Amazing Coastline near Denmark and on to Albany

"Elephants" cruising on the coast...

"Does it look like elephants to you?" (It was called 'Elephant Rocks)


One side of Denmark there are the most beautiful forests of the Tingle trees and the other, there is magnificent coastline characterised by granite outcrops, white sandy beaches and turquoise blue water.

William Bay, on a stormy day. The reef of granite rocks made a nice
sheltered lagoon for the 'casual swimmer', or children whilst the surfies
could tangle with the big stuff, and the sharks out the back!



William Bay was beautiful on a stormy, grey day - I can imagine it would just be superb on a clear, sunny day. I'd love to come back here when the water is warm and the sun is shining. Another favourite spot! Photos just can't do some places justice.

Looking from the boardwalk back into Princess Royal Harbour

More steps... so many tourist
spots seem to have steps of some
 kind or another!! These were up
to the ANZAC memorial and
Lookout, over all of Albany.

Then it was on to Albany where we were lucky enough to be invited to stay with the parent's of Joanne Shaw, our Perth friend. This meant a bit of space, real beds, a dose of the "box" and being thoroughly spoilt by our kind hosts - Anne and John. We had a lovely time with them, were treated to Anne's yummy cooking and even participated in a family birthday, meeting more members of the family.

I enjoyed accompanying Anne and John on their morning walks around the streets and pathways of Albany. The only 'downer' was when John tripped over a kerb and put a tooth through his lip, requiring a few stitches. But ... you can't keep a good man down... and he was up and ready to go again the next morning!

As well as beautiful scenery, with the Albany harbour being in King George Sound, with quite a number of islands just off the coast, Albany is full of history.

• it was settled in 1827, as an outpost from New South Wales, to forestall French ambitions in the area. Albany is the oldest permanently settled town in Western Australia, predating Perth and Fremantle by some two years.



Replica of the Brig Amity, landed in Albany Dec 25th, 1926. With a group of military and convicts on board.
Sent from NSW to settle the western part of the continent. What a Christmas for them!!

• it was the WA's only deep water harbour for many years, and was the entry point to the Goldfields.
• the importance of the harbour declined when the Freemantle Harbour was developed, by which time the industries of agriculture, timber and then whaling took over.
• Albany has a strong tie to the countries involvement in the World Wars too. It was the last port of call for Troops heading to fight in WW1. There is a significant memorial site at the top of Mount Clarence for the war effort and ANZACs, and this was where the first ANZAC Day service was held.
• Whaling was a huge industry to the town, with about 100 people working at the whaling centre in it's 'heyday' and was carried out until 1978. At this time the murmurings about whale conservation were coming to fruition as well as a significant drop in the prices for whale oil, making it an unviable business.

The bay on which Whale World is situated - maintained and developed from the original whaling factory. The displays and descriptions were amazing, and enabled us to visualise the 'gruesome-ness' of this industry. Upon a successful whale chase and catch, 3 or 4 whales would be dragged back into this bay, and the water would turn red from the blood!

         
Whale World is a fantastically adapted and maintained museum/centre, as it was set aside for this purpose immediately after it was disbanded as a whaling factory. Hence it is the genuine "thing", adapted for tourists to see through the entire complex, where the different stages of the processing were carried out - complete with a 'whale chaser' boat, working engines, taped audios of happenings while standing on the "flensing" deck (where the whales were cut up), whale oil storage tanks and other artefacts. A fantastic portrayal, and preservation, of an important part of the district's history.
                                

Harpoon gun, on front of 'whale chaser' boat



Cheynes IV - the last of the Whale Chasers,
used by the whaling company



We were able to explore throughout the boat - from the deck, to the sleeping quarters, Captains rooms,
the bridge, in the engine room etc, etc. The kids enjoyed playing hide and seek!

                 

Skeleton of large adult whale, and whale calf - massive things!

The 'flensing' deck - where the whales were dragged up the
ramp with a pulley system, and cut up, ready to be processed
for the valuable whale oil. Which had a whole range of uses,
 from lamp oil, to cosmetics, to a derusting agent and many more.

Three of these large tanks were still on site. They used to
hold         litres of oil each, equivalent to the oile from     whales. Whale World has converted them into galleries for displays and cinema areas for short documentaries.



 The western coastline, around from Abany, has some pretty 'speccy' coastal scenery and a good
supply of wind! Hence, a great place for a Wind Farm.

      

The Gap - for obvious reasons. And local 'history' says
it is the spot to go, if you want to "jump"! Let's just say I was glad
the fences were there to keep the kids back a bit. Not a lot of joy
if you slipped.

                        

Natural Bridge

               



 Throughout Albany, were lumps of granite in the oddest of places - I guess the town just has to go around them. This one is affectionately termed "Dog Rock". And the adjacent shopping centre known as Dog Rock shopping centre. This we didn't quite get the significance of for a day or two, as we entered the car park from the other side. However, once I saw this rock, there was no mistaking why it was named that. (For a minute I thought it was a pet food version of "Cold Rock" or something like that!)

Albany's new skate Park, which Jed had read about
in one of the many skating/biking/car mags he has devoured
while away!

 Albany, like so many of these south WA coastal settlements, is situated on a piece of "curly" coastline. They have a very protected harbour, with the entrance via this narrow waterway. And then there is more of a bay, and King George Sound with many islands dotted throughout, and another inlet to the east, past Emu Point. This all makes it very 'pretty' and interesting.

Comfy seat!??

Looking out over Middleton Beach