! Margaret River.... here we come again!!
Rick & Elsie!
