Friday
11th April – time to leave Bremer Bay and travel 180kms to
Albany. We arrived at the Kalgan River
Caravan Park before lunch and set up next to the golf course. Albany has a population of over 30,000 so it
was good to be able to visit Bunnings, Super Cheap Auto, Dan Murphy’s and
Target.
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| Kalgan River |
Saturday
morning we were asked to move the van, as the spot we had chosen would be the
entrance to the Easter camping area on the golf course. Hard to believe the area was going to be so
crowded – how wrong we were – very glad we moved.
Sunday
was cloudy, but we went for a drive to Two Peoples Bay and Little Beach. Great spots with water so blue even on a
cloudy day. On Monday we parked at
Middleton Beach (close to town) and rode the pathway around the edge of the
harbour entrance towards the town wharf area.
At the end of the return ride, we enjoyed lunch at the café on Middleton
Beach.
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| Entrance to Princess Royal Harbour |
Brian
was up bright and early Tuesday morning to drive to Bluff Knoll in the Stirling
Ranges, 100 kms away. During our last
stay in the Stirling Ranges he had back issues and could not do any of the
walks, so was pleased he was able to get to the top this trip. The beginning of the walk was in cloud, but
this cleared nearer the top.
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| Bluff Knoll - Stirling Range |
On
Wednesday we were able to have our flu needles at a local clinic. We then drove 50kms to Denmark to meet
Ben’s parents for lunch. They were
having a quick trip to the area before leaving Fremantle to return east. After
leaving them, we went for a drive to Ocean Beach where there were many surfers
trying to catch a wave. It was a great
beach, but not for us during the school holidays.
The
park was not very busy for the first week of the holidays, but on our return
from shopping and a haircut at 6pm on Thursday, we had 3 vans and 4 tents on
the 3 sites near us, and campers had started to set up on the golf course. By Good Friday afternoon the park was so
full, and the amenities truly stretched.
This reinforced our plan to just sit out the weekend close to the van,
which wasn’t too hard as the weather was cloudy and cool, and just a little
light rain.
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| Easter - the 7th Fairway |
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| After Easter |
Easter
Monday morning we awoke to a very cold 8 degrees and overcast. Luckily the majority of campers left during
the day. The group were still next to
us, but we enjoyed their company and a couple of happy hours before they left
on Anzac Day.
The
weather appeared to be clearing on Tuesday morning, so we drove 50kms to the
Porongurup Range and National Park. We
did the vigorous 2.2 km walk to Castle Rock and the granite skywalk. To get to the skywalk platform required
quite a scramble over boulders where handholds had been strategically placed in
the rocks. It was a challenge for me,
but having walked that far I was not going to stop at the bottom of the stairs. The views from the top platform were well
worth the effort. We drove to Mt
Barker for a lovely late lunch at a café there.
Wednesday
was another 8 degree morning and my legs were reminding me of yesterday’s
walk. On Thursday we went for a drive
to the Albany Wind Farm. It was very
impressive with good views to the coast, the harbour and Albany.
On
Sunday (27th) the weather cleared a little so we went for a drive
along Frenchman Bay Road which leads to the old whaling station, several
beautiful, small beaches and lookouts with amazing views to the southern
ocean. There were lots of fishermen at
the Salmon Holes and some seemed to be having quite a successful day. Two boys on small boards were looking for a
wave to catch – coming in over the rocks.
Another
lookout was at the Gap where, at Easter,
2 men decided to install a tightrope and attempt to walk across. A news report indicated 1 was successful, but
the other fell off, but was attached by a safety rope.
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| 2Body Boarders somewhere in there |
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| The Gap |
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| The Salmon Holes |
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